Ferrari has won the penultimate round of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series at the Misano World Circuit today. The #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 458 driven by Norbert Siedler and Marco Seefried flashed across the finish line 7 seconds before the #84 Bentley and #63 Lamborghini – the latter sealing a double Italian podium finish.
Home fans tasted victory soon as the #333 Ferrari claimed pole during the night qualifying on Saturday. Series leaders Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns crashed heavily yesterday when their Audi made contact with the #83 HTP Bentley Continental GT3 of Jules Szymkowiak. The duo missed the main race today with Vanthoor nursing a sprained foot.
Marco Seefried led the field to quick start in the #333 Ferrari ahead of the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Patrick Kujala. Minutes later the #77 AH Competicoes Team Brasil BMW driven by Atila Abreu came close to splitting the two Italian cars but Kujala was quicker and managed to take the overall lead.
Kujala’s moment of glory was short lived when Seefried regained the lead after a powerful overtaking maneuver that left the Lamborghini struggling to fend off a very quick Bentley of Maxi Buhk. The Bentley had started from seventh after missing points during qualifying when the team was given a drive through penalty. Buhk managed to take P2 from Kujala and embarked on a chase for the lead.
After the driver change pit stops, the Lamborghini fell behind while the Ferrari and Bentley maintained their positions. Norbert Siedler claimed victory in the Ferrari leading Vincent Abril and Maxi Buhk in the #84 HTP Motorsport Bentley Continental GT3. Mirko Bortolotti managed to fight back in the Grasser Lamborghini to claim the final spot on the podium.
Abril and Buhk are now 8 points behind Vanthoor and Frijns with one more race to go at Zandvoort. The #77 Team Brasil BMW finished fourth eventually, leading the #173 Always Evolving Nissan GT-R GT3 Nismo. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT managed to score enough points to claim the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series Teams’ title.
The Pro-AM cup win went to the GT Russian Team in the #71 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 driven by Alexey Vasilyev and Marco Asmer. The Pro-Am cup drivers’ title went to Alexey Karachev also from GT Russian Team in the #70 SLS AMG GT3. The #74 ISR Audi R8 LMS won the Silver Cup category after racing with no competition following the crash of the #83 Bentley yesterday.
The 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series season finale will go down this coming weekend at the Zandvoort Circuit in The Netherlands.
