The 2018 Blancpain GT Series was the fifth season of the Blancpain GT Series. The season began on 7 April at Zolder and ended on 30 September in Barcelona. The season featured ten rounds, five Endurance Cup rounds and five Sprint Cup rounds.
Calendar At the annual press conference during the 2017 24 Hours of Spa on 28 July, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation announced the first draft of the 2018 calendar. Zolder became the season opener instead of Misano. On 17 September 2017, it was announced the race at Silverstone was moved a week to avoid a clash with the Nürburgring 24 Hours. On 9 October 2017, the finalised calendar was announced, confirming the dates of the races at the Hungaroring.
Race format In previous years a Sprint race weekend consisted of one Qualifying session, one Qualifying Race - of which the results set up the grid for the Main Race - and one Main Race. On 2 October 2017, changes to the format of Sprint race weekends were announced. In 2018 a Sprint race weekend consisted of two races scoring equal points and featuring separate Qualifying sessions for each race. Round Circuit Date Series 1 Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium 7–8 April Sprint Report 2 Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy 22 April Endurance Report 3 Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain 5–6 May Sprint Report 4 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Great Britain 20 May Endurance Report 5 Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 2 June Endurance Report 6 Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico, Italy 23–24 June Sprint Report 7 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium 28–29 July Endurance Report 8 Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary 1–2 September Sprint Report 9 Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany 15–16 September Sprint Report 10 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain 30 September Endurance Report
Race results Bold indicates overall winner. Round Circuit Pole position Pro Winners Silver Winners Pro-Am Winners Am Winners 1 1 Zolder No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing No. 15 Boutsen Ginion Racing Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin R2 No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 66 Attempto Racing No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing No. 15 Boutsen Ginion Racing Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart Kelvin van der Linde Steijn Schothorst Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin 2 Monza No. 72 SMP Racing No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar Racing No. 333 Rinaldi Racing No. 89 AKKA ASP Team Mikhail Aleshin Miguel Molina Davide Rigon Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Dries Vanthoor Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier Adrian Zaugg Alexander Mattschull Rinat Salikhov Dominik Schwager Fabien Barthez Eric Debard Philippe Giauque 3 R1 Brands Hatch No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 31 Team Parker Racing No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing No entries Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor Josh Caygill Árón Taylor-Smith Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam R2 No. 17 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 17 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 37 3Y Technology No. 26 Saintéloc Racing Stuart Leonard Frédéric Vervisch Stuart Leonard Frédéric Vervisch Lukas Moraes Andrew Watson Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock 4 Silverstone No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 6 Black Falcon No. 49 Ram Racing No. 188 Garage 59 Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Abdulaziz Al Faisal Hubert Haupt Gabriele Piana Darren Burke Euan Hankey Salih Yoluç Chris Goodwin Chris Harris Alexander West 5 Paul Ricard No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 14 Emil Frey Lexus Racing No. 78 Barwell Motorsport No. 51 AF Corse No. 188 Garage 59 Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Albert Costa Christian Klien Marco Seefried Michele Beretta Martin Kodrić Sandy Mitchell Duncan Cameron Matt Griffin Gianluca de Lorenzi Chris Goodwin Chris Harris Alexander West 6 R1 Misano No. 87 AKKA ASP Team No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 90 AKKA ASP Team No. 26 Saintéloc Racing No entries Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Nico Bastian Jack Manchester Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock R2 No. 88 AKKA ASP Team No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 87 AKKA ASP Team No. 26 Saintéloc Racing Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock 7 Spa-Francorchamps No. 62 R-Motorsport No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport No. 12 Ombra Racing No. 333 Rinaldi Racing No. 77 Barwell Motorsport Dominik Baumann Marvin Kirchhöfer Maxime Martin Tom Blomqvist Philipp Eng Christian Krognes Alex Frassineti Kang Ling Romain Monti Andrea Rizzoli Daniel Keilwitz Alexander Mattschull David Perel Rinat Salikhov Richard Abra Adrian Amstutz Patrick Kujala Leo Machitski 8 R1 Hungaroring No. 90 AKKA ASP Team No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 87 AKKA ASP Team No. 751 SunEnergy1 Racing No entries Nico Bastian Jack Manchester Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier R2 No. 88 AKKA ASP Team No. 88 AKKA ASP Team No. 87 AKKA ASP Team No. 26 Saintéloc Racing Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock 9 R1 Nürburgring No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 26 Saintéloc Racing Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Ricardo Feller Adrien De Leener Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock R2 No. 6 Black Falcon No. 88 AKKA ASP Team No. 6 Black Falcon No. 333 Rinaldi Racing Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz David Perel Rinat Salikhov 10 Barcelona-Catalunya No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar Racing No. 27 Daiko Lazarus Racing No. 77 Barwell Motorsport Yelmer Buurman Maro Engel Luca Stolz Yelmer Buurman Maro Engel Luca Stolz Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier Adrian Zaugg Giuseppe Cipriani Fabrizio Crestani Miguel Ramos Richard Abra Adrian Amstutz Leo Machitski
Championship standings Scoring system Championship points were awarded for the first ten positions in each race. The pole-sitter also received one point and entries were required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers were required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race. A new points system was introduced in the Sprint Cup this season. It takes the maximum points an entry could earn in the old 'Qualifying Race + Main Race'-format divided by two.
Sprint Cup Race points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 16.5 12 9.5 7.5 6 4.5 3 2 1 0.5 1
Endurance Cup Race points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1
1000 km Paul Ricard points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 33 24 19 15 12 9 6 4 2 1 1
24 Hours of Spa points Points were awarded after six hours, after twelve hours and at the finish. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points after 6hrs/12hrs 12 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 Points at the finish 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Drivers' championships
Overall