The Blancpain GT Series 2015 comes to an end this weekend with the last round of the Sprint Series, to
take place in the legendary track nested in the North See at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands. It’s a very
short turn-around between Misano and Zandvoort and busy days for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, forced
to re-plan many things following the accident of Laurens Vanthoor in the qualifying Race last Saturday in
Italy. With the Belgian driver side-lined by the leg and hip injuries sustained, and Enzo Ide unable to
attend because of professional commitments, driver line-ups of the cars #1 and #2 had to be re-organized.
Robin Frijns, who now chases alone the Blancpain GT and the Sprint Series Drivers’ titles, will be
associated with Christopher Mies, while car #2 will be entrusted to Fred Vervisch and Nicki Thiim. There
are no changes in car #3 (Stéphane Ortelli-Stéphane Richelmi) and #4 (James Nash-Frank Stippler), called
to play a key role in securing the Sprint Series Teams’ title, the third crown at stake in Holland.
Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse explains the situation: “Misano’s outcome has forced us to some extra
work and planning”, he comments, “Not only we had to replace the car destroyed in Italy, but to rethink
the line-ups of two of our cars. It’s a clear case of ‘force majeure’, given Laurens’ unavailability,
which adds to Enzo’s absence. We have decided to move Christopher Mies from car #2 to car #1, alongside
Robin Frijns, while on car #2 we welcome two new drivers. Fred Vervisch will race with us for the first
time: he has shown very good things in GT and I am confident he’ll do well. Nicki Thiim has already raced
with WRT at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and we were very happy with the job he did, so I think we have a
very strong fallback solution in place.”
The fact that Laurens Vanthoor is forced to miss this last and decisive round is, of course, regretted by
everybody. “Laurens is part of the family since many years”, says Vosse, “and we wish him a speedy and
full recovery. Even if he won’t be present this weekend, he will be with us and everybody will be
thinking of him.” A feeling that is shared in the first place by Robin Frijns, who will be fighting on
home soil for the two Drivers’ title without his usual team mate: “What happened to Laurens in Misano is
very unfortunate, and it also feels very odd to end this season without
him”, admits the young Dutchman. “When I entered this GT3 program, I was a real rookie. I only had single
seater experience. Laurens had to teach me how to drive the car, how to get the most out of it. It is
thanks to him that I am able to do the lap times I am doing now. So whatever happens in Zandvoort, if I
am still on top of the standings on Sunday night, in my mind both Laurens and I will be the new
champions.”
All the attention of the team is now focused in ending the season on a high, as Vosse
comments: “We prepared well, as always, and we like Zandvoort, not only because it is close to home. It’s
one of the historic tracks that has kept its essence and gives a lot of pleasure to drivers and fans. We
know it well and we did well there in the past. It will be a close fight, especially with the Bentley and
the Ferrari, which have proven very competitive in recent rounds; let’s hope we will have a better
performance than in Misano.”
The season-closing weekend at Zandvoort will follow the traditional format, with free practice on Friday,
Qualifying on Saturday morning and the two races in early afternoon, at 14:15 o Saturday and 13:00 on
Sunday.
Blancpain Sprint Series - Round 7 Zandvoort, the Netherlands 9-11 October 2015
Timetable (all times local = CET-1) Friday 9 October 2015 13:30-14:50 Free Practice 1 16:30-17:50 Free Practice 2
Saturday 10 October 2015 10:15-10:30 Qualifying 1 10:37-10:52 Qualifying 2 11:00-11:10 Qualifying 3 14:15-15:15 Qualifying Race
Sunday 11 October 2015 13:00-14:00 Main Race
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT #1 Robin Frijns (NL) – Christopher Mies (D) (Pro) #2 Fred Vervisch (B) – Nicki Thiim (D) (Pro) #3 Stéphane Ortelli (MC) – Stéphane Richelmi (MC) (Pro) #4 James Nash (GB) - Frank Stippler (D) (Pro)
Sprint Series Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 6 of 7:
1. Vanthoor-Frijns 109 points 2. Abril-Buhk 101 3. Seefried-Siedler 92 4. Abeu-Brito 74 5. Ortelli-Richelmi 64 6. Mies-Ide 44 13. Nash-Stippler 17
Sprint Series Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 6 of 7:
1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 153 points 2. BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil 111 3. Bentley HTP 109 4. Rinaldi Racing 95 5. Phoenix Racing 56
Blancpain GT Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 11 of 12:
1. Vanthoor-Frijns 152 points 2. Buhk 125 3. Siedler 115 4. Ortelli 114 5. Abril 103 7. Richelmi 78 10. Stippler 68 11. Mies 68 18. Verney 45 20. Ide 43 34. Nash 17
Blancpain GT Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 11 of 12:
1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 225 points 2. Rinaldi Racing 120 3. Bentley HTP 115 4. BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil 112 5. GRT Grasser Racing 76