2015 Blancpain Sprint Series Zandvoort round
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 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
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 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
;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 | 9 | |
2 | Pro | 2 | Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 35 | 6 | |
3 | Pro | 6 | Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Markus Winkelhock | Phoenix Racing | Audi | 35 | 4 | |
4 | Pro | 333 | Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | 35 | 3 | |
5 | Pro | 3 | Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Richelmi | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 35 | 2 | |
6 | Pro | 173 | Craig Dolby Sean Walkinshaw | Always Evolving Motorsport | Nissan | 35 | 1 | |
7 | Silver Cup | 83 | Max van Splunteren Jules Szymkowiak | Bentley Team HTP | Bentley | 35 | ||
8 | Pro | 0 | Cacá Bueno Sérgio Jimenez | BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil | BMW | 35 | ||
9 | Pro | 77 | Átila Abreu Valdeno Brito | BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil | BMW | 35 | ||
10 | Pro | 71 | Marko Asmer Roman Mavlanov | GT Russian Team | Mercedes-Benz | 35 | ||
11 | Pro | 75 | Marco Bonanomi Filip Salaquarda | ISR | Audi | 35 | ||
12 | Pro | 88 | Nick Catsburg Albert von Thurn und Taxis | Reiter Engineering | Lamborghini | 35 | ||
13 | Pro-Am | 70 | Indy Dontje Aleksey Karachev | GT Russian Team | Mercedes-Benz | 35 | ||
14 | Silver Cup | 74 | Anders Fjordbach Michael Markussen | ISR | Audi | 35 | ||
15 | Pro | 1 | Robin Frijns Christopher Mies | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 34 | ||
Ret | Pro | 4 | James Nash Frank Stippler | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 6 |
;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 | 18 | |
3 | Pro | 2 | Nicki Thiim Frédéric Vervisch | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 36 | 15 | |
4 | Pro | 75 | Marco Bonanomi Filip Salaquarda | ISR | Audi | 36 | 12 | |
5 | Pro | 3 | Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Richelmi | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 36 | 10 | |
6 | Silver Cup | 83 | Max van Splunteren Jules Szymkowiak | Bentley Team HTP | Bentley | 36 | 8 | |
7 | Pro | 71 | Marko Asmer Roman Mavlanov | GT Russian Team | Mercedes-Benz | 36 | 6 | |
8 | Pro | 88 | Nick Catsburg Albert von Thurn und Taxis | Reiter Engineering | Lamborghini | 36 | 4 | |
9 | Pro-Am | 70 | Indy Dontje Aleksey Karachev | GT Russian Team | Mercedes-Benz | 36 | 2 | |
10 | Pro | 0 | Cacá Bueno Sérgio Jimenez | BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil | BMW | 36 | 1 | |
11 | Silver Cup | 74 | Anders Fjordbach Michael Markussen | ISR | Audi | 36 | ||
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 | Pro | 333 | Jeroen Bleekemolen Norbert Siedler | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | — | Engine |
;Notes:
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standingsPos | 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.