“It has been a very good weekend and there is little to say because no much happened”, tells Team Principal, “It was a faultless race by the entire team and all the drivers, I just want to congratulate them and tell them that I am very proud of the good work done. It was clear that both the Aston and the Nissan were in another league in terms of performance, this is something that will have to be addressed, but we put together a solid and consistent effort, and got the rewards for it. We knew that if we wouldn’t have any trouble, we would have been OK at the end of the race, which is what matters. We do a good move with regard to the championship and that is extremely important too.”

The weekend had started positively since free practice, with the three cars systematically in the top 12. Ortelli and Sandström topped Qualifying 1, with Vanthoor and Mies taking third in Q2 and Q3, respectively. Eventually, Mies was in P3 on the grid, Rast in P8 and Halliday in P11.

On a beautiful spring day, the start of the race saw WRT drivers on the very front. Mies was fourth, while Ortelli fought for 5th and Rahel Frey was 8th after gaining a couple of positions. In between laps 27 and 29, the three cars pitted in with Stippler, Vanthoor and Mayr-Melhnof taking the wheel. They ran in 2nd, 3rd and 6th position respectively, although the leading Aston Martin seemed unapproachable.

The # 1 Audi would eventually pass the sister car to lead the opposition to the Aston, with Vanthoor reducing somehow the gap to less than 20 seconds, while Mayr-Melnhof kept busy fighting in a lively group and had to concede two positions. “I think we have been managing our tires a little bit better”, said Ortelli in the pits, “and this has allowed us to get nearer the Aston, although it is not really thinkable to catch it up.”

The final hour brought little changes, with Rast, Sandström and Halliday basically preserving their assets, given also the fact that the Aston is not a championship contender.

The good day of the Belgian Audi Club was completed by the positive results obtained by other members: Enzo Ide and Anthony Kumpen (Phoenix Racing) came in ninth and Ronnie Lantinne finished in P27, on an R8 of the French team Saintéloc.

The next round of the Blancpain will take place at the Paul Ricard on 29-30 June, one month before the biggest event of the year, the Total 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Blancpain Endurance Series – Round 2
Silverstone, UK
1-2 June 2013

Race Results:

1. Turner-Makowiecki-Mücke (Aston Martin Vantage) 86 laps
2. Ortelli-Vanthoor-Rast (Audi R8 LMS ultra) + 20s981
3. Sandström-Stippler-Mies (Audi R8 LMS ultra) + 55s516
4. Luhr-Kane-Dumbreck (Nissan GTR) +1m15s101
5. Palttala-Catsburg-Moser (BMW Z4) +1m15s354
6. Ramos-Zampieri-Rigon (Ferrari F458) +1m15s548
8. Halliday-Frey-Mayr-Melnhof (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +1m33s309

Drivers’ Championship Standings (Pro) after Round 2 of 5

1. Zampieri-Rigon-Ramos (Ferrari F458) 33 points
2. Sandström-Stippler-Mies (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 27
3. Ortelli-Vanthoor-Rast (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 22
4. Soucek-Parisy-Leclerc (McLaren MP4-12C) 18
5. Carroll-Verdonck-Bell (McLaren MP4-12C) 15
6. Luhr-Kane-Dumbreck (Nissan GTR) 12
6. Ide-Kumpen-Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 12
11. Halliday-Frey-Mayr-Melnhof 4

Teams’ Championship Standings (Pro) after Round 2 of 5

1. Kessel Racing 33 points
2. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 30
3. ART Grand Prix 18
3. Marc VDS 18
5. Gulf Racing 16

“We are very happy to resume activity in the Blancpain”, states Team Principal Vincent Vosse, “as this is really the top GT competition at the moment and a series I personally like very much. It’s always nice to go to Britain, which is the cradle of modern motorsports and there are always so many fans, and Silverstone has always been a track where we have done well. The fact that it’s a flowingly fast track suits the Audis well, although we know the R8 is not the fastest car in terms of pure performance. Last year we achieved two podium finishes, and we aim at being on the podium this time too. The competition, though, is extremely strong, once again, and there are plenty of very good cars and teams, with excellent drivers and great ambitions, but that’s what we are too!”

With 60 cars entered, the Blancpain will indeed feature again a fabulous grid, and the battle will be fiercer than ever. A key addition will be the works car from Aston Martin, which will certainly aim at shining on home soil. “It will be certainly one of the cars to be watched more closely”, confirms Sporting Director Pierre Dieudonné, “although not the only one, of course. But we know we also are among the strong teams. For the rest, there haven’t been many developments since Monza. Only very minor adjustments have been made to the Balance of Performance, which in the Blancpain is working reasonably well. Needless to say, weather conditions may play a role, and the forecasts seem to point to changing conditions, but that is something pretty usual in Britain and nothing that can scare a … Belgian team!”

Among the drivers, spirits are high and one man is looking for revenge. Edward Sandström shared with Mies and Stippler the best-placed WRT car at Monza and drove the last and incredibly lively stint, managing to preserve the third place from the fierce attacks of rivals until the last corner. Since then, the Swede has overcome the slight disappointment and reflects on what happened: “It was, of course, frustrating to lose the podium so close to the finishing line and because of the obstruction of a slower car”, he concedes, “but it was still a good race and a good result. I fought well in the last stint, not only against rivals, but also against some pick-up problem, and there is always something to be learnt. Maybe when I stumbled into that slower car, I should have been less conservative, but I wanted to avoid taking unnecessary risks. Anyway, fourth was not a bad result with regard to the championship, especially at Monza, which was probably the most challenging circuit for us”.

“Now we go to Silverstone”, goes on Edward, “It’s a track I adore, I am always excited at going there, and I think we will be competitive, despite the very strong opposition. The Audi always performed well there, especially in the fast corners such as Becketts, Copse and Stowe, and the WRT Team is working perfectly, in an excellent atmosphere. With 60 cars on the track, qualifying well will be important and also a challenge, as you cannot have a clear lap for yourself, and you need to choose the right group of cars to be with.”

The weekend format, as usual, foresees free practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday, with qualifying on Sunday morning and the 3-hour race kicking off at 2:50 pm UK time (one hour later in continental Europe).

Blancpain Endurance Series – Round 2
Silverstone, United Kingdom
1st – 2nd June 2013

Timetable (all times local = CET -1)

Saturday 1st June 2013
09:00-10:00 Testing for Bronze drivers (does not apply to WRT drivers)
11:00-12:30 Free Practice
16:35-17:50 Pre-qualifying

Sunday 2nd June 2013
09:00-10:00 Qualifying
14:50-17:50 Race

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

#1 Stéphane Ortelli (MC) – Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) – René Rast (DE) (Pro)
#2 Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof (AT) – Matt Halliday (NZ) – Rahel Frey (CH) (Pro)
#13 Edward Sandström (SE) – Frank Stippler (DE) – Christopher Mies (DE) (Pro)

Drivers’ Championship Standings (Pro) after Round 1 of 5

1. Zampieri-Rigon-Ramos (Ferrari F458) 25 points
2. Soucek-Parisy-Leclerc (McLaren MP4-12C) 18
3. Carroll-Verdonck-Bell (McLaren MP4-12C) 15
4. Sandström-Stippler-Mies (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 12
5. Ide-Kumpen-Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 10
8. Ortelli-Vanthoor-Rast (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 4

Teams’ Championship Standings (Pro) after Round 1 of 5

1. Kessel Racing 25 points
2. ART Grand Prix 18
3. Gulf Racing 15
4. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 12
5. Phoenix Racing 10

Following its positive debut in 2012, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was keen to show its potential in this second outing at the 24 Hours and that happened since the first practice sessions. The car proved well-balanced and fast, and was qualified in an excellent 10th position (out of 175 entrants!) by Edward Sandström.

The race started at 5 pm on Sunday and during the first hours, the Belgian R8 stabilized in the top ten, with very short gaps within the front-runners. Options for a big result remained open even a first alert, when the Battlefield4-livered R8 slightly touched the barriers after going into aquaplaning in the rain. The car could be perfectly repaired and re-prepared as the race was red-flagged around 11 pm. The rain had become heavier and heavier, with visibility made poorer by darkness and spots of fog. The situation went on for the entire night, with the race resuming shortly after 8 am on Monday morning.

The pace of the Belgian squad’s car was again excellent and the car charged back to 5th, when, shortly before 10 am, it fell victim of an accident in the fast section of Bergwerk. Laurens Vanthoor was at the wheel at that moment and the young Belgian rookie was surprised by a sudden spot of oil, not flagged by the marshals. The car hit the barriers several times and was too heavily-damaged to continue, but luckily, Laurens escaped unscathed.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse was philosophical in wrapping up the experience: “That’s the kind of thing that can happen anytime in a race such as the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, and you have to accept it. This year, things were made even more difficult by the apocalyptic weather conditions. It’s a pity, because we proved competitive, we were in the top positions and very often the best-placed Audi, but that’s racing. Now we are all trying to lift up Laurens’ spirits. He feels a little bit miserable at the moment, and any driver would do so in his position, but there is nothing he should be blaming himself for, what happened would have occurred to anyone at the wheel at that moment. I am happy with what we showed, with the great work done by the team and the drivers, and we are going to turn the page and focus on what comes next”.

This will be the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series scheduled on 1st – 2nd June at Silverstone.

24 Hours of the Nürbrugring
Nürburgring (Nordschleife), Germany
19-20 May 2013

1. Schneider-Bleekemolen-Edwards-Thiim (Mercedes SLS AMG Black Falcon) 88 laps
2. Martin-Piccini-Buurman-Göransson (BMW Z4 VDS) + 2m39s781
3. Graf-Jäger-Seyffarth-Bastian (Mercedes SLS AMG Rowe) + 1 lap
4. Arnold-Roloff-Seyffarth-Jäger 5mercedes SLS AMG Rowe) + 1 lap
5. Rockenfeller-Fässler-Stippler-Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS ultra Phoenix) + 1 lap
Ret. Vanthoor-Mies-Haase-Sandström (Audi R8 LMS ultra Team WRT) 44 laps (acc.)

“Anything we can say about the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring falls short from reality”, admits Team Principal Vincent Vosse. “I have done it a number of times as a driver, and I am now discovering it in a different capacity. It’s really a special event and a very difficult one, because it is almost impossible to master all parameters.”

The track itself, in the first place, is unique: a fast, narrow and dangerous string of asphalt with over 170 corners up and down the Eifel hills, where weather conditions may change from one point to the other. In the 24 Hours race, endurance, weather conditions, darkness, traffic and the disparity of performance level among cars and drivers, which range from top professionals to perfect amateurs, are added issues.

Vosse looks at this 41st edition of the race with all the necessary humility: “We came here for the first time as Team WRT last year and we learnt a lot, but we are conscious that you can never have everything under control in such a race. Last year, we were among the top contenders, then a contact with another car put us in a final position (32nd) that did not reflect our potential. We’ll see how things go this time, but I fully trust the reliability of the R8 LMS ultra and of our drivers, and I think the Balance of Performance is correct. The first objective is to help Audi winning again.”

The driver line-up of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is among the strongest and is a perfect combination of experience and performance. Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Edward Sandström are all familiar with the 24 Hours, while Laurens Vanthoor will take part to the race for the first time.

As a matter of fact, one of the WRT boys has already tasted the sweetness of victory in this legendary race: Christopher Haase was part of the quartet that gave Audi its first win twelve months ago. “Winning here, especially for a German, really means something. It is the biggest GT race in the world and a real challenge. For me, it was a dream come true and certainly one of the major achievements of my career. Still, after winning it once, what you really want is to win it twice!” The 24-year-old Bavarian, though, knows that nothing is granted: “It is not necessarily the fastest car that wins here. What you need is a fantastic endurance car, like the Audi R8, a great team, like WRT, and excellent co-drivers, like my team mates. The most crucial thing is to avoid mistakes, stay focused, go through the night, and then adopt the right strategy for the final hours. You can never anticipate anything, but one thing is sure: it’s good to be driving an Audi!”

At the other end of the spectrum is Laurens Vanthoor. The young Belgian will be making his debut in the 24 Hours and, as any rookie, had to pass a sort of aptitude test. Any driver wishing to race the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, regardless of his status or CV, first has to enter two events of the VLN, the special championship that takes place exclusively on the Nordschleife. In his case, he could only do one race, a few weeks ago, as the other race he was scheduled to enter was cancelled. “This is why I had to come back for a test last week and I will have to pass a sort of theoretical exam as soon as I get to the ‘Ring’ later this week”, he explains. The young Belgian is taking all these duties with great diligence. “I think I couldn’t have prepared better for this race. I can say I start to feel comfortable about the track, but I approach the Nordschleife with great respect. This is really the kind of circuit and race you can never say you know everything about! The track, of course, is exciting, although a little bit dangerous. I like it a lot, it is so special, so different from anything else. But I still have to experience driving at night, on the wet or with so many cars around me. I’ll try to do my best and avoid mistakes…”

Such a special race justifies a special livery. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT car will sport a full black livery and a very … topical sponsor: Battlefield-4! The race itself runs this year on a special format. While free practice will take place on Friday, the Top-40 Qualifying that will determine the pole position on Saturday, the start of the race will be on Sunday at 17:00 hours, with the chequered flag falling at 17:00 hours on Whit Monday, which is a festive day in most European countries.

24 Hours of the Nürbrugring
Nürburgring (Nordschleife), Germany
19-20 May 2013

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

Audi R8 LMS ultra #29: Laurens Vanthoor (BE) – Edward Sandström (SE) –
Christopher Haase (DE) – Christopher Mies (DE)

Timetable

Friday, 17th May 2013
14:25-15:55 Free Practice
19:35-23:30 Qualifying 1

Saturday 18th May 2013
11:20-13:20 Qualifying 2
17:50-18:45 Top-40 Qualifying

Sunday 19th May 2013
17:00 Race start

Monday 20th May 2013
17:00 Race end