2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup

2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup season
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The 2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup is the fourth season following on from the demise of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship (an auto racing series for grand tourer cars), the third with the designation of Blancpain Sprint Series or Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. After developing their partnership, Blancpain and the SRO have decided that 2016 will see both the Sprint and Endurance Series further integrated into the Blancpain GT Series, putting the emphasis on the prestigious overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles causing the Sprint Series name to change from Blancpain Sprint Series to Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.^[1]

Calendar

The series started at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on 10 April and ends at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain on 2 October. The calendar is reduced to five events, dropping races at Nogaro, Moscow, Algarve, Zolder and Zandvoort, with the addition of races at Hungaroring and Nürburgring.^[2]

Event	Circuit	Date	Report
1	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico, Italy	10 April	Report
2	Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain	8 May	Report
3	Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany	3 July	Report
4	Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary	28 August	Report
5	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain	2 October	Report

Entry list

Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Belgian Audi Club Team WRT[3] Audi R8 LMS[3] 1 Laurens Vanthoor[3] P 1–2 Frédéric Vervisch[3] 2 Stuart Leonard[3] S 1–2 Michael Meadows[3] 3 Rodrigo Baptista[3] P 1–2 Filipe Albuquerque[4] 1 Sérgio Jimenez[3] 2 4 Robin Frijns[3] P 1–2 Dries Vanthoor[3] 28 René Rast[5] P 1 Will Stevens[5] 33 Enzo Ide[3] P 1–2 Christopher Mies[3] Phoenix Racing[6] Audi R8 LMS[6] 5 Nicolaj Møller Madsen[6] S 1–2 Markus Pommer[6] 6 Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof[6] P 1–2 Markus Winkelhock[6] Bentley Team M-Sport[7] Bentley Continental GT3[7] 7 Vincent Abril[7] P 1–2 Steven Kane[7] 8 Andy Soucek[7] P 1–2 Maxime Soulet[7] Kessel Racing[4] Ferrari 488 GT3[4] 11 Michał Broniszewski[4] PA 1–2 Giacomo Piccini[4] Boutsen Ginion[8] BMW M6 GT3[8] 12 Matias Henkola[8] PA 1 Maxime Martin[8] GRT Grasser Racing Team[9] Lamborghini Huracán GT3[9] 16 Jeroen Bleekemolen[9] P 1–2 Štefan Rosina[9] 19 Michele Beretta[9] S 1–2 Luca Stolz[9] 63 Mirko Bortolotti[9] P 1–2 Nicolas Pohler[9] Nissan GT Academy Team RJN[10] Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3[10] 22 Ricardo Sánchez[10] S 1–2 Sean Walkinshaw[10] 23 Alex Buncombe[10] P 1–2 Mitsunori Takaboshi[10] Saintéloc Racing[11] Audi R8 LMS[11] 25 Romain Monti[12] P 1–2 Edward Sandström[12] 26 Christopher Haase[11] P 1–2 Mike Parisy[11] Team a-workx[13] Porsche 911 GT3 R[13] 36 Sebastian Asch[14] PA 1–2 Didi Gonzales[14] AF Corse[15] Ferrari 458 Italia GT3[15] 55 Stéphane Lémeret[16] Am 1–2 Claudio Sdanewitsch[4] 90 Raffaele Giammaria[15] P 1–2 Ezequiel Pérez Companc[15] Garage 59[17] McLaren 650S GT3[17] 58 Rob Bell[17] P 1–2 Álvaro Parente[17] 59 Martin Plowman[18] P 1–2 Craig Dolby[18] 1 Côme Ledogar[19] 2 Black Pearl Racing[20][N 1] Rinaldi Racing[20][N 1] Ferrari 458 Italia GT3[20] 66 Christian Hook[20] Am 1 Steve Parrow[20] PA 2 Daniel Keilwitz[21] Ferrari 488 GT3[20][N 2] 333 Marco Seefried[20] P 1–2 Norbert Siedler[20] ISR[4] Audi R8 LMS[4] 74 Franck Perera[22] P 1–2 Marlon Stöckinger[22] 75 Filip Salaquarda[4] P 1–2 Frank Stippler[4] Attempto Racing[23] Lamborghini Huracán GT3[23] 77 Jack Falla[22] P 1–2 Davide Valsecchi[22] 100 Jeroen Mul[23] S 1–2 Max van Splunteren[23] 101 Patric Niederhauser[23] P 1–2 Daniel Zampieri[23] HTP Motorsport[24] Mercedes-AMG GT3[24] 84 Dominik Baumann[24] P 1–2 Maximilian Buhk[24] 85 Jazeman Jaafar[24] P 1–2 Clemens Schmid[24] 86 Bernd Schneider[24] P 1–2 Jules Szymkowiak[24] AKKA ASP[25] Mercedes-AMG GT3[25] 87 Jean-Luc Beaubelique[25] PA 1–2 Morgan Moullin-Traffort[25] 88 Felix Rosenqvist[25] P 1–2 Tristan Vautier[25] 89 Jean-Philippe Belloc[25] PA 2 Christophe Bourret[25] Rowe Racing[26] BMW M6 GT3[26] 98 Nick Catsburg[26] P 1–2 Stef Dusseldorp[26] 99 Philipp Eng[26] P 1–2 Alexander Sims[26] X-Bionic Racing Team[22] Lamborghini Huracán GT3[22] 963 Laurent Jenny[22] Am 1 Cédric Leimer[22]

Icon Class P Pro Cup PA Pro-Am Cup S Silver Cup Am Am Cup

Race results

Bold indicates overall winner.

Event	Circuit	Pole position	Qualifying Race Winners	Main Race
				Pro Winners	Pro-Am Winners	Silver Winners	Am Winners
1	Misano	No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	No. 8 Bentley Team M-Sport	No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	No. 11 Kessel Racing	No. 5 Phoenix Racing	No. 55 AF Corse
		Laurens Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch	Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet	Laurens Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch	Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini	Nicolaj Møller Madsen Markus Pommer	Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch
2	Brands Hatch
3	Nürburgring
4	Hungaroring
5	Barcelona-Catalunya

Championship standings

Scoring system

Championship points were awarded for the first six positions in each Qualifying Race and for the first ten positions in each Main Race. The pole-sitter in the Qualifying Race also received one point and entries were required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers were required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race.

Qualifying Race points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Pole
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1	1

Main Race points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Drivers' championships

Overall

Pos. Driver Team MIS BRH NÜR HUN CAT Points QR MR QR MR QR MR QR MR QR MR 1 Laurens Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 3 1 30 2 Philipp Eng Alexander Sims Rowe Racing 2 3 21 3 Dominik Baumann Maximilian Buhk HTP Motorsport 5 2 20 4 Rob Bell Álvaro Parente Garage 59 9 4 12 5 Filip Salaquarda Frank Stippler ISR 8 5 10 6 Marco Seefried Norbert Siedler Rinaldi Racing 6 6 9 7 Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet Bentley Team M-Sport 1 11 8 8 Bernd Schneider Jules Szymkowiak HTP Motorsport Ret 7 6 9 Enzo Ide Christopher Mies Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 13 8 4 10 Robin Frijns Dries Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 4 22 3 11 Raffaele Giammaria Ezequiel Pérez Companc AF Corse 12 9 2 12 Patric Niederhauser Daniel Zampieri Attempto Racing 18 10 1 Felix Rosenqvist Tristan Vautier AKKA ASP 7 32 0 Nick Catsburg Stef Dusseldorp Rowe Racing 10 29 0 Christopher Haase Mike Parisy Saintéloc Racing 11 Ret 0 Mirko Bortolotti Nicolas Pohler GRT Grasser Racing Team Ret 12 0 Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini Kessel Racing 23 13 0 Alex Buncombe Mitsunori Takaboshi Nissan GT Academy Team RJN 17 14 0 René Rast Will Stevens Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 14 Ret 0 Nicolaj Møller Madsen Markus Pommer Phoenix Racing 19 15 0 Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock Phoenix Racing 15 27 0 Michele Beretta Luca Stolz GRT Grasser Racing Team 16 23 0 Romain Monti Edward Sandström Saintéloc Racing 26 16 0 Vincent Abril Steven Kane Bentley Team M-Sport 20 17 0 Stuart Leonard Michael Meadows Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Ret 18 0 Jazeman Jaafar Clemens Schmid HTP Motorsport DNS 19 0 Jeroen Mul Max van Splunteren Attempto Racing 21 20 0 Filipe Albuquerque Rodrigo Baptista Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 33 21 0 Jack Falla Davide Valsecchi Attempto Racing 22 DNS 0 Jean-Luc Beaubelique Morgan Moullin-Traffort AKKA ASP 27 24 0 Ricardo Sánchez Sean Walkinshaw Nissan GT Academy Team RJN 24 28 0 Matias Henkola Maxime Martin Boutsen Ginion 25 25 0 Craig Dolby Martin Plowman Garage 59 Ret 26 0 Christian Hook Steve Parrow Black Pearl Racing 28 34 0 Sebastian Asch Didi Gonzales Team a-workx 29 31 0 Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch AF Corse 30 30 0 Franck Perera Marlon Stöckinger ISR 31 35 0 Laurent Jenny Cédric Leimer X-Bionic Racing Team 32 33 0 Jeroen Bleekemolen Štefan Rosina GRT Grasser Racing Team Ret Ret 0

Key Colour Result Gold Race winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did Not Participate Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Pro-Am Cup

Pos.	Driver	Team	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini	Kessel Racing	23	13									34
2	Jean-Luc Beaubelique Morgan Moullin-Traffort	AKKA ASP	27	24									22
3	Matias Henkola Maxime Martin	Boutsen Ginion	25	25									21
4	Sebastian Asch Didi Gonzales	Team a-workx	29	31									15

Silver Cup

Pos.	Driver	Team	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Nicolaj Møller Madsen Markus Pommer	Phoenix Racing	19	15									31
2	Michele Beretta Luca Stolz	GRT Grasser Racing Team	16	23									20
3	Stuart Leonard Michael Meadows	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Ret	18									19
3	Jeroen Mul Max van Splunteren	Attempto Racing	21	20									19
4	Ricardo Sánchez Sean Walkinshaw	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	24	28									13

Am Cup

Pos.	Driver	Team	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch	AF Corse	30	30									32
2	Christian Hook Steve Parrow	Black Pearl Racing	28	34									23
3	Laurent Jenny Cédric Leimer	X-Bionic Racing Team	32	33									22

Teams' championships

Overall

Pos.	Team	Manufacturer	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	3	1									30
2	HTP Motorsport	Mercedes-Benz	5	2									21
3	Rowe Racing	BMW	2	3									21
4	Garage 59	McLaren	9	4									12
5	ISR	Audi	8	5									10
6	Rinaldi Racing/Black Pearl Racing	Ferrari	6	6									10
7	Bentley Team M-Sport	Bentley	1	11									10
8	AF Corse	Ferrari	12	9									6
9	Attempto Racing	Lamborghini	18	10									4
10	AKKA ASP	Mercedes-Benz	7	24									1
11	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini	16	12									1
	Saintéloc Racing	Audi	11	16									0
	Kessel Racing	Ferrari	23	13									0
	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	Nissan	17	14									0
	Phoenix Racing	Audi	15	15									0
	Boutsen Ginion	BMW	25	25									0
	Team a-workx	Porsche	29	31									0
	X-Bionic Racing Team	Lamborghini	32	33									0

Pro-Am Cup

Pos.	Team	Manufacturer	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Kessel Racing	Ferrari	23	13									34
2	AKKA ASP	Mercedes-Benz	27	24									22
3	Boutsen Ginion	BMW	25	25									21
4	Team a-workx	Porsche	29	31									15

Silver Cup

Pos.	Driver	Team	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	Phoenix Racing	Audi	19	15									31
2	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Lamborghini	16	23									20
3	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	Ret	18									19
4	Attempto Racing	Lamborghini	21	20									19
5	Nissan GT Academy Team RJN	Nissan	24	28									13

Am Cup

Pos.	Driver	Team	MIS		BRH		NÜR		HUN		CAT		Points
			QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR	QR	MR
1	AF Corse	Ferrari	30	30									32
2	Black Pearl Racing	Ferrari	28	34									23
3	X-Bionic Racing Team	Lamborghini	32	33									22

See also

• 2016 Blancpain GT Series
• 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

Notes

1. Car No. 66 entered as Black Pearl Racing and car No. 333 entered as Rinaldi Racing.
2. Rinaldi Racing entered with a Ferrari 488 GT3, but drove at Misano with a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 since the 488 had not arrived yet.

References

1. "About Blancpain GT Series". Blancpain GT Series. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
2. Wouters, Vincent (19 September 2015). "Blancpain GT Calendar Reduced to Ten Rounds". sportscar365 (John Dagys Media). Retrieved 19 September 2015.
3. "A busy and full-fledged program for Team WRT in 2016!". w-racingteam.com. W Racing Team. February 26, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
4. "2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Misano Provisional Entry List" (PDF). vmail.vertouk.com. SRO Motorsports Group. March 29, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
5. "Ahead of the Castellet pre-season test, Team WRT adds an ace to its 2016 driver line-up: Stevens-Rast!". w-racingteam.com. W Racing Team. March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
6. "Phoenix Racing with extensive GT programme in 2016". phoenix-racing.de. Phoenix Racing. March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
7. "Bentley announces largest race programme yet". m-sport.co.uk. M-Sport. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
8. "Matias Henkola joins Boutsen Ginion for Misano". blancpain-gt-series.com. SRO Motorsports Group. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
9. "Busy program for the GRT Grasser-Racing-Team in 2016". grasser-racing.com. Grasser Racing. February 2, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
10. Dagys, John (February 26, 2016). "Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Expands into Blancpain Sprint Cup". sportscar365.com. Sportscar 365. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
11. Wouters, Vincent (March 8, 2016). "Haase, Parisy to Race Saintéloc Audi in Blancpain Sprint". sportscar365.com. Sportscar 365. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
12. Sandström, Edward (March 31, 2016). "Happy to announce I'll do Blancpain Sprint series with Romain Monti and Saintéloc Racing. Bon appétit!". facebook.com. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
13. Wouters, Vincent (February 23, 2016). "A-Workx Wieth Racing to Field Porsche in Blancpain Sprint". sportscar365.com. Sportscar 365. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
14. Wouters, Vincent (February 29, 2016). "Asch to Lead A-workx Blancpain Sprint Lineup". sportscar365.com. Sportscar 365. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
15. "Blancpain GT Series News Notebook: Attempto Huracan, AF Corse 458 & 488". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. February 15, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
16. Wouters, Martijn (January 12, 2016). "Stéphane Lémeret met AF Corse in GT Open en Blancpain Sprint". autosport.be. Circuit Internationaal. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
17. Watkins, Gary (March 8, 2016). "Four factory McLaren drivers to race for Garage 59 in Blancpain GT". autosport.com. Autosport. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
18. "Craig Dolby and Martin Plowman join Garage 59 in Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup". blancpain-gt-series.com. SRO Motorsports Group. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
19. "Ledogar In For Dolby At Brands Hatch". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
20. "Rinaldi Racing's extensive 2016 motorsport programme". rinaldi-racing.de. Rinaldi Racing. March 15, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
21. "2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Brands Hatch Entry List". blancpain-gt-series.com. SRO Motorsports Group. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
22. Wouters, Vincent (March 31, 2016). "Misano Blancpain Sprint Entry Grows to 40 Cars". sportcar365.com. Sportscar 365. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
23. "Attempto Racing to field two Huracán GT3s in the Blancpain GT Series". blancpain-gt-series.com. SRO Motorsports Group. February 25, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
24. "HTP Motorsport bevestigt Sprint line-ups". autosport.be. SLD VZW Autosport.be. March 31, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
25. Rolland, Emmanuel (February 27, 2016). "Tristan Vautier rejoint AKKA-ASP et Mercedes". fr.motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
26. "Philipp Eng, Alexander Sims, Stef Dusseldorp and Nick Catsburg to run the teams BMW M6 GT3 cars". rowe-mineraloel.com. Worms: Rowe Racing. March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.

External links

• Official website