Light rain and a damp track made for tricky conditions at the start of Sunday’s Qualifying Race at the Blancpain Sprint Series season opener in Nogaro. WRT Audi men Laurens Vanthoor (#1) and Rene Rast (#2) were on the ball as soon as the lights went out, however. By the time the field safely cleared the first three corners, they’d overhauled poleman Jeroen Bleekemolen to emerge in a controlling 1-2.
Fourteenth-place starter Alex Zanardi (#33 ROAL BMW) ran wide onto the grass in the first sequence of corners, dropping him down to the back of the field, but providing an entertaining spectacle as he fought his way back up the order in both stints, eventually winding up 15th ahead of ROAL BMW team-mates Stefano Colombo and David Fumanelli in the #34 car.
Closer to the front, fifth-place starter Markus Winkelhock (#6 Phoenix Audi) found himself coming under pressure from Brazilian Stock Car legend Caca Bueno in the #0 BMW.
“I was struggling for grip in the early stages,” Winkelhock said afterwards, “and having to defend from Bueno was a distraction, too. But my car improved in the course of the stint and I was able to pull away before handing the car over.”
Elsewhere in the first stint, Giorgio Pantano and Daniel Lloyd had an interesting intra-team battle in the two Bhai Tech McLarens, but the reigning GT Open champion team did not look at home around Nogaro at all – the two cars would finish the race 12th and 17th respectively in the hands of second drivers Onidi and Pentus. Another mover from GT Open, Andrea Montermini, got the Villorba Corse Ferrari into the top 10 briefly when he passed Basseng’s #5 Phoenix Audi, but the Italian car only gained one more place in the hands of second driver Filip Salaquarda before the chequered flag.
The rain had mostly stopped falling by Lap 6, about 10 minutes after the start. At this stage, Vanthoor was six seconds ahead of second-place Rast, and the gap only increased as the pit window got closer. “I could follow Laurens for the first two laps or so, but no more after that – he was in a different dimension, so I focused on managing the tyres,” explained Rast.
Bleekemolen may have lost his pole position, but he was not done for yet. At the end of Lap 8, the Grasser Lamborghini passed the #2 WRT Audi through the final turns 13-14 complex. Once into second, Bleekemolen could match leader Vanthoor’s times, but couldn’t get any closer, so the gap from first to second remained at around 10 seconds. Just before the pit window opened, Nelson Piquet Jr brought the #21 Team Brazil BMW in with a front-right puncture, ending any hopes of a strong result.
Hopes that Bleekemolen could convert his pole into a win also evaporated at the stops. First, his co-driver Harry Proczyk was slow getting the Lamborghini going after the driver change. This meant he emerged only just in front of Enzo Ide, who’d taken over the #2 WRT car from Rast. The pair battled for three or four laps, before Ide got down the inside of the Gallardo going into Turn 2. His front left made contact with Proczyk’s door, sending the Austrian driver spinning into the gravel. The incident was investigated by the stewards, but no further action was taken.
Later, Ide said: “I really didn’t do it on purpose. I was behind him for three or four laps and I was definitely quicker. I’d already gone to the inside of him on that corner once before, and this time he just closed back on me. That’s racing in the wet – it’s hard sometimes.”
Ide and Proczyk’s scrap had allowed Cesar Ramos (who’d taken over Vanthoor’s car) to cruise away at the front of the field, getting the gap up to around 20 seconds at race end. “I was feeling the pressure for sure, as this car won here last year,” said the delighted Brazilian. “I have to say thanks to Laurens for his good job in the first stint. This is a great start to the year, but we have to do it all again tomorrow.”
Rast and Ide finished second, just ahead of Niki Mayr-Melnhof, who brought the #6 Phoenix Audi home to score a podium for himself and Winkelhock. “I could immediately push hard from the start of the stint,” said Melnhof, “and I felt I was catching Enzo towards the end, too – I had a bit more traction out of the corners.” The #5 finished just two seconds behind the #2 at the flag.
However, third became second after the race following the disqualification of the #2 WRT Audi after scrutineering for the following reason: “Car doesn’t comply with the rear wing position described in its GT3 homologation file. High downforce position over limit with tolerance – measured +25mm, max allowed +16mm)”
Sergio Jimenez and Caca Bueno benefitted from Proczyk’s elimination to move up to fourth at the flag – a strong result considering how ill-suited the Team Brazil BMW Z4 is to this track – while Gregory Guilvert and Stephane Ortelli drove an uneventful race in the G-Drive Audi to take fifth. Sixth, along with the final championship point in this Qualifying Race, went to Max Buhk and Maxi Götz’s #84 HTP Mercedes.
An eighth-place finish for Mateusz Lisowski and Vincent Abril secured Silver Cup win for WRT Audi. Ebrahim’s serious crash in the Fortec Mercedes yesterday reduced the entry for this class to just three cars, however young Pole Lisowksi has shown impressive form on his first proper GT outing. Having mainly raced in front-wheel-drive one-make championships before, he could be one to watch for the future.
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