The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT seeks bis repetita at Brands Hatch

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT seeks bis repetita at Brands Hatch

04/05/2016

It’s time to cross the Channel for the Blancpain GT Series, which is off to a double commitment in Great Britain, a country where GT racing is extremely popular. This weekend, the legendary Brands Hatch track will host the second round of the Sprint Cup. One week later, the no less iconic Silverstone will be the set-up for the second Endurance Cup race of the season. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT starts the short journey to the UK full of confidence. Last year, the Belgian squad had a perfect weekend in Brands Hatch, where the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Vanthoor-Frijns won both the Qualifying and the Main races, with the pole position and fastest lap also falling under their belt. The team is clearly eager to repeat the performance and repeat as well the success obtained in the 2016 season-opener at Misano in April. Five cars are entered in the Kent round.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse is in typical British fighting spirit ahead of the weekend: “We have often done well at Brands Hatch, and are always happy to go there. We obviously would like to repeat last year’s success, and that is the objective, although we need to see how well the new Audi R8 LMS will do there, compared to the LMS ultra. Brands Hatch is a very special circuit, which forgives nothing in terms of mistakes. It is a track where a good driver can still make a difference, and we have quite a few of those in our team. There are also very good drivers among competitors, so it will be an interesting fight. For us, it will be important to grab heavy points, especially towards the Blancpain GT Series scratch standings, and close the gap that is there after the Monza Endurance Cup race.”

Laurens Vanthoor was one of the two heroes of last year’s triumph, together with Robin Frijns. Now paired with Fred Vervisch, the Belgian has exactly the same goal. “I love Brands Hatch very much and I aim at being as successful as last year”, he reckons, “although the real objective is the championship and not winning single races. With only 5 events in the Sprint Cup calendar this year, being always in the top 3 or 5 is even more crucial this year, and one cannot afford a single setback. This year, also, there will be 36-37 cars on track, which on a circuit like Brands Hatch, will make things trickier. It will be key to master everything since qualifying and avoid traffic-related trouble. With Fred, my new team mate, we are now completely familiarized. He’s fast and works extremely well, as shown in Misano, and we feel perfectly at ease together.”

Robin Frijns, the other hero of 2015, will be sharing car #4 with the younger of the Vanthoors, Dries, who has made a stunning debut in the Blancpain GT Series world, while Enzo Ide – Christopher Mies will be at the wheel of car #33. On car #3, Sérgio Jimenez will make his first Sprint Cup appearance of the year, alongside fellow Brazilian Rodrigo Baptista.

Still, there is no doubt that one of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT most followed Audis will be #2, as Stuart Leonard and Michael Meadows will race in front of their home crowd. “Home race is always special”, admits Stuart Leonard, “and this is literally home race for me, as I’ll be sleeping at my place in Central London. No doubt that Mike and me will have a lot of support from family and friends this weekend. We’ll try to do well and although we are entered in the Silver Cup, what we care of are the overall results. Brands Hatch is a kind of old school track, tricky but fun. I have more tested than raced there, but I can count on Mike’s greater experience of the place. We have been relatively unlucky in the first outings of the season, so we are quite eager to show what we are capable of. The team is just incredible and the Audi 8 LMS is a great car. It’s quite different from anything I have driven before, with very efficient aerodynamics and great performance when you can use the momentum. I really think the new GT3 cars represent a big step forward, and I am enjoying this experience very much.”

The Brands Hatch weekend will follow a relatively unusual format, with practice and qualifying on Saturday and both races taking place on Sunday. The qualifying one will start at 12:05 and the Main one at 16:20, UK time.

Blancpain Sprint Series - Round 2

Brands Hatch, United Kingdom

7-8 May 2016

Timetable (all times local = CET-1)

Saturday 7^th May 2016

09:40-10:10 Free Practice (Silver & Bronze drivers only)

10:10-10:40 Free Practice 1

14:00-15:00 Free Practice 2

17:00-17:15 Qualifying 1

17:22-17:37 Qualifying 2

17:45-17:55 Qualifying 3

Sunday 8^th May 2016
12:05-13:05 Qualifying Race

16:20-17:20 Main Race

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entries

#1 Laurens Vanthoor (B) – Frédéric Vervisch (B)

#2 Stuart Leonard (GB) – Michael Meadows (GB) (Silver Cup)

#3 Sérgio Jimenez (BR) - Rodrigo Baptista (BR)

#4 Dries Vanthoor (B) – Robin Frijns (NL)

#33 Christopher Mies (D) - Enzo Ide (B)

Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 1 of 5:

1. L.Vanthoor-Vervisch 30 points

2. Eng-Sims 21

3. Baumann-Buhk 20

4. Bell-Parente 12

5. Stippler-Salaquarda 10

9. Mies-Ide 4

10. D.Vanthoor-Frijns 3

Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 1 of 5:

1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 30 points

2. HTP Motorsports 21

3. Rowe Racing 21

4. Garage59 12

5. Bentley Team M-Sport, ISR 10