Marc VDS BMW wins at Silverstone as champions are crowned

The nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4 of Bas Leinders, Markus Palttala and Maxime Martin was the strongest car in the 3-hour race at Silverstone, with Martin taking the chequered flag to claim the second win of the season. The victory gave Markus Palttala enough point to claim the Vice Champions position behind Greg Franchi as 5th place for the nr33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 was enough to confirm the Belgian driver as teh 2011 Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup Champion.

The nr40 BMW finished 28 seconds ahead of the nr32 Belgian Audi Club Audi R8, with Stephane Ortelli claiming the second step on the podium for himself, Bert Longin and Filipe Albuquerque with a last lap move at Abbey on the nr29 Vita4One Ferrari 458 of Giacomo Petrobelli.

The Pro-AM Cup was claimed by Niek Hommerson and Louis Machiels when Michael Bartels took the chequered flag in 8th overall and win the Pro-Am class, finishing ahead of the nr90 Team Preci Spark Mercedes of David and Godfrey Jones and the nr24 Blancpain Reiter Lamborghini of Marc A Hayek and Peter Kox. The win also confirmed Vita4One as the GT3 Pro-Am Cup Team Champions.

The GT3 Gentlemen Trophy win went to the nr22 Sport Garage Ferrari 430 Scuderia of Lionel Comole, Chris Dymond and Robert Hissom, with second place for George Cabannes confirming the Frenchman as GT3 Gentlemen Trophy Champion in the Ruffier Racing Lamborghini, also confirming the Team trophy for the French team. Third in the Gentlemen Trophy Class went to the GT3 Cup Champion Sergio Negroni, who was racing the De Lorenzi Racing Porsche with Luigi Emiliani and Marco Cassera.

The GT4 Cup victory went to the Lotus Sport Italia Lotus of Greg Mansell, Edoardo Piscopo and Leo Mansell, but second place for the RJN Motorsport Nissan 370Z of Chris Ward, Jordan Tresson and Alex Buncombe gave the drivers and the teams enough points to be confirmed as the 2011 GT4 Cup Champions.

A slightly delayed race start due to the over running of the earlier support races saw the nr41 Alpina B6 of Niki Meyr-Melnhof take advantage of hs pole position to lead into the first corner as the lights went to green to start the final race of the 2011 season. The nr50 AF Corse Ferrari of Marco Cioci made a good start to exit Copse in 2nd place before dropping back behind the nr40 BMW of Bas Leinders and the nr60 McLaren of Phil Quaife before the end of the opening lap.

The top 3 cars moved ahead of the rest of the field with the Alpina opening up a four second lead by the tenth lap. Frank Kechele in the nr1 Vita4One Ferrari started to move up and was 4th as the clock counted off the first 30-minutes of the race.

In GT4 the RJN Motorsport Nissan headed to the pits with a loss of engine power, but the mechanics found the problem and returned Alex Buncombe to the track four laps behind the GT4 leaders but still in the race. The nr100 BMW's lead was short lived as the car stopped on track at T1 with smoke coming from the engine bay.

On lap 19 Kechele caught and passed the nr60 McLaren of Phil Quaife and then caught the second placed BMW. However Leinders responded to the challenge and opened up a small gap to the Ferrari as he started to catch the leading ALpina. As the pitstops Leinders got a run on Meyr-Melholf and swept into the lead. The Alpina then headed to the pits. The pitstop took longer than anticipated and Dylan Derdaele returned to the track in 4th place. However it was even worse in the Vita4One pits as the nr1 failed to restart for Matteo Bobbi and the Italian was left stranded in the pits as the mechanics rushed to find the problem.

Leinders pitted from the lead to hand over to Markus Palttala and the Finn returned to track with a 10 second lead over new challenger Carlos Iaconelli in the nr29 Vita4One Ferrari. The Brazilian started to close the gap to the leading BMW but Palttala soon responded and opened the gap again before the Ferrari could get within striking distance.

In the Pro-Am class Peter Kox had taken over the driving duties from Marc Hayek in the nr24 Blancpain-Reiter Lamborghini and was slicing through the field. He was soon on terms with the class leader Godfrey Jones in the Team Preci Spark Mercedes and took the class lead on lap 49.

The nr22 Sport Garage Ferrari 430 was leading the Gentlemen Trophy Class thanks to a great drive from Chris Dymond from the back of the grid and Robert Hissom continued to move the car up the top 20 standings as the second pitstops approached.

The two Team WRT Audis were starting to move up the field with the nr32 car of Filipe Albuquerque moving up to 3rd after challenging and passing the nr9 AutOrlando Porsche of Paolo Ruberti. The nr33 Audi of Andrea Piccini had also made progress up the top 10 and as the second hour came to an end the Italian was in 5th.

The great start for the nr60 McLaren came to a grinding halt on lap 47 when Klaas Hummel spun at Luffield and got stuck in the gravel trap, bringing out the waved yellows and the snatch vehicle for several laps.

The nr41 Alpina was down in 10th place after Derdaele pitted early to hand the car over to Dino Lunardi, who immediately set the fastest lap of the race as he pushed on to get on terms with the leaders. Markus Palttala also pitted to hand over to Maxime Martin, who regained the track in the lead of the race after the pitstops had shaken out.

It was now a straight run to the chequered flag over the final 60-minutes and Lunardi was making great strides as he picked off the cars ahead of him. Then disaster struck on lap 62 when a puncture to the front left tyre left the French driver limping back to the pits fro new rubber.

Peter Kox pitted from 2nd place to hand over to Marc Hayek for the remainder of the race while Michael Bartels had taken over the driving duties in the nr2 Vita4One Ferrari. The 2010 FIA GT1 World Champion soon caught and passed the Mercedes of David Jones and then reeled in Hayek's Lamborghini to take the lead in the Pro-Am Class on lap 74 after the Swiss driver held off Bartels challenge for the previous two laps.

Maxime Martin held a comfortable 30 seconds over the nr29 Vita4One Ferrari of Giacomo Petrobelli while Stephane Ortelli was closing the 15-second gap to the second placed car in the nr32 Belgian Audi Club Audi by 1-second a lap.

On lap 77 the Gentlemen Trophy leader Lionel Comole brought the nr22 Sport Garage Ferrari in fro a quick spalsh and dash and was able to regain the track still ahead of the nr31 Ruffier Racing Lamborghini of Gilles Vannelet. In GT4 the nr70 Lotus Sport Italia Evora of Greg Mansell held a comfortable three lap lead over Chris Ward in the nr63 RJN Nissan but Ward knew he only had to finish the race to secure the GT4 Driver and Team titles.

Just as it looked like it was going to be a cruise to the finish line mother nature decided to spice things up as a rain shower hit Silverstone with 12-minutes of the race remaining. Stephane Ortelli nearly got caught out by the conditions as he pushed the Audi hard in an attempt to get on terms with the second placed Ferrari before the end of the race. The Le Mans 24-Hour winner collected the car and closed the gap with just two laps of the race remaining. Ortelli made his move on the last lap to wrest the second place finish from Petrobelli at Luffield.

The chequered flag came out at the end of the 85th lap and Maxime Martin crossed the line to take the second win in a row for the Marc VDS team and secure the Vice Champions position for Markus Palttala in the Drivers Championship and also in the Team Championship.

The AutOrlando Sport Porsche was 4th, ahead of Christopher Mies in the nr33 Team WRT Audi, which secured the Pro Cup title for co-driver Greg Franchi.

CLICK HERE for the result from Round 5

CLICK HERE for the Race Facts

CLICK HERE for the final Championship Positions

Bas Leinders
nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4
"I got a good start from the second row of the grid, but then the Ferrari came past me and hit the Audi in the first corner, which I was able to take advantage of. I outbraked the Ferrari into Stowe on the opening lap to take second place, but by then the Alpina had already escaped at the front. I managed to close the gap as the race progressed, eventually putting in a pass and taking the race lead right at the end of my stint. Markus and Max then did a good job to defend the lead to the end of the race. It's a great feeling to finish our Blancpain campaign with a second race win for the team and for BMW. Today's result is a fitting reward for everyone in the team, all of whom have worked so hard this season. Congratulations also to Markus on finishing the series as vice-champion."

Markus Palttala
nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4
"Mine was a fairly easy stint. I was aware the Ferrari was closing just after the pit stop, but once I'd got heat into the tyres I was able to manage the gap at the front of the race quite comfortably, even while running the leanest map to conserve fuel. I came into this weekend lying fifth in the championship and looking to finish the season in the top three, so to be vice-champion is a great feeling. For that I have to thank Max and Bas, who have both driven superbly this season, as well as everyone in the team. I'd also like to say a big thank you to Marc van der Straten, without whom none of this would have been possible."

Maxime Martin
nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4
"I knew I had a good gap back to second, so I wasn't too concerned when it started raining halfway through my stint. I just kept up my pace, took it easy, and brought the car home. Today's win was a good result for the guys in the team, who did a great job once again with the pit stops today. Endurance racing is a team effort and taking our second successive win in the Blancpain Series shows just how strong a team we have behind us. It was a great way to end the series, especially as today's win also meant Markus finished as vice-champion, so congratulations to him."

Greg Franchi
Nr33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
2011 Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup Champion
“It is something fantastic to be the first champion of this new Series. Things didn’t start off too well in Monza; the car had problems, so we started the season without many points. This Championship came mainly through our victory at the 24 Hours of Spa and I’d like to thank all of my teammates who have helped me to this title – Matthias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider at Spa, Andrea Piccini and Marcel Fässler in all the other races up to now and, for this one at Silverstone, Christopher Mies. This victory wasn’t mine alone it came thanks to all my teammates and I thank them with all my heart. I’d also like to thank Team WRT who have been supporting me for the past two years since my victory in the Belcar and now victory in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the Total 24 Hours of Spa. I also must thank Audi Sport and Audi Belgium for their support. This is a fantastic championship and I’m very proud to be the first ever champion and I’m sure next year will be even better and I’d like to thank absolutely everyone who has supported me.”

Niek Hommerson
nr2 Vita4One Ferrari 458 Italia
Blancpain Endurance Series GT3 Pro-Am Champion
"To be champion is fantastic of course. You start out at the start of the year and hope to get a good result and Louis and I were very happy to team up with Vita4One. We love the car, we love to race and we had a great year. We had the pace all year but in the first race we had a broken damper and then my drinking straw got caught in the master switch in the second race which lost us a lot of time, but we have had the pace all year and the team did a fantastic job."

Louis Machiels
nr2 Vita4One Ferrari 458 Italia
Blancpain Endurance Series GT3 Pro-Am Champion
"The Blancpain ENdurance Series format of three hours is perfect and it is very competitive. I'm sure it will be even more competitive next year. We had a great season and we are champions, so I couldn't really ask for more than that."

Michael Bartels
nr2 Vita4One Ferrari 458 Italia
GT3 Pro-Am Team Champions
"This was a weekend of pleasure working with Niek (Hommerson) and Louis (Machiels). The car wasn't the most fantastic car this weekend, we made some changes but it was quite difficult today. I had to consentrate hard to control the gap as I knew we had to win the race to be sure. I had two exciting laps with Marc (Hayek), which was quite nice and fair. We were not so successful in the Pro Cup but we worked very hard and were successful in the Pro-Am category."

2011-10-09
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