Silverstone Post-Race Notebook

Photo: Jules Benichou/SRO

***SMP Racing’s win on Sunday continues the streak of different teams winning each Blancpain GT Endurance Cup race, stretching back 11 races to the 2017 Silverstone round. No team has won more than one Endurance Cup round in that 24-month period.

***It also keeps the streak of different manufacturers winning each race, which stretches back to the start of last season. Since the 2018 Monza race, the seven races have been won by: Audi, Aston Martin, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche and Ferrari.

***Ferrari’s last overall Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup win came at Monza in April 2013, when Kessel Racing’s No. 44 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 claimed victory. Davide Rigon was also part of the winning lineup on that occasion, alongside Daniel Zampieri and Cesar Ramos.

***The Italian manufacturer has claimed overall victories in Blancpain GT Sprint competition since then, however. Marco Seefried and Norbert Siedler took both the Qualifying Race and Main Race wins at Misano in October 2015.

***Marvin Kirchhoefer withdrew from the race due to illness after qualifying, and was replaced for his stint by Maxime Martin, who ended up doing one stint in each of the two R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3s. He completed the first stint in his usual No. 62 car before taking Kirchhoefer’s seat in the No. 76 entry for the third stint.

***The No. 76 Aston Martin, which had been running as highly as fifth, was retired with 30 minutes to go after the external fire extinguisher pin had been triggered by a piece of rubber kicked up off the track, activating the fire system inside the car.

***Ram Racing lost its Pro-Am class win when the stewards gave Remon Vos a drive-through penalty converted to a 30-second time penalty after the race. This was for him causing a collision with the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari, which went on to inherit the win after finishing second on track.

***Andrea Bertolini, Louis Machiels and Niek Hommerson were classified 22nd overall, while Ram’s Vos and Tom Onslow-Cole dropped to third in class, behind the Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin.

***Barwell Motorsport took its fourth consecutive Am Cup win with its trio of Leo Machitski, Adrian Amstutz and Miguel Ramos. The trio also won at Monza, while Amstutz, Machitski and Richard Abra won the final two rounds of last season, Barcelona and the Total 24 Hours of Spa. They were joined by Patrick Kujala for the Belgian race.

***Of the several leading teams which qualified at the back of the field after failing to set a flying lap Qualifying 1, ROWE Racing, Strakka Racing and Black Falcon made the most progress through the field.

***Strakka’s No. 43 Mercedes-AMG GT3 made up 36 positions to finish fifth, ROWE’s No. 98 Porsche 911 GT3 R made up 35 places to fourth, while Black Falcon finished seventh from 37th.

***Rowan Atkinson was among the celebrities in the paddock on Sunday. The British actor, best known for sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean, spent the day with R-Motorsport.

***Alex Lynn is set to take over Nicki Thiim’s seat at R-Motorsport from the Circuit Paul Ricard 1000km next month. The Brit gave way to fellow Aston Martin factory driver Thiim for Monza and Silverstone when he got a mid-season Formula E drive with Panasonic Jaguar Racing. The opening two Blancpain GT Endurance Cup rounds clashed with the Rome and Monaco E-Prixs.

***Grasser Racing Team faces a potential clash next month between the Blancpain GT World Challenge Round at Misano and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, round three of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Mirko Bortolotti would be expected in both entries, and it’s unclear which race he’ll compete in.

***Marco Mapelli, Dennis Lind and Andrea Caldarelli lead the Endurance Cup standings on 26 points, ahead of the SMP and Dinamic Motorsport crews on 25.

***Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, meanwhile, head the combined standings on 50.5 points, ahead of Caldarelli and Mapelli on 38. The next round is the Paul Ricard 1000km on June 1.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.