Page 24 - Bespoke Issue

The slick tyres used for GT racing are branded Zero: just like the slicks that have become a central feature of Formula One. The name P Zero is used in the highest categories of motorsport such as GT racing. A number of teams were also getting to grips with new cars, so it was a busy schedule over the test days, with some entrants clocking up well in excess of 200 laps over the two days.
Swiss out t Emil Frey Racing are elding a debut full season entry from Lexus, and Nissan and Bentley both have new cars on the grid.
The Tuesday session saw Team Parker Racing put their Bentley Continental GT3 on top with a reference lap of 1:52.454. British GT regular Callum Macleod was behind the wheel for the team, which will eld a car in the full Blancpain GT Series this season. The Bentley was followed by the #66 Attempto Racing entry, which will compete throughout 2018 with brothers Steijn and Pieter Schothorst at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS. They were followed by the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine and the #27 Lamborghini Huracan of Team Lazarus.
Wednesday saw the Attempto out t go one better by topping the times thanks to a lap of 1:53.103, with the German squad heading the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan. The top three for Wednesday was completed by the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3.
With the of cial test days now complete, the waiting is very nearly over. As we go to press I am packing my bags ready to leave for the Belgian circuit of Zolder, which hosts the opening Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup round on 6-8 April.
The popularity and excitement of this race series is underscored by the impressive breadth of manufacturers who will test their machinery in the Blancpain GT Series this year, with Pro entries from Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan, and Porsche. All 11 manufacturers will compete in the Endurance Cup, six of them also going across to the Sprint Cup, with entries spanning Pro, Pro-Am, Am, and the Silver Cup, which this year expands to include the Endurance category. We thought we should have a look at the teams who will represent them in 2018.
Lamborghini
The Huracan GT3’s gave us plenty of on track action last season when they clinched the Endurance Cup and overall titles for the 2017 season. Lamborghini have high hopes of another stellar showing, as in 2017 their effort is led by Grasser Racing, which will eld three Pro cars in the full Blancpain GT Series this season. There will be an additional two- car Endurance Cup entry from Team Lazarus (Pro- Am and Silver Cup), while Barwell Motorsport and Ombra Racing (both Silver Cup) are set to eld one
Huracan GT3 each. Finally, the Reiter team will compete in four Endurance Cup rounds with their Lamborghini R-EX, stepping aside for the Total 24 Hours of Spa.
Ferrari
Always a hot contender the iconic Italian brand is once again well represented in the Blancpain GT Series. Pro-Am out t Kessel Racing will eld one of its 488 GT3s at every round this season, with a second car contesting the full Sprint Cup schedule in partnership with Thai effort TP12. This is complimented by additional Endurance Cup entries from SMP Racing (Pro), HB Racing (Am), and two each from AF Corse (Pro-Am) and Rinaldi Racing (Pro-Am and Am).
Mercedes-AMG
The Mercedes-AMG saw a lot of front of the grid action last season, with the tristar seeming to dominate the view on the rst bend at almost every race. The contingent remains strong in 2018 and is led by Auto Sport Promotion AKKA. The French squad is plotting a three-car Sprint Cup assault with two Pro class entries and one Silver Cup effort. One of their Pro cars will add an Endurance Cup campaign alongside two further Endurance efforts in Pro-Am, one in the Silver Cup, and an SMP Racing-backed Pro entry. Mercedes-AMG has additional Endurance Cup representation from the Black Falcon out t, which will eld three cars split
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