Ide-Mies take stunning win for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at Brands Hatch!

Ide-Mies take stunning win for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at Brands Hatch!

08/05/2016

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT won again the Main Race at Brands Hatch, in the second round of the Blancpain GT Series’ Sprint Cup, and it did it with car #33, certainly not the one at the top of the bookmakers’ lists. But Enzo Ide and Christopher Mies crafted a perfect weekend, shining from Qualifying, where they were the best-placed car of the team, to take a podium finish (3^rd) in the Qualifying Race and then storm to victory in the Main Race. The duo even took the lead in the Sprint Cup standings, with one point over Fred Vervisch-Laurens Vanthoor, whose Main Race was ruined by a puncture resulting from a contact, after taking some points in the Qualifying Race. Dries Vanthoor-Robin Frijns lived a similar scenario, while the other two Audis R8 LMS of the team, those of Meadows-Leonard and Jimenez-Baptista got eliminated in the same race incident.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse couldn’t hide his satisfaction after the race: “We had a little bit of everything during the Main Race, from a contact that ruined the race of car #1 to a difficult re-start of car #4 after the pit stop, not to mention the incident involving cars #2 and #3, which I understand was accidental, as it happened when Jimenez collected Meadows trying to rejoin the track after going into the grass. Luckily, we had one car running free of trouble throughout the entire weekend and it was the one of Enzo and Christopher, who really put together the perfect weekend. We know how good Christopher is but I am always elated when I see a non-professional driver like Enzo winning a race in front of all the professional GT stars. He’s done that in the past, but today’s was his best race ever. He is quite a character and we love him! For once, we did not win the Pit Stop Challenge, but the pit stop and the timing of it were crucial in getting #33 to P1, so well done to everybody!”

Enzo Ide was obviously also a happy man but the curly-haired Belgian seemed relatively unmoved: “Yes, it’s one of my nicest wins, but I must say everything went perfectly this weekend. The car was unreal, the team and Christopher did a wonderful job, and I am very pleased with my performance. Not only because it is obtained against a field that nowadays is composed by 75% of professional drivers, but also because this year I am only racing the Sprint Cup, so I am on a 5-race programme and do not race as much as all these guys.”

As anticipated, competition was fierce and gaps minimal since the very start of the weekend, with eventually 22 cars within one second in Q2. Christopher Mies on car #33 was the fastest among the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audis in Q3, taking P4 on the grid, only 0.183 seconds from the pole. Laurens Vanthoor took P9, after a small mistake in his fastest attempt, right ahead of Frijns. Cars #3 (Jimenez-Baptista) and #2 (Meadows-Leonard) narrowly missed Q3, taking P20 and 21.

In the Qualifying Race, the Belgian Audis took a good start, with both Mies and Laurens Vanthoor gaining one position to run 3^rd and 8^th in the initial laps, Frijns bring in 10^th, somehow stocked behind a Mercedes. In the middle of the group, Jimenez and Meadows were fighting to climb positions, with the Brit soon in 22^nd position. On the narrow Brands track and with heavy traffic, positions would change little up to the pit stop. L.Vanthoor, Jimenez and Meadows were among the firsts to stop, with Mies and Frijns delaying the stop to try to gain as much ground on track. Once again, the excellent pit stops of the Team WRT crews allowed Ide to rejoin the race in P3 and Vervisch in P5, with Dries Vanthoor in P7. Positions would not change for the two best-placed Audis of the squad, while Dries Vanthoor managed to gain one spot to finish 6^th. Leonard crossed the line in P15, after gaining several positions, taking also the win in the Silver Cup, while Baptista closed in 20^th.

The Main Race took place a few hours later, still under a glorious sunshine. The start and the initial laps were more lively this time, but the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT drivers did well again, with Ide taking 2^nd and Vervisch 4^th. Unfortunately for Fred, a small contact with one of the Bentleys at the start resulted in a slow puncture that forced him into the pits in lap 4. He obviously rejoined the race beyond the 30^th position. Dries Vanthoor was running in an excellent P10 in the early stages, with Leonard and Meadows in P18 and P19. The good news for the team came from the fact that Enzo Ide superbly kept his second position up until the pit stop, at the very opening of the window (lap 20), similarly to Dries Vanthoor. It was good strategy as Mies could put some fast laps before his direct rivals pit. Once all the changes were completed, the German became the new leader with a 2-second margin, with Frijns in 12^th (after a difficult restart from the pits) and car #1 getting back in the top 16. Drama would stroke in lap 26 when Jimenez and Meadows made contact at Westfield Bend. The two Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audis (then running in P14 and P15, respectively) were forced to retirement and the race placed under safety-car to clear the track and rebuild the tire barriers.

The race was resumed with less than 10 minutes to go and despite big pressure from Szymkowiak, Mies kept everything under control to take a stunning win. “Even after the restart, when the advantage was gone, I was not stressed”, explained the German, “we had a fantastic car today, I knew I would stay in front and I simply tried to stay focused and close the lines a bit.” Frijns finished 12^th after trying to attack Winkelhock in the closing laps and Laurens Vanthoor gained one position to finish 15^th.

The next round of the Blancpain Sprint Cup will only take place on 3-4 July at the Nürburgring, but the Blancpain community will stay in Great Britain for the Endurance Cup race at Silverstone next weekend.

Blancpain Sprint Series - Round 2

Brands Hatch, United Kingdom

7-8 May 2016

Qualifying Race results:

1. Schneider-Szymkowiak (Mercedes AMG) 42 laps
2. Stockinger-Perera (Audi R8 LMS) +21s006
3. 3. Mies-Ide (Audi R8 LMS) +22s775
4. Schmid-Jafaar (Mercedes AMG) +23s052
5. 5. L.Vanthoor-Vervisch (Audi R8 LMS) +26s678
6. 6. Frijns-D.Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) +32s944

15. Meadows-Leonard (Audi R8 LMS) +53s615 (1^st Silver Cup)

20. Jimenez-Baptista (Audi R8 LMS) +1m11s298

Main Race Race results:

1. Ide-Mies (Audi R8 LMS) 39 laps

2. Schneider-Szymkowiak (Mercedes AMG) + 0s548

3. Soulet-Soucek (Bentley Continental) + 8s154

4. Bell-Parente (McLaren 650S) + 8s338

5. Stockinger-Perera (Audi R8 LMS) + 9s143

12. D.Vanthoor-Frijns (Audi R8 LMS) +22s483

15. Vervisch-L.Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) +23s863

DNF Baptista-Jimenez (Audi R8 LMS) 25 laps (accident)

DNF Leonard-Meadows (Audi R8 LMS) 25 laps (accident)

Provisional Drivers’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 2 of 5:

1. Ide-Mies 33 points

2. L.Vanthoor-Vervisch 32

Szymkowiak-Schneider 32

4. Baumann-Buhk 26

5. Bell-Parente 24

6. Soulet-Soucek 23

13. D.Vanthoor-Frijns 4

Provisional Teams’ standings (Pro Cup) after Round 2 of 5:

1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 58 points

2. HTP Motorsports 47

3. ISR 27

4. Garage59 25

5. Bentley Team M-Sport 24