Eight Audi R8 LMS cars in Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup
Six customer racing cars in Endurance Cup
Strong driver lineups with former Blancpain champions
The Blancpain GT Series is the leading Europe-wide series for GT3 sports cars. Since 2011, the Audi teams have collected a total of six overall titles and sixteen class titles in this young series. Three Audi Sport customer racing teams will aim to win more trophies and titles this year.
For sprint or endurances races and for youngsters or established professionals: The Blancpain GT Series is an attractive platform in motorsport. Drivers and teams from up to eleven sports car manufacturers will face off against each other during the 2017 season.
The calendar includes five races for the Sprint Cup, wherein two drivers share each car. The Endurance Cup sees three drivers behind the wheel of each car in the five races, one of which is the prestigious Spa 24 Hours in July. The endurance races, other than the event at Spa, will each be three hours in duration.
Last year, Enzo Ide won the won the Sprint Cup drivers’ title with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. The Belgian is returning to the series with the same team for his title defense this year. The team of Vincent Vosse will enter a total of five cars with a lineup of drivers that includes, among others, tree-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fässler and the former Blancpain champions Christopher Mies and Robin Frijns, as well as GT1 world champion, Markus Winkelhock.
The Belgian team will be racing against, among others, the fellow Audi teams of Saintéloc Racing from France and I.S.R. from the Czech Republic. WRT and Saintéloc have been part of the Audi Sport customer racing family since 2010, and I.S.R. joined in 2014.
Saintéloc driver Christopher Haase is a former Blancpain champion, while I.S.R. driver Frank Stippler has already won 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa. WRT, Saintéloc and I.S.R. will also be representing the brand with the four rings in the Endurance Cup. For these races, Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has recruited, among others, the three-time Le Mans winner Benoît Tréluyer.
“The Blancpain GT Series is the most prestigious series in Europe. Worldwide, no other GT3 series has so many participants,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.
“With up to eight Audi R8 LMS cars, our brand is very well represented. We are racing against many strong manufacturers, many of which are competitors to Audi in the sports car market. We are doing our utmost to continue our success story.”
The Sprint Cup begins from April 1 to 2 at Misano (Italy). The season will conclude with the Endurance Cup finale in Barcelona (Spain) on October 1.
The customer teams of Audi Sport in the Blancpain GT Series:
Sprint Cup
#1 Enzo Ide/Christopher Mies (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
#2 Will Stevens/Markus Winkelhock (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
#3 Jake Dennis/Pieter Schothorst (Team WRT)
#5 Marcel Fässler/Dries Vanthoor (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
#17 Robin Frijns/Stuart Leonard (Team WRT)
#26 Christopher Haase/Romain Monti (Saintéloc Racing)
#74 Kevin Ceccon/Frank Stippler (I.S.R.)
#75 Filip Salaquarda/Clemens Schmidt (I.S.R.)
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Endurance Cup
#3 Josh Caygill/John Venter/TBC (Team WRT)
#5 Marcel Fässler/Will Stevens/Dries Vanthoor (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
#6 Nathanaël Berthon/Stéphane Richelmi/Benoît Tréluyer (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
#17 Jake Dennis/Robin Frijns/Stuart Leonard (Team WRT)
#26 Christian Kelders/Marc Rostan/TBC (Saintéloc Racing)
#75 Filip Salaquarda/Clemens Schmidt/Frank Stippler (I.S.R.)
