Blancpain Endurance Title battle heats up for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

The Blancpain Endurance Series is heading towards one of the worlds  endurance temples for its fifth and penultimate round: the Nrburgring. The legendary track nested in the Eifel hills will set the scenery for the first part of the final battle for the titles, with the decisive last round taking place in Navarra, Spain, on 14 October. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is fully involved in this battle, as the Belgian squad currently lies second in the Team standings, only two points behind the leader, and is fully determined to retain the crown conquered last year. In the Drivers standings, Christopher Haase-Christopher Mies-Stphane Ortelli are also second, with a gap of 15 points, and in contention for the title, while Edward Sandstrm and Laurens Vanthoor, who team up with Marco Bonanomi, are fourth but further away in terms of points. With the round of the FIA GT1 World Championship taking place in parallel, the Nrburgring round is going to be quite challenging for the Belgian team!

The moment of truth is approaching in the Blancpain Endurance Series and we go to the Nrburgring fully committed to defend our chances and to do everything it takes to retain the title, confirms Team Principal Vincent Vosse. The team will have a difficult task in Germany, as it will be involved in both the Blancpains and the FIA GT1s events. Everything has been planned in accordance, confirms Sports Director Pierre Dieudonn, and while it is not usual to run four different cars and two separate teams of mechanics and engineers at the same event, we feel ready to take up the challenge.

The two three-driver line-ups both include a member having to race in both events this weekend. On car #1, the best-placed in the championship, it is Stphane Ortelli playing the marathon-man role, but the Monegasque is used to tough missions and quite keen to go back to the Eifel. It is a circuit I like, but a very peculiar one, he explains, For whatever reason, it is a track with very little grip and one where gaps are always quite reduced. On top, as we all know, weather is unpredictable and constantly changing and this could play a role. But it is a track dear to me: it is here I returned to racing in 2008, after the horrific accident I had in Monza with a LMP1, and in a way, it is the place where I was reassured of still being a racing driver!

Laurens Vanthoor, on car #2, will be the other driver committed to two events, alternating the role of Ortellis team mate (in the FIA GT1) and rival (in the Blancpain),  although rival is really not the good word. The most important is to do well in both events, reckons the Belgian, and the success of the team in both series. In the Blancpain, car #2, although still in contention for the title, is not as well placed as car #1. We havent discussed team strategy at all, but it goes without saying that we are here to defend the interests of Audi and WRT in the first place.

With free practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday, the Nrburgring race will see qualifying taking place on Sunday morning and the 3-hour race starting at 14:30 after GT1 action will be over.

Blancpain Endurance Series - Round 5Nrburgring, Germany22-23 September 2012

Timetable

Saturday 22nd September 201209:00-10:00 Testing for Bronze drivers (does not apply to WRT drivers) 11:20-12:50 Free Practice15:30-16:30 Pre-qualifying

Sunday 23rd September 201209:40-10:40 Qualifying14:30-17:30 Race

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT#1 Christopher Mies (DE)Christopher Haase (DE)Stphane Ortelli (MC) Audi R8 LMS ultra#2 Edward Sandstrm (SE)Laurens Vanthoor (BE)Marco Bonanomi (IT) Audi R8 LMS ultra

Championship Standings (GT3 Pro Cup) after Round 4 of 6

1. Palttala-Leinders-Martin      99 points2. Mies-Haase-Ortelli  843. Piccini  624. Sandstrm-Vanthoor                 515. Stippler-Rast                                  449. Bonanomi  33

Championship Standings (GT3 Pro Cup for teams)1. Marc VDS Racing Team                                                     99 points2. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT                                         973. Vita4One Racing Team  454. Audi Performance Team Phoenix  445. Prospeed Competition   43


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