2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup preview
The 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup starts this weekend with a 3-hour race at legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza and more than 50 cars on the grid.
The previous season of the series was quite exciting. Garage 59’s McLaren 650S GT of Rob Bell, Come Ledogar, and Shane van Gisbergen won the title thanks to the two wins at Monza and Circuit Paul Ricard. Unfortunately, the team won’t defend its title, so many teams will be in the chase for the trophy. However, Bell and Ledogar will be present in the seat of one of the Strakka Racing’s McLaren 650S GT3s.
Top 3 Endurance Cup driver line-ups in 2016
HTP Motorsport was the runner-up last year and German team is eager to reach the top in 2017, especially after the triumphant start of the Sprint Cup season. The team will field four Mercedes-AMG GT3s. The same number of cars will field Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, also one of the strongest teams in the series. AF Corse and its sister-teams will have the most cars on the grid. There will be no less than six Ferrari 488 GT3s. One of the teams which also could be among the title contenders is Akka-ASP with four Mercedes cars.
HTP Motorsport already proved that their Mercedes cars are well prepared for the 2017 campaign
The number of races remained unchanged for 2017 campaign but one venue change was made. Nurburgring was dropped out of the calendar and was replaced with Catalunya Circuit which will host the season-ending race.
2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup calendar
| Race | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | April 23 | Monza 3 hours |
| Race 2 | May 14 | Silverstone 3 hours |
| Race 3 | June 24 | Circuit Paul Ricrad 1000 km |
| Test | July 4 | Official Test Day Total 24 Hours of Spa |
| Race 4 | July 29-30 | Total 24 Hours of Spa |
| Race 5 | October 1 | Barcelona 3 hours |
The growing popularity of the series best could be seen when you look at a number of the cars. Audi R8 LMS, McLaren 650S, Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Ferrari 488 GT3 are just three of ten car brands that will try to reach the throne. They will be challenged by Lamborghini Huracan, Bentley Continental, Jaguar, BMW M6, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Aston Martin, and Porsche. Among the drivers, we can see many well-known names as well as promising youngsters what promises another extremely exciting and competitive season.
2017 Blancpain GT Series entry list
| Car # | Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Nathanael Berthon | Stephane Richelmi | Benoti Treluyer | Audi R8 LMS |
| 3 | Team WRT | Josh Caygill | Jon Venter | Niki Mayr Melnhof | Audi R8 LMS |
| 4 | Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon | Adam Christodoulou | Yelmer Buurman | Luca Stolz | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 5 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Marcel Fassler | Dries Vanthoor | Will Stevens | Audi R8 LMS |
| 7 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Steven Kane | Guy Smith | Oliver Jarvis | Bentley Continental GT3 |
| 8 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Andy Soucek | Maxime Soulet | Vincent Abril | Bentley Continental GT3 |
| 11 | Kessel Racing | Michael Broniszewski | Andrea Rizzoli | Matteo Cressoni | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 12 | Ombra Racing | Andrea Piccini | Michele Beretta | Stefano Gatuso | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 14 | Emil Frey Jaguar Racing | Lorenz Frey | Stephane Ortelli | Albert Costa | Emil Frey Jaguar GT3 |
| 15 | Black Falcon | Brett Sandberg | Dore Chaponik | Scott Heckert | Merecdes-AMG GT3 |
| 16 | Black Falcon | Oliver Morley | Miguel Toril | Manuel Metzger | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 17 | Team WRT | Stuart Leonard | Robin Frijns | Jake Dennis | Audi R8 LMS |
| 19 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Ezequiel Perez Companc | Norbert Siedler | Raffaele Giammaria | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 22 | Motul Team RJN Motorsport | Matt Simmons | Matthew Parry | Struan Mooren | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 |
| 23 | Motul Team RJN Nissan | Alex Buncombe | Lucas Ordonez | Katsumasa Chiyo | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 |
| 26 | Sainteloc Racingn | Christian Kelders | Marc Rostan | Christopher Hasse | Audi R8 LMS |
| 27 | Orange 1 Team Lazarus | Fabrizio Crestani | Gustavo Yacaman | Nicolas Pohler | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 31 | Team Zakspeed | Kriton Lendoudis | Rui Aguas | Jose Manuel Balbiani | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 32 | Team Zakspeed | Immanuel Vinke | Vincent Vong | Beniamino Caccia | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 35 | Walkenhorst Motorsportn | Nico Menzel | Mikkel Jensen | Jaap van Lagen | BMW M6 GT3 |
| 42 | Strakka Racingn | Nick Leventis | Lewis Williamson | Craig Fleming | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 44 | Strakka Racing | Jonny Kane | David Fumanelli | Sam Tordoff | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 48 | MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport | Kenneth Heyer | Indy Dontje | Patrick Assenheimer | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 50 | Spirit Of Race | Pasin Lathouras | Michele Rugolo | Alessandro Pier Guidi | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 51 | AF Corse | Ishikawa Motoaki | Lorenzo Bontempelli | Olivier Beretta | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 53 | Spirit Of Race | Niek Hommerson | Louis Machiels | Andrea Bertolini | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 55 | Kaspersky Motorsport | Giancarlo Fisichella | Marco Cioci | James Calado | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 58 | Strakka Racing | Come Ledogar | Rob Bell | Ben Barnicoat | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 59 | Strakka Racing | Andrew Watson | Jazeman Jaafar | Dean Stoneman | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 60 | Raton Racing | Andrea Amici | Dennis Lind | Stefano Costantini | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 63 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Mirko Bortolotti | Christian Engelhart | Andrea Caldarelli | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 66 | Attempto Racing | Marco Mapelli | Giovanni Venturini | Luca Filippi | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 67 | Attempto Racing | Max van Splunteren | Clement Mateu | Giorgio Maggi | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 72 | SMP Racing | Victor Shaytar | Davide Rigon | Miguel Molina | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 74 | ISR | TBA | TBA | TBA | Audi R8 LMS |
| 75 | ISR | Filip Salaquarda | Frank Stippler | Clemens Schmid | Audi R8 LMS |
| 77 | Barwell Motorsport | Adrian Amstutz | Martin Kodric | Patrick Kujala | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 78 | Barwell Motorsport | Leo Matchitski | Miguel Ramos | Richard Abra | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 84 | Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport | Maximilian Buhk | Franck Perera | Jimmy Eriksson | Merecdes-AMG GT3 |
| 85 | HTP Motorsport | Dominik Baumann | Edward Sandstrom | Fabian Schiller | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 86 | HTP Motorsport | Michael Avenatti | Damien Faulkner | Mike Skeen | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 87 | Akka ASP | Jean-Luc Beaubelique | Jules Gounon | Nico Bastian | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 88 | Akka ASP | Felix Serralles | Daniel Juncadella | Tristan Vautier | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 89 | Akka ASP | Daniele Perfetti | Alex Fontana | Ludovic Badey | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 90 | Akka ASP | Michael Meadows | Raffaele Marciello | Edoardo Mortara | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 97 | Oman Racing Team with TF Sport | Ahmad Al Harthy | Jonathan Adam | - | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 |
| 114 | Emil Frey Jaguar Racingn | Jonathan Hirschi | Christian Klien | Marco Seefried | Emil Frey Jaguar GT3 |
| 333 | Rinaldi Racing | Alexander Mattschull | Daniel Keilwitz | Rinat Salikhov | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 488 | Rinaldi Racing | Pierre Ehret | Rino Mastronardi | - | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 777 | Team HB Racing | Gilles Vannelet | Bernard Delhez | Dominic Jost | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 888 | Kessel Racing | Jacques Duyvier | Marco Zanuttini | David Perel | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 911 | Herberth Motorsport | Jurgen Haring | Alfred Renauer | Robert Renauer | Porsche 991 GT3 R |
| 961 | AF Corse | Alex Demerdjian | Davide Rizzo | Abigail Eaton | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
Photo: blancpain-gt-series.com
