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Silverstone Saturday Notebook

John Dagys’ Saturday Blancpain Endurance notebook from Silverstone…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

***A number of cars have been hit with Balance of Performance adjustments this weekend, including the Ferrari 458 Italia (+5 kg minimum weight and ride height increase), Lamborghini Huracán GT3 (+5 kg, 2 mm restrictor reduction) and Bentley Continental GT3 (+5 kg, turbo boost decrease).

***SRO has expanded into a four-category variable BoP system for this year, following its initial expansion to three different BoP configurations, based on circuit layout, last year. Note that Monza and Silverstone are classified into different categories.

***The Huracán GT3 will make its debut in the ADAC GT Masters next month with a single-car entry at the Red Bull Ring on June 6-7. “We have a lot of requests from national series so we decided to do some races in the national series to promote the car,” Head of Lamborghini Motorsport Giorgio Sanna told Sportscar365.

***Sanna, meanwhile, remains confident that GRT’s appeal over the exclusion of the No. 19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 from Monza will end in a favorable result for the Italian manufacturer. A verdict on the decision has been postponed until next week. “I think it’s a good sign,” he said. “I won’t comment until the result of the appeal but we look really confident.”

***The chances of seeing Lamborghini compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the short-term is unlikely, Sanna said. The manufacturer had been exploring its options in LMP2 prior to the arrival of radical new regulations for 2017. “I think looking at the LMP2 rules that will be defined soon, I think the FIA and ACO are looking more as a [class] similar to a one-make series,” he said.

***Nicolas Lapierre could again play super sub at Von Ryan Racing, with the Frenchman possibly to fill in for Shane van Gisbergen at the next round due to the Kiwi’s V8 Supercars commitments. Lapierre is taking the place of Bruno Senna, who was on Formula E duty this weekend.

***Both Andrew Palmer and Martin Plowman are running stickers in support of James Hinchcliffe, who is recovering from a serious accident in practice for the Indianapolis 500 that required emergency surgery for the popular IndyCar driver.

***Despite having recently been sold to Hormel Foods, Klaus Graf is still involved in the European distribution of CytoSport, including the popular Muscle Milk brand. The German is targeting a racing return in the U.S., potentially around the North American Endurance Cup races next year.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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