2015 Blancpain Sprint Series Zandvoort round

Race details
Date	11 October 2015
Location	Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands
Course	4.307 km (2.676 mi)
	Qualifying Race
Pole
Time	1:36.485
Fastest Lap
Time	1:38.937
Podium
	Main Race
Pole
Fastest Lap
Time	1:38.053
Podium

The 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series Zandvoort round was the last of seven rounds of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series season. It took place at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands between 9 October and 11 October 2015.

Report

Background

Championship contender Laurens Vanthoor injured

Before the season finale, Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor led the championship by eight points, but Vanthoor was not able to try and win the championship together with Frijns as he was injured in a heavy crash in the Qualifying Race at Misano the week before.^[4] On the straight before Turn 8 (Quercia) he made contact with the HTP Bentley of Jules Szymkowiak sending the both into the barriers. Both drivers could get out of their cars, but Vanthoor had to be transported to the medical centre to get treatment for a sprained foot. In Zandvoort he was replaced by Christopher Mies.^[5]

Jeroen Bleekemolen returns

Jeroen Bleekemolen returned to the series after an almost one-year absence.^[6] He replaced Marco Seefried, because Seefried was not able to race in Zandvoort as he is also a driver for Dempsey Racing-Proton in the FIA WEC and the round at Zandvoort clashed with the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Free practice

Maximilian Buhk was the quickest driver in the first of two free practice sessions.^[7] His fastest lap was a 1:38.084, which was eight tenths faster than championship rival Frijns.^[8]

FP2 was dominated by Audi with six cars in the top seven. Debutant Nicki Thiim managed to get the fastest time with a 1:38.205. Frijns was again second, three tenths behind his Danish teammate.^[9]

Qualifying

The No. 84 HTP Bentley of Abril and Buhk was back on top after qualifying and managed to get Pole position for the Qualifying Race. Their championships rivals Frijns, who qualified second, and Norbert Siedler, who qualified fourth, were close behind as the top four was covered by only three tenths of a second. In the second qualifying session Max van Splunteren went off track, which damaged their Bentley. Although he and teammate Szymkowiak were faster than some others, they were still put to the back of the grid, because they were penalized after the crash at Misano involving Szymkowiak and Vanthoor.^[1]^[10]

Qualifying Race

Warm-Up

The championship contending No. 333 Rinaldi Ferrari of Siedler (and Bleekemolen) withdrew from the Main Race after they had suffered an engine failure in the warm-up session. The engine just suddenly lost power causing Siedler to give up his championship hopes.^[11]

Main Race

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	Class	No.	Drivers	Team	Manufacturer	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Pro	84	Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	1:37.707	1:37.216	1:36.485
2	Pro	1	Robin Frijns Christopher Mies	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	1:37.669	1:36.922	1:36.601
3	Pro	2	Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	1:39.448	1:37.411	1:36.630
4	Pro	333	Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler	Rinaldi Racing	Ferrari	1:38.257	1:36.750	1:36.777
5	Pro	6	Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock	Phoenix Racing	Audi	1:45.690	1:37.364	1:36.821
6	Pro	88	Nick Catsburg Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Reiter Engineering	Lamborghini	1:42.546	1:37.180	1:37.120
7	Pro	173	Craig Dolby Sean Walkinshaw	Always Evolving Motorsport	Nissan	1:39.706	1:37.508	1:37.385
8	Pro	71	Marko Asmer Roman Mavlanov	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	1:39.574	1:37.393	1:38.511
9	Pro	3	Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Richelmi	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	1:40.010	1:37.538
10	Pro-Am	70	Indy Dontje Aleksey Karachev	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	1:39.975	1:37.643
11	Pro	4	James Nash Frank Stippler	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	1:40.293	1:37.669
12^{[N 1]}	Silver Cup	83	Max van Splunteren Jules Szymkowiak	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	1:37.689	no time
13	Pro	0	Cacá Bueno Sérgio Jimenez	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	1:39.387	1:37.911
14	Pro	77	Átila Abreu Valdeno Brito	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	1:39.870	1:38.231
15	Pro	75	Marco Bonanomi Filip Salaquarda	ISR	Audi	1:39.459	1:38.273
16	Silver Cup	74	Anders Fjordbach Michael Markussen	ISR	Audi	1:40.622	no time

Notes

↑ The No. 83 HTP Bentley was penalized after causing a crash in the Qualifying Race at Misano and was put to the back of the grid.

Qualifying Race

Class winners in bold.

Pos.	Class	No.	Drivers	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Pts.
1	Pro	84	Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	35		9^{[N 1]}
2	Pro	2	Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	35	+5.764	6
3	Pro	6	Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock	Phoenix Racing	Audi	35	+16.144	4
4	Pro	333	Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler	Rinaldi Racing	Ferrari	35	+30.919	3
5	Pro	3	Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Richelmi	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	35	+31.741	2
6	Pro	173	Craig Dolby Sean Walkinshaw	Always Evolving Motorsport	Nissan	35	+34.768	1
7	Silver Cup	83	Max van Splunteren Jules Szymkowiak	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	35	+34.768
8	Pro	0	Cacá Bueno Sérgio Jimenez	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	35	+35.030
9	Pro	77	Átila Abreu Valdeno Brito	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	35	+44.836
10	Pro	71	Marko Asmer Roman Mavlanov	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	35	+45.144
11	Pro	75	Marco Bonanomi Filip Salaquarda	ISR	Audi	35	+46.566
12	Pro	88	Nick Catsburg Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Reiter Engineering	Lamborghini	35	+52.612
13	Pro-Am	70	Indy Dontje Aleksey Karachev	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	35	+1:13.998
14	Silver Cup	74	Anders Fjordbach Michael Markussen	ISR	Audi	35	+1:22.070
15	Pro	1	Robin Frijns Christopher Mies	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	34	+1 Lap
Ret	Pro	4	James Nash Frank Stippler	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	6	Electrical

Notes

↑ 8 points for winning QR plus 1 point for Pole (8 + 1 = 9).

Main Race

Class winners in bold.

Pos.	Class	No.	Drivers	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Pts.
1	Pro	84	Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	36		25
2	Pro	1	Robin Frijns Christopher Mies	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	36	+0.375	18
3	Pro	2	Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	36	+0.886	15
4	Pro	75	Marco Bonanomi Filip Salaquarda	ISR	Audi	36	+41.794	12
5	Pro	3	Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Richelmi	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	36	+42.457	10
6	Silver Cup	83	Max van Splunteren Jules Szymkowiak	Bentley Team HTP	Bentley	36	+42.760	8
7	Pro	71	Marko Asmer Roman Mavlanov	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	36	+55.903	6
8	Pro	88	Nick Catsburg Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Reiter Engineering	Lamborghini	36	+56.501	4
9	Pro-Am	70	Indy Dontje Aleksey Karachev	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz	36	+1:02.661	2
10	Pro	0	Cacá Bueno Sérgio Jimenez	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	36	+1:34.675	1
11	Silver Cup	74	Anders Fjordbach Michael Markussen	ISR	Audi	36	+1:36.052
Ret	Pro	4	James Nash Frank Stippler	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	Audi	19	Retired
Ret	Pro	173	Craig Dolby Sean Walkinshaw	Always Evolving Motorsport	Nissan	11	Collision Damage
Ret	Pro	6	Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock	Phoenix Racing	Audi	0	Accident
Ret	Pro	77	Átila Abreu Valdeno Brito	BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil	BMW	0	Accident
DNS^{[N 1]}	Pro	333	Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler	Rinaldi Racing	Ferrari	—	Engine

Notes

↑ The No. 333 Rinaldi Ferrari did not start the race due to an engine failure in the Warm-Up session a couple of hours before the start of the Main Race.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk	135
1	2	Robin Frijns	127
2	3	Laurens Vanthoor	109
1	4	Norbert Siedler	95
2	5	Marco Seefried	92

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

1 2 "Zandvoort/Netherlands Qualifying 3 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Zandvoort/Netherlands Qualifying Race Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Zandvoort/Netherlands Main Race Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Rinaldi Ferrari takes win in eventful Qualifying Race". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ Wouters, Vincent (8 October 2015). "Mies Replaces Vanthoor in Zandvoort BSS Finale". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
↑ Watkins, Gary (6 October 2015). "Bleekemolen drafted for Zandvoort BSS by Rinaldi Ferrari GT team". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
↑ "Maxi Buhk quickest in first free practice". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Zandvoort/Netherlands Free Practice 1 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Zandvoort/Netherlands Free Practice 2 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Maxi Buhk sets the tone for the rest of the weekend". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
↑ "Cruel luck for Norbert Siedler, Rinaldi Ferrari retires". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

External links

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[[[HTP_Motorsport|HTP]]83-12] The No. 83 HTP Bentley was penalized after causing a crash in the Qualifying Race at Misano and was put to the back of the grid.

[[[HTP_Motorsport|HTP]]84-13] 8 points for winning QR plus 1 point for Pole (8 + 1 = 9).

[Rinaldi333-14] The No. 333 Rinaldi Ferrari did not start the race due to an engine failure in the Warm-Up session a couple of hours before the start of the Main Race.

[Qualifying3-1] 1 2 "Zandvoort/Netherlands Qualifying 3 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[2] "Zandvoort/Netherlands Qualifying Race Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[3] "Zandvoort/Netherlands Main Race Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[4] "Rinaldi Ferrari takes win in eventful Qualifying Race". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[5] Wouters, Vincent (8 October 2015). "Mies Replaces Vanthoor in Zandvoort BSS Finale". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

[6] Watkins, Gary (6 October 2015). "Bleekemolen drafted for Zandvoort BSS by Rinaldi Ferrari GT team". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 6 October 2015.

[7] "Maxi Buhk quickest in first free practice". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[8] "Zandvoort/Netherlands Free Practice 1 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[9] "Zandvoort/Netherlands Free Practice 2 Results". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[10] "Maxi Buhk sets the tone for the rest of the weekend". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

[11] "Cruel luck for Norbert Siedler, Rinaldi Ferrari retires". Stéphane Ratel Organisation. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.

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