Next Sunday, the 2011 season of the Blancpain Endurance Series will come to an end atSilverstone. Ideally positioned to offer the Drivers’ title to Audi, the Belgian Audi Club TeamWRT is committed to finish the season on a high, with its two cars entrusted to Franchi-Piccini-Mies and Longin-Albuquerque-Ortelli.
Regardless of what will happen in England, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has marked with itsfootprint this first edition of the Blancpain Endurance Series. At all the 3-hour events (Monza, Navarraand Magny-Cours), one of the two Belgian Audis R8 has always finished on the podium. Those goodresults and the superb win at the Total 24 Heures de Spa allow the WRT squad to travel to Silverstonewith great confidence.
« Cearly, our first objective will be to conquer the Drivers’ title for Audi », explains Team ManagerVincent Vosse. « Greg Franchi is leading with a good margin, and he and his team mates –AndreaPiccini and Christopher Mies, whom we welcome in the team – only need to finish the race in the top 8of the Pro-Cup to secure the title. They will have to drive intelligently and avoid any mistake. We feelconfident, although we never forget that motor racing can be full of surprises and that things do notalways go as foreseen. I confess that we would like to end the season with a win in one of the 3-hourraces, something that hasn’t happened yet. This is the objective for our #32 car, driven by BertLongin, Filipe Albuquerque and Stéphane Ortelli. We expect them to be battling in the forefront… »
Having made a significant break-through in the championship with his win at the Total 24 Heures deSpa, Grégory Franchi can approach the Silverstone round with some serenity. « My position isrelatively comfortable, but we first need to pass under the chequered flag », says the Liège-born.« With Marcel Fässler absent, it is Christopher Mies who will share the wheel of #33 with AndreaPiccini and myself. I trust him entirely, as he is a fast driver and knows the Audi R8 LMS inside-out. Ibelieve that the car will be quite competitive on a fast track such as Silverstone. We will not take anyrisk, but why not finish the season with a great result?»
The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT can even aim at a one-two in the championship, as Bert Longin,Filipe Albuquerque andt Stéphane Ortelli are only two points behind the Porsche currently second inthe standings. «We are certainly not approaching this race with a conservative mind », states BertLongin. « We are going to attack all the way through in order to pass the Porsche and clinch a doublewin in the championship for the team. Stéphane is both very fast and very experienced, Filipe hasagain proved he is a very promising young driver by taking a podium finish in the DTM last weekend,
and I feel in great shape. We will do our utmost to win this last race! »The single one-hour qualifying session is scheduled on Saturday at 12:35 CET. The 3-hour race onSunday will start at 13:15 CET and can be watched live on blancpain-endurance-series.com.
