Seven drivers vie for maiden British Blancpain title
As the Avon Tyres British GT Championship builds to a momentous climax at Donington Park (5/6 Oct), so does British GT's Blancpain Gentleman Driver Championship, the competition for ‘Bronze’ graded Gentleman GT3 drivers. This weekend (6/7/8 Sept) at Zandvoort is the penultimate round of the top national GT series and there are seven drivers in contention for the title.
In its inaugural season, the Blancpain Gentleman Driver Championship takes the form of a points championship to highlight the excellent performances amongst the Gentleman drivers competing in the series, and a weekend award for the Gentleman who has progressed over the course of the weekend.
Drivers are awarded points for their finishes and pairings of a Bronze/Bronze grading will receive 150% of the points earnt in the GT3 class; Bronze drivers paired with Silver, Gold or Platinum drivers will receive the same points as they do for their efforts in the overall points championship. At the end of the season the top driver will be awarded presented with a prize on behalf of Blancpain and series organisers, SRO Motorsports Group Ltd.
Currently Andrew Howard (Beechdean-AMR) sits on top of the Blancpain Gentleman Driver points and the overall British GT standings, but the Aston Martin driver will face stiff competition from fellow Gentleman drivers, Marco Attard (Ecurie Ecosse), Mark Patterson (United Autosports), Steve Tandy (888Optimum), Jason Minshaw (Fortec Motorsport) and David Ashburn (Trackspeed). Top Dutch Gentleman driver, Rembert Berg lies in seventh place in the Blancpain Gentleman Driver standings, 49 points adrift of Howard, but with 50 points on offer this weekend, the Team WRT racer will have opportunity to narrow the gap to his rivals.
Prestigious watch manufacturer, Blancpain is no stranger to motorsport but the partnership with British GT is the first of its kind between the Swiss company and the British race series. Founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, Blancpain has a heritage of precision and elegance while also displaying an innovative and occasionally provocative spirit.
Pos - Driver - Nat - Team - Points1 Andrew Howard GBR Beechdean-AMR 104.52 Marco Attard GBR Ecurie Ecosse 97.53 Mark Patterson RSA United Autosports 91.54 Steve Tandy GBR 888Optimum 735 Jason Minshaw GBR Fortec Motorsports 646 David Ashburn SER Trackspeed 567 Rembert Berg NED Team WRT 55.58 Gregor Fisken GBR Trackspeed 38.59 John Dhillon GBR AF Corse 359 Jon Minshaw GBR Trackspeed 3510 Gary Eastwood GBR FF Corse 3111 Hector Lester GBR Rosso Verde 3012 Duncan Cameron GBR AF Corse 2613 Lee Mowle GBR 888Optimum 2414 Phil Dryburgh GBR PGF Kinfaun-AMR 17.515 Mark Poole GBR Barwell Motorsport 1516 David Jones GBR Preci-Spark 13.516 Godfrey Jones GBR Preci-Spark 13.517 Steve Wyatt AUS AF Corse 1218 Derek Johnston GBR Mtech 919 Zak Brown USA United Autosports 820 Charles Putman USA ProSpeed Comp 621 Colin White GBR CWS / IDL 5.522 Ron Johnson GBR Barwell Motorsport 3
