Blancpain GT Series Europe 2019 - Titles won and near misses

The Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe saw Ferrari cars in the limelight in the two sub-series – endurance and sprint - which the SRO-organized championship is divided into. In the first, Davide Rigon, Miguel Molina and Mikhail Aleshin, at the wheel of the 488 GT3, courtesy of SMP Racing, narrowly missed out on the title, placing just shy of the eventual winners. The Russian crew had held the top position on the leader board for lengthy stretches thanks to a win at Silverstone and a podium place in France. Unfortunately, bad luck at the 24 Hours of Spa and a white-knuckle final race in Barcelona crushed hopes of a well-deserved title. The top honours were, instead, claimed by Andrea Bertolini and Louis Machiels, on behalf of AF Corse, in the World Challenge Pro-Am class, who re-wrote the script of the final frenetic race of the season to pull off a major upset. Wolfgang Triller and Florian Scholze proved almost invincible, dominating the Am class at the controls of HB Racing’s 488 GT3. The crews lined up by Rinaldi Racing this season deserved better rewards, with Perel, Bulatov and Salikhov turning out some fine performances in the Endurance Cup, while Perel and Salikhov were in contention for the Pro-Am class title in the World Challenge right up until the penultimate race.