2017 Blancpain GT Series

[chunterer]

Bloody top drives by the TF Aston boys to take the Pro-Am class!!

Lots of battles throughout (deliverately avoiding commenting on Bentley antics)

Is the entry capped at 50 now then?

[Marcel ten Caat]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Is the entry capped at 50 now then?

No, 50 at the start due to crash in qualifying and clash with N24 qualifying race.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Marcel ten Caat

No, 50 at the start due to crash in qualifying and clash with N24 qualifying race.

Thanks Marcel 😊

[J Jay]

If anyone wants to read Guy Smith's take on the incident, here it is...

The irony of the headline being SMITH: Setting Things Straight From Monza only adds to the bemusement!

[Akrapovic]

Right so it was an accident and they would be taken the penalty and agreed to review it post race, and SRO made an absolute arse of it and didn't communicate with its own people, and have now apologised.

Makes a bit more sense now. Not the first time SRO haven't really know there own rules (or Bentley for that matter).

[peebee2]

More like Bentley need a proper team manager who has been arsed to read the regs

[old man]

Interesting chat on the forum below the GS explanation and good to see him joining in.

One problem that is emerging overall in these races is the danger of first stint accidents. Virtually all the 50+ cars in this field are financed by the drivers who, as well as paying/finding 6 figure sums to take part have to accept the insurance excess penalty payable for damage sustained in an accident whilst they are driving. This figure is now generally €25k and teams are finding that the drivers are unwilling to take the first stint because that is when accidents are most likely.

[Bcarr6]

Garage 59 are back for Silverstone and the 24hrs of Spa.

Single car in the Am Cup for Alexander West who runs in GT Open with G59, Top Gears Chris Harris who ran with Team Parker in last years BES, and Chris Goodwin, who is McLaren Automotive's chief test driver

Nice combo, and will be interesting to see what the livery will be!

[tux]

Strange to see the #63 Lamborghini being so far ahead in qualifying and the races at Brands Hatch, hardly ever see performances so dominant in Blancpain.

[Martin Bull]

Yes, the Lamborghini just seemed to be untouchable almost everywhere.Kept hoping that the safety-car periods would give someone else a chance, but the green car simply powered smoothly away, every time.

Surprised also that other cars such as the Mercedes and McLaren seemed to be lacking in pace compared to previous years.

But yet again, the sun (finally) came out and as I say here every year - it's just great to see and hear those cars 'round the back' at Brands !

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Martin Bull

Yes, the Lamborghini just seemed to be untouchable almost everywhere.Kept hoping that the safety-car periods would give someone else a chance, but the green car simply powered smoothly away, every time.

To be fair in the main race the leading Lambo ran and hid - but the train of cars behind it was from 2nd down to 18th so there was plenty going on!

Originally Posted by Martin Bull

But yet again, the sun (finally) came out and as I say here every year - it's just great to see and hear those cars 'round the back' at Brands !

Agreed - the sight and sound of those cars stretching their legs around the GP loop is something to behold.

[geordiecriag101]

Had a cracking day on Sunday at Brands. Those GT3 cars when in the hands of the pro drivers are just stunning to watch. Standing at the braking point into Druids its a bit scary how late and how much speed they can carry.

One thing that did stand out was how little traction control the Lambo's use compared to sum of the others, the Bentley and BMW using the most. Roll on Silverstone this weekend.

Anyway here my vid from sunday if anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxQXYladlAg

[Martin Bull]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

...... there was plenty going on!

No dispute there at all......spectating from the entry to Hawthorns lap after lap and many of the cars were very close indeed through there, and plenty quick it was too......great stuff !

[tbtstt]

I too had a fantastic day at Brands. The Blancpain weekend is, in my personal opinion, by far the best event on the Brands Hatch calendar now. The support package wasn't quite as strong this year, but the main racing was brilliant again. I just can't get enough of the GT3 cars, they all look great and some of them make pretty fantastic noises as well!

Few pictures from Brands...









...and a few more here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57683583811356

If anyone is interested.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I too had a fantastic day at Brands. The Blancpain weekend is, in my personal opinion, by far the best event on the Brands Hatch calendar now. The support package wasn't quite as strong this year, but the main racing was brilliant again. I just can't get enough of the GT3 cars, they all look great and some of them make pretty fantastic noises as well!



Few pictures from Brands...



















...and a few more here:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57683583811356



If anyone is interested.

Great shots! You had my favourite spot under the tree! Nothing like hearing the brake hiss to the left then a 180 turn around you before hearing them burn down the hill on the other side

[Badlands99]

Have to agree .............. the noise of these cars 'out the back' is stunning.

Have been every year that the Blancpain Series has been to Brands and it is so spectacular because you can get so close to them, especially on the GP loop where there is no safety fencing in many places or you can get your camera lens so close to the fence that it cannot focus on it and just sees through the chainlink.

Unfortunately there are not many circuits left like this - it will be very different this coming weekend at Silverstone where you will need binoculars at every corner and the cars just look lost, despite there being 55 of them!

This weekend didn't disappoint - a bit of a shame that the Grasser Lambo just ran away and hid but the scraps up and down the rest of the field were pretty spectacular.


Watched practice and qualifying from a number of places - walked from Hawthorns right back to Clearways in the second free practice. The noise when you are that close and under the trees is something else and the commitment over the bumps at Westfield is something to behold - makes you realise why you don't/can't do it!

Watched the first race from the bottom of Paddock - the commitment into the corner was quite something and I am still not sure how everybody missed the ISR Audi on the first lap. Thought that we were about to have another 'Monza' moment.

Second race spent moving around Druids and came away with many decent images and again, how did everybody miss the Lambo that spun in the middle of the pack?

All in all, a great weekend - support package a little weaker this year from having two additional 1 hour races for the GT4 boys but they were also giving it some and provided a fair bit of entertainment. The Lotus race I could have done without - too many different classes and you were never really sure who was fighting who.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

You had my favourite spot under the tree! Nothing like hearing the brake hiss to the left then a 180 turn around you before hearing them burn down the hill on the other side

Are you talking about the inside of Druids? I was only there for the hypercar demo during lunch. I was out on the GP circuit for the rest of the day: it's the best place to appreciate the GT3 cars in my personal opinion!

Originally Posted by Badlands99

Have been every year that the Blancpain Series has been to Brands and it is so spectacular because you can get so close to them, especially on the GP loop where there is no safety fencing in many places or you can get your camera lens so close to the fence that it cannot focus on it and just sees through the chainlink.

Yeah. I always dread the first meeting of the year at Brands as I'm always afraid the high fencing will have spread round onto the GP circuit during the winter!

As you say, it's a very different experience at Silverstone. I have been there a couple of times in the last few years and it is my least favourite circuit in the UK by a significant margin.

[J Jay]

Good looking grid for this race, as usual. AKKA ASP AMGs starts on pole.

Edit - Race director abandons the start and the field takes another pace lap, presumably to prevent the shenanigans we saw at Monza.

[tux]

Another day, another mclaren destroyed.

[J Jay]

That was a massive impact. Thankfully Kane is out and walking.

[J Jay]

Races don't come much closer than that!

The "Final Lap" banner probably put Buhk off, on the real last lap he let Engelheart go slightly and couldn't make it up again until Village/Loop (where the AMG was supreme - yes it is down on top speed, but it's up in every other aspect of performance).

Good racing all round from the top 4, but #63 and #84 in particular were the class of the field.

[TheNewBob]

I rather enjoyed that, some great battles out there. The sight of 55 GT3 cars taking the start is still an impressive one. Think some of those backmarkers need bigger mirrors, though...

Hats off to SRO once again for having the whole thing live on YouTube, they prove they really 'get' social media far better than most.

[geordiecriag101]

Was there on Saturday and it was great to have so much access, there was a very open and friendly atmosphere not only in main Blancpain area but in the support areas as well.

Just watched the race on their YouTube channel, other organisers could really learn from SRO on how to move with the times.

Any how heres my pics from Saturday:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/geordi...57681871121340

[geordiecriag101]

Forgive the double post, here my vid from Saturday's action if anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBqKm0tgk8

[bentley speed 8]

Forgive me for asking, but did they always hand out such severe penalties in the past years? I saw a lot of cars handed drive thrus, stop and hold for one or even 5 minutes for on track contacts. They also disqualified a car (the #333) in this race for not respecting a stop and go

Or is this a result of the Bentley incidents at the last round?