We have already seen the conclusion of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. But now, the climax has come, for the endurance championship, in the finale, for the first time, at the famous Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. It is a two-way fight for the title. In the red corner, it's the green Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Grasser Racing, the German team running an Italian car, for Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, and Christian Engelhart. In the red corner, (well, actually, the green and white corner), it's the lads from jolly old England, representing the great Bentley brand. It's M-Sport Bentley and their Bentley Continental GT3, with a scant eight point lead margin over their Italian competition, and the all Euro driver lineup of Monagasque Vincent Abril, Spaniard Andy Soucek, and Belgium's Maxime Soulet!
The bell will ring, (or, the lights go out), and we'll find out who is going to win the slug fest for the title. Lots to play for. Lots of drama, here in Spain. Let us first, get to the pre-race and qualifying news. This is the final weekend of racing as we have 50 cars. Bentley, Nissan, Lamborghini, Audi, Aston Martin. Bentley is leading. Spaniard Andy Soucek could win the title at his home track along with Vincent Abril and company. Abril is another contender for the championship. Look out for Grasser Racing and Lamborghini. Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, and Christian Engelhart are up for the challenge.
In Pro Am, Oman Racing Team and Aston Martin won the championship at the 24 Hours of Spa back in July. Ahmad Al Harthy, Jonny Adam, and Salih Yoluc are ready. Ferrari's from Rinaldi and Kessel are racing for the Am class title. Rinaldi is also in contention with their lead car for Pro Am honors. David Perelle has the Am title. Can he make it a double? He and Dr. Stephen Earle have been running extremely well. Perelle says he is still dreaming. He's stunned at the opportunity to be able to be a winner in the biggest GT sports car racing championship in Europe if not the world.
Alexander Matschull, Rinat Salikhov, and Daniel Keilwitz are ready to race. The scene is set for the tenth and final Blancpain GT race and the fifth and final endurance event. It's going to be damp on track. The drivers assemble to celebrate the end of the season and also to pay tribute to the people of Puerto Rico affected by the recent hurricane.
We have a great field set to roll and here we go! Green light on, and we're racing! Great stasrt for Franck Perera, and Christian Engelhart is taking his time. Robin Frijns leads and Marcel Fassler is pushing. Stuart Leonard is actually in the lead Audi at the moment. Ooh! Contact for the Jaguar #14. Oh dear. Two cars are way off the road at the final turn. One of the Rowe Racing BMW M6 GT3's is there. The two Audi's are leading. Leonard now leads. A brilliant start for Marcel Fassler as well. Lamborghini #19 and Ferrari #72 are off the track. #72 is the Viktor Shaytar, Miguel Molina, and Davide Rigon driven Ferrari 488 GT3.
Rear damage for one of the GRT Grasser Lamborghini's, but not the championship contending car. #19 is shared by Argentina's Ezequiel Perez Companc, Belgian Frederic Vervisch (who used to drive at Audi, earlier in the season), and our favorite Flying Dutchman (familiar to readers of this blog in the IMSA championship), Renger van der Zande.
The #90 Mercedes AMG GT3 has bodywork damage. Raffaele Marciello and Edoardo Mortara of Italy, share the car with Brit Michael Meadows. Recall this team so nearly won the Spa 24 Hours, but came up short at the very end. There's some argy bargy in Pro Am. Jules Gounon, and other Pro Am cars are fighting for positions from tenth to 15th. Bentley #8 is up to 21st in the overall. Salih Yoluc is pressing on in the Aston Martin. Stuart Leonard, Marcel Fassler, and Franck Perera are all scrapping for the overall lead. Audi, Audi, Mercedes. The damaged Lamborghini is in the lane. Whoa! Fassler hip checks his team mate. Stuart Leonard continues to push. Robin Frijns and Jake Dennis, their team mates, can't believe it.
This is three hours. It's not a dash for cash. Whoa! Fassler and Perera have gone around Stuart Leonard. Wow. Franck Perera ducks his nose inside and outside, and then, the Mercedes just dives past the Audi. This is wild. Oh boy! Jules Gounon was pushed outside on the start and the Lamborghini/Ferrari fracas between Grasser and SMP is being investigated by the marshals as the third #82 Lamborghini is off the road. Christian Engelhart has to defend from Jules Gounon, and Stuart Leonard in the Audi has his hands full with Daniel Juncadella in the Mercedes.
Well, we've had a safety car. Now, the green light comes back on, 38 minutes into the action. Fabian Schiller in the #85 Mercedes has gone down the order. He is sharing the second HTP Mercedes AMG GT3, as he has all year, with Dominik Baumann and Edward Sandstrom. An Austrian, a German, and a Swede. Overtaking in front of Vincent Abril with a Rowe Racing BMW M6 GT3 and a Porsche 911 GT3. Jules Gounon runs wide and, oh dear, Jacques Duyver is off the road. Car #66 is pinged for causing an incident with car #16. Somehow, the Attempto Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 has come into contact with one of the Black Falcon Mercedes entries.
Oliver Morley, Miguel Toril, and Marvin Kirchhofer, (not sure who is at the wheel at present), have been punted by the Lamborghini with lead driver Max van Splunteren of Holland, sharing this weekend with Manel Carqueda (one of the few drivers we've seen from Andorra), and Spain's Isaac Tutumlu, who has contested various sports car races in different categories before. Rinat Salikhov makes a pass and we have another yellow flag in sector two. Speeding under full course yellow penalty for #53, Niek Hommerson. Hommerson shares that AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 with Louis Machiels and Andrea Bertolini. The Dutchman, Belgian, and Italian aces have all driven together before.
Stuart Leonard has consolidated the danger and has gone ahead of Mercedes #90 with Edoardo Mortara at the controls. Alex Buncombe slides way wide, just like on a racing video game. Meanwhile, Marcel Fassler saved a spot from #84, which has Franck Perera at the wheel of it. Audi #17 is in the lane very early. Driver change and fuel. Will there be tires for Stuart Leonard? No.
Leonard is out of the car and a new driver in. Can't tell if it is Jake Dennis or Robin Frijns. Likely, Frijns got into the car.
Franck Perera is now into pit lane for a stop and a driver change. Yelmer Buurman also reacts and makes a stop. Ditto for the #63 Lamborghini as Christian Engelhart is replaced by either Mirko Bortolotti or Andrea Caldarelli. What can Caldarelli do? He indeed, takes over the green machine. Bentley is in the lane now, too. Vincent Abril, out. Andy Soucek is now into the car. The two leaders are buried in the pack. Mercedes #88 in the lane. Now, Mercedes #4 with Luca Stolz is in the lane, and out again.
The red Mercedes will take the lead of this race! The AKKA ASP car has indeed put the cat among the pigeons. Wow! THere's debris on the front straightaway. A full course yellow is thrown, a short yellow, to remove debris. Good call by Race Director Alain Adam and the marshals. Problem for Nissan #23, and Jake Dennis catches one of the Mercedes' napping. Jake Dennis is pressing. Mercedes #84 was a bit slow. Again, that is one of the HTP cars. Was it Franck Perera, Maximilian Buhk, or Jimmy Eriksson, driving? Not sure. The #777 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 is blocking the leaders.
The Spirit of Race Ferrari is off the road, too. Wow. Be aware of the rules. Some of the drivers could be taking unnecessary risks, and Race Director Alain Adam will be watching them like a hawk. Green light, and punch it. Jimmy Eriksson and Jake Dennis are battling. Marcel Fassler is in that scrap too. But Dennis knew exactly when to pounce. Look at this! Lamborghini down the inside gaining spots past two of the Mercedes'. Jimmy Eriksson, Michael Meadows, and others, are all fighting. Andrea Caldarelli is now pressing hard in the Lamborghini, right behind the #5 Audi with Will Stevens at the controls. Stevens loses a couple spots trying to race hard, and he was forced wide.
The Bentley of Andy Soucek has been passed by Jean Luc Beaubelique, but he's made his way back around trying one of the BMW's, and Jonathan Hirschi in the Jaguar has spun! Wow! That was a whale of a save! Michael Meadows has put himself ahead of Jimmy Eriksson. Bentley on BMW. Alexander Sims is trying to get past Audi #2 with Nathaniel Berthon at the wheel. A tire problem for the #5 Audi. Probably a puncture.
With an hour and a half to go, Lamborghini and their drivers could be champions. The race is not done yet. Ah. That's close! Andy Soucek runs past Alexander Sims, but he came across turnh two, wide. The marshals will ping him for that one. He did cut across the corner. Andy Soucek is defending, and he'll swing past the BMW of Alexander Sims. Oh no you don't, sunshine! Sims makes the pass on Soucek and if these two dingbats crash, Jonathan Hirschi in the Jaguar XK can capitalize. Into turn four and there's still some argy bargy. Soucek gets passed. Can Jonathan Hirschi harry Alexander Sims?
This is great racing! Andy Soucek still can't get past the Jaguar. Alexander Sims runs wide and slams the door in Hirschi's face. Andy Soucek is still squirming in the Bentley Continental GT3. Yikes! McLaren passes Ferrari as well. Oh my! The Jaguar of Hirschi has passed Sims.,but runs off the road! This is crazy! Andy Soucek still has the fight in him. Go on, sunshine. Wow! Alexander Sims is forced wide again. So is Soucek! How close can these cars get?! This is what GT3 racing is all about as Hirschi goes inside one of the Ferrari's.
Soucek in the lane with a left rear puncture! Oh no! He's lost some spots and the car is now stalled. It looks as though the Lamborghini will take over the Endurance Cup lead. There's still points in this. But Lamborghini is going to get them. Game over for Bentley! The championship has slipped through their fingers. Poor Andy Soucek gave it his all, but he's in tears, and for the wrong reasons. He's distraught and he knows he and Bentley, have lost the championship. Now, there's an hour and five minutes to go. Mercedes and Lamborghini in the lane. It's Mercedes #88. Mirko Bortolotti is in the pound seats for the championship.
The #63 pit stop is a little long., but he's ahead of the #4 Mercedes AMG GT3 with Adam Christodoulou at the wheel, is going for it. Now, we have just over 45 minutes left in the race. Robin Frijns had a slight off and is back on. In Pro Am, Patrick Kujala, leads the class in the #77 Lamborghini. Pierre Ehret's Ferrari leads the Am division. Poor Andy Soucek. He's got to be absolutely gutted. He was pushing very hard and says he got blocked by ASlexander Sims in the BMW. The gearbox broke on the Bentley according to Soucek. Ooh! Kenneth Heyer in the #48 Mercedes has spun, and he was assisted by the #55 Kaspersky Racing Ferrari with Giancarlo Fisichella at the controls.
The clock is counting down now. It's almost the end of the race, almost the end of the season. The lead is now really, really close. Tristan Vautier is just barely ahead of Robin Frijns! This is going to be a grandstand finish as it's for all the marbles for Blancpain Endurance Cup 2017! Wowzers. Brett Sandberg is in the gravel. He is part of that all-American lineup in the #15 Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3, sharing with Scott Heckert, and Dore Chaponick Jr. Who dares look at the TV screens? This is going to be a humdinger to the end. The Lamborghini will finish third and win the championship! The clock runs out. The Audi of Frijns tries to cut across onn the #88 Mercedes. But, it's victory, for the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes AMG GT3! Felix Seralles, Daniel Juncadella, and Tristan Vautier are your race winners!
Pro Am honors go, for the second time in 2017 to Barwell Motorsport and the #77 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Patrick Kujala, Martin Kodric, and Hunter Abbott. In the Am division, the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari duo of Pierre Ehret and Rino Mastronardi get their second class win of the 2017 season, at the final race. Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Englehart, for Grasser Racing, are the 2017 Blancpain Endurance Series champions! The pit crew is going nuts! Maximilan Buhk goes ahead of Adam Christodoulou for fourth right at the end of the race.
Your winners in the finale here in Barcelona, the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes AMG GT3 of Daniel Juncadella of Spain, Felix Seralles, of Puerto Rico, and Tristan Vautier of France! Barwell gets their third Pro Am win of the season, with their second different driver lineup as Hunter Abbott of England joins regulars Martin Kodric of Croatia, and Finn Patrick Kujala taking Pro Am honors. Their first win in the class, at the season opener at Silverstone, saw Kodric and Kujala paired with Swiss driver, Adrian Amstutz.
For the second time this year, Am honors go to the #488 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands of the duo of experienced German Pierre Ehret, and Rino Mastronardi of Italy. So, we look at the final winners rostrum for the 2017 season.
Overall/Pro: #88 Juncadella/Seralles/Vautier Mercedes AMG GT3
Pro Am: #77 Abbott/Kodric/Kujala Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Am: #488 Ehret/Mastronardi Ferrari 488 GT3
Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, and Christian Engelhart, are your Blancpain Endurance Cup 2017 champions! Alexander Matschull is the Pro Am Cup champion! Jonny Adam and Ahmad Al Harthy win the Endurance Cup championship as well. In Am, David Perel is your champion. Jacques Duyver and Marco Zanutini are also champions. The Grasser team is not just Endurance champions, but overall champions. There will be a party in Sant'Agata Bolognese tonight!
The Bentley Team M-Sport squad, despite losing the race, still has things to celebrate back in England, too, as they win the teams' championship by a scant nine markers over GRT Grasser Racing. Oman Racing with TF Sport are champions in the Pro Am Cup in 2017. In Am Cup, Kessel Racing are class champions over Rinaldi Racing who took the Am class win in the finale at Barcelona. This brings down the curtain on another fantastic season of Blancpain Endurance Series competition.
What will the 2018 season bring? We'll find out. The schedule is exactly the same as the races run in 2017. It begins on April 22nd, 2018, with the Monza 3 Hours and extends to Silverstone, England on May 20th, the Paul Ricard 1,000 kilometers, which moves to very early June to accommodate the return of Formula 1 to France at Paul Ricard later on in the month, the crown jewel 24 Hours of Spa at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium on July 28th and 29th, and it all wraps up once again, just where we saw a great finale today, at Barcelona Catalunya in Spain, one year from now, on the 30th of September.
See you in 2018. Au revoir for now.
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