Polesitters Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hari Proczyk won the first Blancpain Sprint Series race of the weekend at Zandvoort on Saturday for Lamborghini team Grasser Racing. Heavy rain showers hit the track twice, contributing to two safety car periods, but Proczyk just held on at the final restart despite a determined attack from Max Gotz in the #84 HTP Mercedes.
At the off, the track was damp from earlier rainfall, but not damp enough for anyone to chance starting the race on wet tyres, so the entire field left the grid for the formation lap on slicks. At the first corner, Bleekemolen held his lead, but behind him sixth-place starter Alessandro Balzan in the #90 Ferrari hit eighth-place qualifier Sergio Jimenez in the #0 Team Brasil BMW.
Jimenez did well to hold on to the Z4 as it slid across the grass on driver’s left going down the straight, avoiding the much bigger accident that would have transpired had he spun in front of most of the field. Front-right damage to his car would lead to eventual retirement after two visits to the pits, while Balzan was shown the black-and-white driving standards flag for his actions.
Further back, Dominik Baumann made a good start in the #76 Team Schubert BMW, vaulting from 12th up to ninth, and later overhauling Nelson Piquet Jr’s #30 Team Brasil BMW to move into eighth. Peter Kox in the #88 Reiter Lamborghini had a less impressive start, losing places to Rene Rast in the #2 WRT Audi, Max Buhk in the #84 HTP Mercedes and Balzan in the #90 Ferrari to lie sixth at the start of the second lap.
Roman Rusinov’s Q1 mishap meant Stephane Ortelli had to start the #3 G-Drive-sponsored WRT Audi from the pitlane. The Monegasque stayed out of trouble at the start and began picking off cars straight away. Miguel Toril in the Fortec Mercedes was his first victim on the straight at the end of lap two, and he’d moved up to 15th by lap seven.
Up front, second-place Laurens Vanthoor in the #1 Audi mantained his grid position and was lapping within a tenth of Bleekemolen, making it clear he wouldn’t be letting the Dutchman run away with it. Rast in the sister #2 car held third, while Buhk was fourth – but neither could quite match the pace of the leading duo.
With about 10 minutes still to run before the pit window opened, the rain returned with a vengeance, yet it was clear most drivers were going to try to keep going on slicks and avoid a race-ruining second pit stop to change to wets early. Markus Winkelhock in the #6 Phoenix Audi seemed to be enjoying the conditions, passing both Kox and Balzan to move up to fifth overall. His over-exuberance got the better of him just a few corners later, however, when he spun into the gravel at turn seven, bringing out the first safety car.
This put race leader Jeroen Bleekemolen in an interesting position. “I wasn’t sure if I was allowed pit under the safety car in this series, as I’m racing in so many different championships this season,” he remembered. “So I got on the radio and asked the team. I knew there was two minutes and 20 seconds until the pit window opened from when I crossed the line – I got them to count me down over the radio.”
Slowing his Lamborghini almost to a crawl, Bleekemolen rounded the final corner just as the pit window opened, allowing him and the rest of the field to dive in, make their driver changes and put on wet-weather tyres. This meant there would be none of the usual pit-window tactics, with faster drivers staying out until the last minute – all drivers changed over right at the start of the window after a short first stint. The big losers at the stops were WRT – a problem at the right front delaying the #1 car started by Vanthoor and leaving his co-driver Ramos down in eighth when he finally rejoined.
The safety car came in shortly after all the stops had been completed, and Bleekemolen’s co-driver Proczyk now led in the #28 Lambo from Gotz in the #84 Merc – despite a brief charge into second by Kox’s co-driver Rosina at the restart. Proczyk had proved last time out in Brands Hatch that he was capable of absorbing pressure and defending a lead, but conditions here were much trickier and a tense second half of the race was in prospect.
Meanwhile, Baumann’s co-driver Thomas Jager and Piquet Jr’s co-driver Matheus Stumpf were engaged in a fierce battle for sixth in their Z4s, Jager having been passed for fifth by Filip Salaquarda in the #90 Ferrari. Enzo Ide was fourth, having taken over the #2 Audi from Rast at the stops.
With 25 minutes running still to be completed, Gotz was just 1.6 seconds behind Proczyk and the rain had started to ease off. Salaquarda was attacking Ide for fourth, but Stumpf got tagged and spun around by Jager as their tussle continued, dropping the sole remaining Team Brasil BMW to ninth.
The rain increased in intensity once again, however, and Ide snatched third from Rosina going into the first turn with 17 minutes to go. Soon after, the safety car was deployed again after a coming-together between Rosina and Salaquarda left both cars beached in the gravel. This promoted Ramos to fourth, Jager to fifth, Alessandro Latif in the #5 Phoenix Audi to sixth and Robert Renaur in the Team Herbeth Porsche to seventh.
Clearing up Rosina and Salaquarda’s accident took some time, and there were just two minutes remaining on the clock when the safety car finally pulled into the pits, setting up a nail-biting conclusion to the race. Proczyk didn’t get the best restart, allowing Gotz to close right up behind him on the start-finish straight, but the HTP Merc couldn’t find a way past into the first corner.
Ramos had better luck against his team-mate Ide, however, sneaking past through Tarzan to salvage third position for himself and Vanthoor after the #1 car’s earlier pit troubles. Up front, Gotz attacked again going into the chicane on the last lap, skimming the rear bumper of Proczyk’s Lamborghini, but having to eventually concede defeat as the battling pair rounded the final corner.
“It was a big surprise to get in the car so early, as normally Jeroen does the longer stint,” said a delighted Proczyk afterwards. “Actually I was hoping the race would finish under the safety car! I was taking a completely different line to Max through one corner, so when I looked in my mirror and didn’t see him, I thought for a second I was safe, but then I heard the noise of the SLS and he was right beside me!”
Gotz said: “Hari was faster than me in the first and last sectors of the lap, so I tried to push him in the second. I got alongside him at the exit of turn 10, but I wasn’t in a good position to brake for the chicane and I backed off.”
Vanthoor and co-driver Ramos meanwhile were relieved to have salvaged some points after the uncharacteristic WRT pit slip-up. “The car had lots of grip straight away, and I didn’t have much to lose coming out of the pits in eighth,” Ramos explained. “Third isn’t what we really wanted, but we saved the race and we look good for tomorrow.”
So no last-gasp victory for the #84 Mercedes, but the result is still good news for Gotz and Buhk’s title challenge – they currently lead the drivers’ standings on 57 points, seven ahead of Bleekemolen and Proczyk’s 50 going into Sunday’s main race, where 25 points are on offer for the win.
Rast/Ide (WRT Audi) and Baumann Jager (Schubert BMW) wound up fourth and fifth, while Renaur got the Herberth Porsche up to sixth at the flag, ahead of Sten Pentus in the Bhai Tech McLaren shared with Daniel Lloyd.
Pro-Am victory went to Sascha Halek and Stefan Landmann, who finished eighth overall in the other Grasser Lamborghini, while Ortelli and Roman Rusinov managed to salvage ninth in the G-Drive Audi after their pit-lane start.
Latif and Marc Basseng, second in Pro-Am, rounded out the top 10, and there was a customary Silver Cup victory for Mateusz Lisowski and Vincent Abril in the #4 WRT Audi. Their only opposition in the class, the #34 ROAL BMW, was out of contention from early in the race due to an off and subsequent unscheduled pit stop.
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