The legendary airfield circuit at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, England, plays host to round two of the 2018 Blancpain GT Endurance Cup. On the pole is the #76 Aston Martin V12 Vantage for R Motorsports from Switzerland. The team has entered two cars, but the pole sitting machine is being shared by Jake Dennis, Nicki Thiim, and Matthieu Vaxiviere, from England, Denmark, and France, respectively.
The track looks great in spring sunshine. 50 cars are going to start today's race. We saw quite the race in the opener at Monza in Italy. Now, it is time for more action, here in the English midlands at Silverstone. Dries Vanthoor, Alex Riberas, and Chrsistopher Mies are looking for another win. Silverstone has new pavement to contend with. It was repaved again for the first time since 1996. nThe new 2018 Bentley Continental is here. Jules Gounon, Steven Kane, and Guy Smith, in his last race with M Sport Bentley, after racing with Bentley for 17 years. The Nissan GT-4 NISMO is here. Matt Parry, Alex Buncombe, and Lucas Ordonez are ready to race.
Oliver Rowland, from Formula 2, and starting to test in F1, he is now racing in sports cars with the Mercedes AMG GT3, #44 for Strakka Racing. He is sharing with Adrien Tambay of France and German Mercedes GT3 veteran Thomas Jaeger. R Motorsport with Maxime Martin, Marvin Kirchhofer, and Alex Brundle, are a new team on the grid with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. SMP Racing has confidence after sitting on pole in Italy. Mi9khail Aleshin, Davide Rigon, and Alessandro Pier Guidi, share the automobile. Grasser Racing Lamborghini has had a lot of fighting to do. Rolf Ineichen, and Franck Perera are joined by Brit Phil Keen, here in his home race at Silverstone. These three blokes are sharing the third GRT Grasser entry, car #82. Garage 59 has two McLaren 650S machines here, with TV presenter Chris Harris as one of the pilots.
So, the Garage 59 entries will be raced by Harris, Chris Goodwin, and Alexander West, in car #188. Two British drivers, and a Swede. Their team car, #59 is piloted by two more Brits, Andrew Watson and Ben Barnicoat, with Frenchman Come Ledogar. Manthey Racing has Romain Dumas, Fred Makowiecki, and Dirk Werner, here to race. This is Manthey's first appearance in Blancpain Endurance Series competition. They are running a full season, as car #911 also raced the opener at Monza. Sunshine, and clear skies. Great weather for the race. It's a late, yet fine sprint here in Buckinghamshire country. So many classic corners this track has to offer. The R Motorsport Aston Martin's on pole. But there was no data in the data logger on the piole winning car, and their time was threatened to be disallowed. So, they are racing under appeal today.
The cars are on track, getting ready to start this motor race. The #7 Bentley will start from pit lane and the #90 Mercedes AMG GT3 is down the grid after running over a curb and ripping an oil line off the car. They have swapped to a spare car instead of changing the motor. They will have to deal with a stop and go penalty. Lots of catching up for the trio of Nico Bastian of Germany, Jack Manchester from England, and Dutchman Jules Szymkowiak. OK, we're set to race, now! It is time to race. Wait for the lights. Red lights, green lights! Go! The cars fly down the front striaght and into the first turn.
Aston Martin in the lead with Matthieu Vaxiiviere in the car for the start. They've gone through Copse and Christopher Mies has been shuffled back, down Hangar Straight, and into Stowe for the first time. Maro Engel in the Mercedes is moving up. He's in the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3 with team mates Luca Stolz, his countryman, and rapid Dutchman, Yelmer Buurman, a veteran of GT3 racing. The Aston Martin is moving ahead as well. Marvin Kirchhofer has passed Christian Klien. Out of Club, the McLaren gets caught between one of the Ferrari's and the Emil Frey Lexus RC F GT3. Through into Village and The Loop. A stop go penalty has been issued to the AKKA ASP car #90. John Edwards in the #98 BMW M6 GT3 has had a great start while the sister car #99 of Jesse Krohn loses out in Vale to one of the Mercedes cars, and we have Jack Manchester's Mercedes in the wall at Copse.
Oh! He locks up, and the right front tire deflates, before, zonk! Right into the wall. We have more action as Guy Smith is trying to force his way past the #51 Ferrari. Smith is harrying Duncan Cameron, who will hand over to team mate, Irishman Matt Griffin later on in this motor race. They are one of the few two driver teams here at Silverstone today. Into Abbey curve, the Bentley is quicker than the Ferrari. Through Aintree, as Marvin Kirchhofer and Adam Christodoulou are going for it. Stuart Leonard is there in one of the Audi's, and so is one of the Jaguar's. The #63 Lamborghini is trying to get ahead. Chris Harris is also trying his best, and Stuart Leonard has moved his way past. This is quite the scrap. In replay, through Luffield, Jaguar passes McLaren. Into Vale, and the #44 Mercedes has spun around, and tries to continue. There was smoke from someplace on the car.
The #25 Audi hit the #44 and he has a cut tire. Oliver Rowland has been tagged by the Sainteloc car Christopher Haase is presumably at the wheel of it. The German shares with two French drivers, Simon Gachet, and Antoine Jung. Contact between the Lamborghini and the BMW as well. The Bentley Continental Evo version is the biggest car in GT3. Bentley passes Lamborghini, and Vincent Abril is in the car. So, this is clearly the #8 entry in Abril, the Monegasque is driving. He is of course teamed with Maxime Soulet of Belgium and Spain's Andy Soucek.
Pit stops for Adam Christodoulou and the Aston Martin's dive in from first and second. This will be an interesting strategy. Not ideal, because the pit crews can only work on one car at a time. It's the flying circus for Aston Martin. Not an ideal situation. Mercedes #88 is passing the Aston Martin and Tristan Vautier is trying to defend from Jake Dennis into Brooklands. Dennis wants by and there's some argy bargy! He has the spot ahead of the Mercedes into Woodcote, going for the lead with an hour gone on the clock.
Jake Dennis has stuck the move. He went through Woodcote and made the pass just as he was supposed to do. We have an hour and 40 minutes to go in this race now. So, we've pressed the fast forward button just a little bit. BMW is moving up through the field, but #98 has tried to pass one of the rival Walkenhorst BMW's and he goes off the road and onto the grass, with clag all over the tires. Oh dear. #98 should have American BMW factory ace John Edwards at the wheel of it, sharing with Brit Ricky Collard and another Englishman, Nicky Yelloly. #98 tried to pass one of the rival M6 BMW's in this field for Walkenhorst Racing, and in the process, he came a cropper and that's how his tires got gummed up.
Oh dear. Team Manager for the #88 team has been called to the stewards office for a pit stop infringement. This was an unsafe release in the pit lane. The Jaguar had to wait, but then, the Mercedes' release from the lane would have been compromised. Race Director Alain Adam says there is no problem with the #88's pit stop. Alex Brundle is doing his best to get past the McLaren. Through Vale, he has some breathing space. Luca Stolz in the Mercedes is being blocked. Alex Riberas has also made a move, and he's gaining on this group of cars. He's gaining on the Lexus. Maximilian Buhk has made his way past Marco Seefried in the Lexus. That's the Swiss Emil Frey Lexus Racing entry, #14 with Spaniard Albert Costa and Austrian ex-Formula 1 driver Christian Klien, sharing the driving chores with Seefried, of Germany.
Ooh! Alex Brundle has lost two places and tries to get them back through Stowe corner. No dice. Side by side stuff here. Wow! Alex Brundle is now losing ground, in the Aston Martin to Alex Riberas and Brundle runs wide! The Porsche can't pass the Nissan. Christian Engelhart in the Lamborghini is chasing, and wants a look in on this scrum as well. Let the Porsche go through. Roll off the throttle into the corner. Dirk Werner cannot get by the Nissan Through Village and The Loop. This is getting intense. Pit stop time for Audi #1. Early pit stops for a whole group of the leaders. Actually, these are probably going to be the final pit stops. The #88 Mercedes did not earn a penalty. No malice intended. Now, with an hour to go, the Lexus is ahead of the Mercedes and we have the Bentley coming in as well. 50 cars here, and a tight pit lane to deal with.
Jake Dennis hands the Aston Martin to Nicki Thiim. Lots of steam coming off the car for some reason. That came in with a 16 second lead. #88 was caught behind five cars. Tristan Vautier is at the wheel and he will be battling Dennis and company, to the finish of this one. Less than an hour to go now, and the Aston Martin is still dominant with Nikki Thiim at the controls. Mercedes #35 gets pushed off the road at Club corner and was almost run into by another car! That's the ARC Bratislava entry shared by Denis Bulatov of Russia, former Formula 1 driver (also of Russia), Vitaly Petrov, and Michael Meadows in his home race, right here in Great Britain. Whoever is driving, they were nearly run into by another car! Mirko Bortolotti has passed, getting around Duncan Cameron's Ferrari, and there is a spin! It's the Ferrari #53, with a flat left rear tire, and Andrea Bertolini was lucky to hold onto that car.
That car is the Pro Am entry for AF Corse, and the Italian, Bertolini, is sharing with regular co-drivers, Niek Hommerson of the Netherlands and Louis Machiels of Belgium, a couple drivers who have been in the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup since it's inception. Niki Thiim from Denmark is still in the lead of this motor race and Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, spins, losing it under braking! Ooh! He loses the wheel nut on the right rear tire! Mercedes #4 passes one of the Barwell Lamborghini's and Dries Vanthoor in the Audi will have to pass the Lamborghini into Abbey corner. Distract the rival, and pull up on the inside to make the pass. Norbert Siedler in the #114 Lexus. Siedler, is sharing with fellow endurance racing veterans Markus Palttala of Finland (better known for racing BMW's), and Monaco's Stephane Ortelli, a veteran of endurance sports car racing who has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche (doing so 20 years ago), and also driving successfully at Le Mans, for Audi.
Niki Thiim from Denmark, is still in the lead of this motor race, and Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, spins, losing it under braking! Oh! He loses the wheel nut on the right rear tire! Yikes! You've picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Mercedes #4 passes one of the Barwell Lamborghini's, and Dries Vanthoor in the Audi will have to pass the Lamborghini into Abbey corner. Distract the rival, and pull up on the inside to make the pass. Norbert Siedler in the #114 Lexus. Yelmer Buurman has made contact with the Bentley! Oh boy! Meanwhile, Dries Vanthoor has made a pass. Was this a viable overtake? Not really. That was avoidable contact. Yelmer Buurman has lost position. That was contact between two professional drivers, and it would have been a penalty if it was an Am driver.
Mikael Grenier is now out of the race, after the wheel nut came off the Jaguar. Maybe the wheel hub assembly was broken. Now, more dramas. The #19 Lamborghini has gone ka-blammo! Oil is spewing out of the Lamborghini. That car, is smoking! It's a fraught race for Raffaele Giammaria and Giovanni Venturini of Italy, sharing with Argentina's Ezequiel Perez Companc. The #14 Lexus goes on it's way. Now, the #19 Lamborghini we saw earlier is being repaired, and there was suspension damage. So, no engine dramas and no ka-blammo as thought earlier. The bodywork is flimsy. We have ten or so minutes to go in this race, time is running short at Silverstone.
Now, press the fast forward button again, chaps, because there's two minutes to the checkers meaning two laps left. Mirko Bortolotti will get the last points, and Dries Vanthoor kicks up dust through Aintree. Aston Martin could win and they are still being investigated by the stewards. Negotiate the final corners, and through Woodcote, Aston Martin wins in England! In second place, the #88 Mercedes, followed by the #114 Lexus and the #1 Audi. Davide Rigon finishes seventh. Jake Dennis was the one to overtake the Mercedes on the Wellington straight.
What a crazy finish and for the second time in as many races in Blancpain Endurance 2018, we have a different set of winners. Jake Dennis, Nicki Thiim, and Matthieu Vaxiviere do Aston Martin proud at Silverstone, at home! We have new winners in the Silver Cup trophy as well, with Black Falcon and their #6 Mercedes taking the honors, in the hands of Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, and Gabriele Piana. Pro Am victory goes to another new team for the win, the #49 Ram Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 shared by Euan Hankey of England, Turkey's Salih Yoluc, and Darren Burke, also from the United Kingdom.
One final class to talk about. The Am class is won by Garage 59 with their #188 McLaren 650S GT3 shared by Chris Goodwin from England, Chris Harris (TV show host, car racer, and car nut), also from England, and Sweden's Alexander West.
Overall/Pro: #76 Dennis/Thiim/Vaxiviere Aston Martin V12 Vantage
Silver: #6 Al Faisal/Haupt/Piana Mercedes AMG GT3
Pro Am: #49 Hankey/Yoluc/Burke Mercedes AMG GT3
Am: #188 Goodwin/Harris/West McLaren 650S GT3
The Blancpain GT Endurance Cup season, reaches it's halfway mark, in just less than two weeks, with the next round of the championship, and the first of two consecutive endurance events on the calendar. Next up, is the 1,000 Kilometers of Paul Ricard, at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in Le Castellet, in the south of France, in about three weeks. Join us then, for more Blancpain Endurance action. So long, for now, from Jolly Old England.
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