Race details Date 11 October 2015 Location Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands Course Qualifying Race Pole Drivers Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Time 1:36.485 Fastest Lap Drivers Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Time 1:38.937 Podium First Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Second Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Third Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock Phoenix Racing Main Race Pole Drivers Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Fastest Lap Drivers Robin Frijns Christopher Mies Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Time 1:38.053 Podium First Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Second Robin Frijns Christopher Mies Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Third Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch Belgian Audi Club Team WRT
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. 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.
Jeroen Bleekemolen returns Jeroen Bleekemolen returned to the series after an almost one-year absence. 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. His fastest lap was a 1:38.084, which was eight tenths faster than championship rival Frijns.
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.
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.
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.
Main Race
Classification
Qualifying Class 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 12The 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. 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
Qualifying Race Class winners in bold.
Class Drivers Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 Pro 84 Vincent Abril Maximilian Buhk Bentley Team HTP Bentley 35 98 points for winning QR plus 1 point for Pole (8 + 1 = 9). 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 6Electrical Notes
Main Race Class winners in bold.
Class Drivers Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 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 DNSThe 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. Pro 333 Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler Rinaldi Racing Ferrari — Engine Notes
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
External links