The Northern Spanish circuit of Navarra is the host for the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series and teams will have their final chance to fine tune their cars before the Blue Riband event, the Total 24 Hours of Spa in July. Unlike Monza where the first event was held in April, Navarra is brand new circuit, only opening in 2010, but the Spanish circuit has already established a reputation for providing exciting racing whatever the category or championship.
Day One of the weekend on Saturday 21 May saw Free Practice and Pre Qualifying takes place with the teams getting 2.5 hours of track time. The air temperature reached 28.6 degrees centigrade and the track temperature was recorded at 45.1 degrees.
BLANCPAIN ENDURANCE SERIES UPDATE
Total Cars Entered for Round 2 - 31GT3 Pro Cup (PRO) - 12
GT3 Pro-Am Cup (PAM) - 9
GT3 Gentlemen Trophy (GTR) - 3
GT3 Cup (CUP) - 1
GT4 Cup (GT4) - 6
New Teams Competing at Navarra
· Nr 45 Gulf Racing (UAE) Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 (GT3 Pro Cup)
· Nr43 Faster Racing by DB MOTORSPORT (NLD) BMW Z4 (GT3 Pro-Am Cup)
Both teams are entered for the full season but their cars were not ready for the opening round in Monza. Faster Racing will enter a second car for the final three rounds in Spa, Magny-Cours and Silverstone.
New Manufacturer in the Blancpain Endurance Series
The BMW Z4 is also a new manufacturer for the Blancpain Endurance Series, with 11 manufacturers represented on the Navarra grid this weekend.
Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Ginetta, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Nissan and Porsche.
New ‘GT3 Cup’ Class
A new class has been unveiled for teams wishing to enter cars eligible for the Ferrari Challenge and the Porsche Carrera Cup. In Navarra one team, De Lorenzi Racing, has entered a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup for the new class and further entries are expected for Spa and the rest of the season.
FREE PRACTICE REPORT / RESULTS
The nr24 Pro-Am Cup Class Blancpain-Reiter Lamborghini LP560 of Marc Hayek and Peter Kox set the pace in the first session of the Blancpain Endurance Series weekend at Navarra in Spain. Kox set the fastest lap of the 90-minute session, which was interrupted by two red flags to recover cars from dangerous parts of the circuit, the Dutch driver setting a lap of 1:39.584, 0.016s quicker than the fellow Pro-Am Cup Class car, the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Matt Griffin and Jack Gerber. The fastest Pro Class car was the nr1 Vita4One Ferrari 458 of reigning GT1 World Champion Michael Bartels, who is racing with Frank Kechele and Nico Verdonck. Verdonck set the fastest time of 1:39.712, 0.124 ahead of his nearest rival, the nr32 Belgian Audi Club Audi R8 LMS of Bert Longin, Filip Alberquerqe and Stephane Ortelli.
The fastest car in the GT3 Gentlemen Trophy class was the nr22 Sport Garage Ferrari 430 Scuderia of Philip Shearer, Amandine Foulard and Lionel Comole with a time of 1:43.295 in 22nd overall. The fastest GT4 Cup competitor was the nr61 Lotus Driving Academy Lotus Evora of Lorenz Frey, Rolf Maritz and Fredy Barth with a time of 1:47.363, two places and 1.2 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, the nr70 Lotus Italia Evora of Edoardo Piscopo, Greg Mansell and Leo Mansell.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice
PRE QUALIFYING REPORT / RESULT
The top car of the session was the nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT of Maxime Martin, Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala with the best time of the day of 1:38.839, seven tenths faster than the best time in the earlier Free Practice session. The Ford was 0.5 seconds ahead of the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Matt Griffin and Jack Gerber, which was the fastest car in the GT3 Pro-Am Cup Class.
The fastest car in the GT3 Gentlemen Trophy Class was the nr31Ruffier Racing Lamborghini Gallardo of Georges Cabannes and Fabien Michal with a time of 1:46.283s. In the GT4 Cup the nr70 Lotus Italia Evora of Edoardo Piscopo, Greg Mansell and Leo Mansell posted a time of 1:48.694, turning the tables by 0.122 seconds on their rivals in the nr61 Lotus Driving Academy Lotus Evora, Lorenz Frey, Rolf Maritz and Fredy Barth.
CLICK HERE for the result from Pre Qualifying
WATCH ROUND 2 ON TV
Tomorrow both Qualifying and the Race will be shown live on the official website at www.blancpain-endurance-series.com.
Qualifying and the Race will also be shown on terrestrial and satellite television. CLICK HERE to see a full list of the TV stations that is showing Round 2 of the Blancpain Endurance Series
Info/Foto Blancpain Endurance Series - Press
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