Blancpain Endurance Series - Ferrari crews looking for two titles at Nürburgring

Nürburg, 16 September 2016 – Fifty-five cars will line up for the penultimate round of this season’s Blancpain GT Series at the Nürburgring next weekend. While the overall title cannot be won in the Eifel mountains, the battle for the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will come to its conclusion after three hours of racing around the German track.   Pro-Am Cup. Since the Hungaroring Polish driver Michal Broniszewski is certain to win the Blancpain GT Series Pro-Am title, enjoying an unassailable 62-point lead in the overall Pro-Am standings. In the Pro-Am division of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup things are far from being decided, however. Together with his Kessel Racing team-mates, Alessandro Bonacini and Andrea Rizzoli (the 2014 Pro-Am Endurance Cup winner), Broniszewski currently has ten points in hand over ISR trio Franck Perera, Philippe Giauque and Henry Hassid. A win for the Audi drivers means that the Kessel Ferrari must finish on the podium for its crew to claim the title. And even that might not be enough if the ISR boys score the point for claiming pole position.   Am Cup. With overall Am Cup leader Claudio Sdanewitsch only competing in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, the overall Am Cup title fight will be decided at the final event of the season in Barcelona. In the Endurance Am Cup standings Liam Talbot, Marco Zanuttini and Vadim Gitlin (Kessel Racing’s 458 Italia GT3) already have one hand on the trophy after recording class wins at both the Le Castellet round and Total 24 Hours of Spa. With a 21-point advantage over Pierre Ehret (No. 333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari) and Gilles Vannelet, Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Maurice Ricci (No. 87 Akka ASP Mercedes) an eighth place at the finish would be enough for the Kessel Racing drivers to seal both the drivers’ and teams’ Endurance Cups in the Am category.   Other crews. The Ferrari on track at the Eifel track will be 11 (a fifth of the entire field). Two 488 GT3s will fight for the overall win: the No. 50 AF Corse car, with Pason Lathouras, Michele Rugolo and Alessandro Pier Guidi, and the No. 66 Black Pearl Racing machinery with Steve Parrow, Alexander Mattschull and Daniel Keilwitz. In the Pro-Am class AF Corse will field two more 488 GT3s for Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin and for Motoaki Ishikawa, Lorenzo Bontempelli and Olivier Beretta. In the Am Cup class AF Corse will field the 488 GT3 No. 51 car for Peter Mann, Francisco Guedes and Rino Mastronardi. Then in the entry list there are three more 458 Italia GT3s: the No. 41 of Classic&Modern Racing, with a crew led by Thomas Nicolle, the No. 49 of Kaspersky Motorsport with Alexander Moiseev and Davide Rizzo and the No. 90 of AF Corse with Stephane Lemeret, Claudio Sdanewitsch and Thomas Kemenater. The 3 Hours of Nürburgring will start at 14.45 on Sunday.