03 July 2016
Nurburg, 3 July 201 6 – It was a positive weekend for the Ferrari customer teams the third round of the Blancpain Sprint Cup championship, with four wins and two podium finishes. In the Main Race for the third consecutive time, Pro-Am honours in the Sprint Cup went to Michal Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini in the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, while the #55 AF Corse Ferrari of Claudio Sdanewitsch and Stéphane Lémeret claimed its third win as well.
The race. Less than two hours before the start of the Nürburgring main race, the Eifel track was hit by a heavy shower of rain. Even though the race was declared wet by the race direction, most of the asphalt had dried sufficiently by the time the lights went to green. In the overall class the race was won by Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente in the Garage 59 McLaren while Rinaldi Racing 488, with Marco Seefried and Norbert Siedler, ended the race P5 after a great recovery.
Pro-Am Cup. In the Pro-Am Cup class Michal Broniszewski continued his impressive winning streak by claiming his third Sprint Cup win with Giacomo Piccini, his fifth of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series season. Even though the Polish driver was involved in an incident in the opening lap of the race, Broniszewski retook the class lead in the sixth lap and after that the win for #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari-duo was never really in danger. The crew also won Qualification Race.
Am Cup. The Am Cup class saw a nice scrap between two 458 Italias, the #55 of AF Corse and the #66 of Black Pearl Racing (Steve Parrow and Christian Hook), with the latter leading the category during the opening first half of the race. Claudio Sdanewitsch, already winner of the Qualification Race, managed to stay close to the Rinaldi machine however and once Stéphane Lémeret had taken over the wheel of the #55 Ferrari, the quick Belgian had little trouble in scoring a third class win in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.
The big one. Next round of the Blancpain GT Series is the 24 Hours of Spa, with the official test day for the Belgian endurance classic being held next Tuesday.