Brands Hatch Weekend Notebook

***The No. 54 Attempto Racing McLaren 650S GT3 has moved from the Pro-Am Cup to the top class of the series, as the German team changed the lineup at the last minute. After his first outing with the Attempto Racing squad at Monza, Swiss Porsche Cup racer Fabian Thuner replaces Yoshiharu Mori alongside Philipp Wlazik. Though both drivers are graded Silver, age prevents them from competing in the Silver Cup.

***The two Attempto McLarens are no longer sporting Hello Kitty sponsoring, but Mr. Mori was still present at the track as he is still actively pursuing his seat at Attempto.

***WRT and Audi Sport are mourning the death of the former Belgian Audi Club chairman J.G. Mal-Voy. “J.G. has been a driving force behind this program since the very beginning and he played an instrumental role at every stage of the life of the team since its creation,” said team principal Vincent Vosse. Mal-Voy was also key in Vanthoor’s switch from single seaters and is commemorated with a special decal on the Belgian Audis this weekend.

***Due to the compact nature of this weekend’s schedule, both practice session were shortened to only 60 minutes, instead of the usual 80 minutes. This timing leaves teams and drivers almost no room for mistakes. Three red flag interruptions during free practice resulted in a loss of almost 40 minutes of valuable track time today.

***Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing and MRS GT Racing all tested at Circuit Zolder over the last couple of weeks. While both Audi teams visited the Belgian track immediately after Monza with no less than five R8s, the MRS Nissan of Craig Dolby and Sean Walkinshaw stopped by last week. The Belgian Sprint round takes place in a month’s time.

***The MRS GT Racing Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 is carrying a new livery this weekend. Gone are the black and red stripes on a white base coat, instead ‘Godzilla’ is now just pale blue with red accents highlighting some of the contours of the car.

***Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre will get their first laps in OAK Racing’s Ligier JS P2 Honda during a test at Spa on May 19-20, which will see at least OAK, G-Drive Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing in attendance. Both GT aces are preparing for their LMP2 debut at Le Mans next month.

***The Blancpain Sprint Series will welcome the FIA F3 European Championship on the support bill for the Portuguese round in September, as the renowned single seater series dropped its trip to Moscow Raceway for logistical reasons.

***Be sure to download the official SRO Spotter Guide, which features all 19 starters in this weekend’s event. Click here to download the latest version.

***SRO recently also launched a dedicated Blancpain GT Series App, available on both Android and iOS-systems. From live streaming over live timing to the latest results and photo galleries, everything is available to closely follow the Blancpain GT Series.