Connect with us

BSS

Vanthoor, Frijns Complete WRT Clean Sweep at Zolder

Frijns and Vanthoor make it four in a row…

Photo: Brecht Decancq Photography

Photo: Brecht Decancq Photography

Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor followed up on their Qualifying Race victory yesterday by winning today’s Blancpain Sprint Series Main Race at Zolder.

Frijns led from pole position, as behind him Marco Seefried and Vincent Abril hit each other into turn one. The No. 84 Bentley Team HTP Bentley Continental GT3 continued, the No. 333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 ended up in the gravel.

As the Dutchman began to build up a lead, teammate Christopher Mies launched an attack on the No. 77 BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil BMW Z4 GT3 of Atila Abreau. After an intense battle the German passed the Brazilian, but he was then given a drive-through penalty for a jump-start.

A quick turnaround by the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the pits meant Vanthoor had a 12-second lead after the pit stops, in which Bentley Team HTP managed to get Maximilian Buhk out ahead of the two BMW Spors Trophy Team Brasil cars.

Vanthoor controlled the second part of the race and after 39 laps the Belgian driver came across the finish to win the feature at his home track for the first time, in his fourth Zolder weekend with WRT.

Vanthoor credited his team and Frijns in helping him winning his home race. “Robin, despite being quite new in GT’s is doing impressively well. We just managed to do our work without any problems, without making mistakes, that is our strongest point at the moment,” he said.

“I’m feeling confident at the team, in and outside the car, that’s how the results come, I guess,” added Frijns.

Bentley driver Buhk finished in second place, 9.994 seconds behind the race winning No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra.

“Our pit stop was good, I tried to pull away from the BMW in the first five laps and then it was just driving it home, don’t make mistakes or putting the car too hard on the curbs,” said Buhk. I’m really happy with our second place with our big and heavy car in Zolder.”

BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil claimed third and fourth, with Brito leading Jimenez across the line. Just four tenths separated the Brazilian BMWs.

Phoenix Racing drivers Markus Winkelhock and Niki Mayr-Melnhof ended up in fifth place, ahead of the No. 83 Bentley Team HTP Bentley Continental GT3 of Jules Szymkowiak and Tom Dillmann. Another slow pit stop meant the Bentley was unable to fight for a top four finish.

WRT’s Stéphane Richelmi and Stéphane Ortelli finished in seventh place, with the No. 75 ISR Audi R8 LMS ultra and No. 88 Reiter Engineering behind in eighth and ninth.

MRS GT Racing’s Craig Dolby and Sean Walkinshaw completed the top ten with their Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

Like yesterday the Attempto Racing McLaren 650S GT3 of Kevin Estre and Rob Bell retired in the early stages. The No. 2 Audi also retired when Enzo Ide went off into the gravel.

Marcel ten Caat (@marceltencaat) is a contributor to Sportscar365 and other publications including Autosport.nl.

Click to comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in BSS