I really enjoy this series by SRO, the 2014 season was full of thrills and chills, fast cars and exotic loudness and beautiful locales. Blancpain GT comprises both the Blancpain Endurance Series as well as the Blancpain Sprint Series. SRO/Blancpain runs the European arm of the Lambo Super Trofeo that IMSA handles here in the USA.
I started a Z4-centric thread here:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1087642
but let's take a look at the entire season from testing to the tracks to the grid entries.
Season:
March 11-12 Circuit Paul Ricard, France - Test Day, BES
March 17-18 Misano, Italy - Test Day, BSS
April 04-06 Nogaro Coupes de Paques, France - Round 1, BSS
April 11-12 Monza, Italy - Round 1 BES
May 09-10 Brands Hatch, Great Britain - Round 2, BSS
May 23-24 Silverstone, Great Britain - Round 2, BES
June 05-07 Zolder, Belgium - Round 3, BSS
June 19-20 Circuit Paul Ricard - Round 3, BES
June 24 - TOTAL 24 HOURS OF SPA TEST, Belgium - Test Day, BES
July 03-05 Moscow City Racing, Russia - Round 4, BSS
July 23-26 - TOTAL 24 HOURS OF SPA RACE - Round 4, BES
Sept 04-06 Algarve, Portugal - Round 5, BSS
Sept 19-20 Nurburgring, Germany - Round 5, BES
October 02-04 Misano, Italy - Round 6, BSS
October 24-25 Baku World Challenge, Azerbaijan - Round 7 BSS
We just, as I'm sure you've been reading on autosport websites, had our first full testing session.
Article:
Interesting first day of official testing for the Blancpain Endurance Series
March 11 2015
The 2015 season of the Blancpain GT Series has started with the first day of official testing at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France. The teams fielded a total of 45 GT3 cars and used the 5,79 km version of the Le Castellet track to perform an extensive shakedown of their machines.
At 9am sharp, the #30 BMW Z4 of Series newcomer Classic & Modern Racing was the first to leave the pitlane, quickly followed by the #888 BMW of Triple Eight Racing. In those overcast morning hours temperatures barely went above the 10C mark, creating ideal conditions for quick lap times. At the end of the first half of this opening day, it was the #88 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 R-EX topping the time sheets, beating the competition by over a second. During the warmer afternoon session once the cloud cover broke, air temperature swiftly got past the 18C lap times went up as well. The #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari did manage to improve however, finishing a largely incident-free day in second, behind the Lamborghini.
Lap times were not the priority during this first day of testing however. Most teams, drivers and fans were eager to see some of the new GT3 cars for the 2015 season in action. The cars that took the largest part of that attention were the new Lamborghini Huracan of Grasser Racing Team and the McLaren 650S of Von Ryan Racing, both making a first time appearance in an official Blancpain GT session. There was a pleasant surprise in the form of the unannounced and new Audi R8 LMS ultra. The striking white machine will participate in its first Blancpain GT Series race during the course of the season.
Tomorrow is the second and final day of the official test days for the Blancpain GT Series, with a couple of drivers and teams who did not come into action today. The session starts at 09:00AM.
Test Results:
2015 Blancpain GT Series most competitive yet
A brief look at the entry list of the 2015 Blancpain GT Series leads to a clear conclusion: the best GT series on the motorsports planet just got even better. With an unprecedented number of professional drivers and teams taking part, the twelve events on the 2015 Blancpain GT Series calendar promise to be exciting from start to finish.
129 days. Thats how long its been since the final chequered flag of the 2014 Blancpain GT Series was waved, on the streets of Baku. After a well-deserved but short recess, the best teams and drivers in GT racing have started preparing for the 2015 season, to be ready for the Official Test Days that will take place over the coming days. Not only have the Blancpain GT Series regulars put a lot of elbow grease into their winter build-up, but a number of new teams have decided to join the biggest GT series as well. All these hard efforts have led to an impressive entry list for 2015.
Curious about the Blancpain GT? Here's some history back to 2011
Some history
2011-2012:
Since the new FIA GT1 World Championship was based on a sprint format, there was a need for an international GT endurance championship.
The Blancpain Endurance Series is launched and meets instant success with a strong level of entries for the five-race series centred around the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The Blancpain Endurance Series is the result of twenty years of motorsport experience built by the SRO Motorsports Group.
The recipe was quite simple: to bring GT3 cars to endurance racing, by setting up a convivial championship which met the requirements and expectations of teams and drivers alike. The Blancpain Endurance Series quickly becomesthe new reference point in GT racing.
After a second successful GT1 World season in 2011 with two races in China and a spectacular demonstration run in the Beijing Olympic Park, the announcement of the FIA GT World Cup as part of the newly-launched FIA World Endurance Championship cast doubts over the Championship’s future. Despite having added Russia to the calendar and running the Championship with GT3 cars, the 2012 season was difficult enough to convince SRO to drop the World title but to preserve a sprint format in GT Racing for 2013.
2013:
The Blancpain Endurance Series consolidates its reputation as the benchmark for GT3 series. The series is brought into more homes than ever, with among others, Eurosport and RTL committing significant coverage to the races.
For the international sprint series, 2013 is a transition year, during which SRO Motorsports Group proves that there was a place for such a series alongside the Blancpain Endurance Series. The FIA GT Series, run under the aegis of the RACB with an FIA title, continues in the footsteps of the FIA GT1 World and GT3 European Championships. With an average of 22 cars per event over the season and culminating in a successful and popular season finale in Baku the FIA GT Series meets all expectations.
2014:
By bringing the Blancpain Sprint Series and Blancpain Endurance Series under a common banner, the growth of GT racing in Europe continues. Both promotion and TV coverage enjoy increasing figures.
2015:
Encouraged by the success of the inaugural season, the development of the Blancpain GT Series continues, with new venues like Misano and Moscow. The introduction of prize money in the Blancpain Endurance Series sees a growing number of teams participating in both Endurance and Sprint Series.