The 2016 GT Series Sprint Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup) was the fourth season following on from the demise of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship (an auto racing series for grand tourer cars), the third with the designation of Blancpain Sprint Series or Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. After developing their partnership, Blancpain and the SRO decided that 2016 would see both the Sprint and Endurance Series further integrated into the Blancpain GT Series, putting the emphasis on the prestigious overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles causing the Sprint Series name to change from Blancpain Sprint Series to Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. [1]
The series started at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on 10 April and ended at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain on 2 October. The calendar was reduced to five events, dropping races at Nogaro, Moscow, Algarve, Zolder and Zandvoort, with the addition of races at Hungaroring and Nürburgring. [2]
Event | Circuit | Date | Report |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico, Italy | 10 April | Report |
2 | Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain | 8 May | Report |
3 | Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany | 3 July | Report |
4 | Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary | 28 August | Report |
5 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain | 2 October | Report |
Bold indicates overall winner.
Event | Circuit | Pole position | Qualifying Race Winners | Main Race | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pro Winners | Pro-Am Winners | Silver Winners | Am Winners | ||||
1 | Misano | No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 8 Bentley Team M-Sport | No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 11 Kessel Racing | No. 5 Phoenix Racing | No. 55 AF Corse |
Laurens Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch | Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet | Laurens Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch | Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini | Nicolaj Møller Madsen Markus Pommer | Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch | ||
2 | Brands Hatch | No. 74 ISR | No. 86 HTP Motorsport | No. 33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 11 Kessel Racing | No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 55 AF Corse |
Franck Perera Marlon Stöckinger | Bernd Schneider Jules Szymkowiak | Enzo Ide Christopher Mies | Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini | Michele Beretta Luca Stolz | Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch | ||
3 | Nürburgring | No. 58 Garage 59 | No. 33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 58 Garage 59 | No. 11 Kessel Racing | No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 55 AF Corse |
Rob Bell Álvaro Parente | Enzo Ide Christopher Mies | Rob Bell Álvaro Parente | Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini | Michele Beretta Luca Stolz | Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch | ||
4 | Hungaroring | No. 88 AKKA ASP | No. 33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 84 AMG - Team HTP Motorsport | No. 89 AKKA ASP | No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 111 Kessel Racing |
Felix Rosenqvist Tristan Vautier | Enzo Ide Christopher Mies | Dominik Baumann Maximilian Buhk | Jean-Philippe Belloc Christophe Bourret | Stuart Leonard Michael Meadows | Stephen Earle David Perel | ||
5 | Barcelona-Catalunya | No. 74 ISR | No. 33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 88 AKKA ASP | No. 333 Rinaldi Racing | No. 5 Phoenix Racing | No. 55 AF Corse |
Franck Perera Marlon Stöckinger | Robin Frijns Enzo Ide | Felix Rosenqvist Tristan Vautier | Rinat Salikhov Norbert Siedler | Nicolaj Møller Madsen Alessio Picariello | Stéphane Lémeret Claudio Sdanewitsch |
Championship points were awarded for the first six positions in each Qualifying Race and for the first ten positions in each Main Race. The pole-sitter in the Qualifying Race also received one point and entries were required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers were required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race.
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | Pole |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
|
Bold – Pole |
Pos. | Driver | Team | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini | Kessel Racing | 23 | 13 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 143 |
2 | Jean-Luc Beaubelique Morgan Moullin-Traffort | AKKA ASP | 27 | 24 | 29 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 32 | 23 | 22 | 26 | 119 |
3 | Jean-Philippe Belloc Christophe Bourret | AKKA ASP | 34 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 22 | 27 | 28 | 78 | ||
4 | Sebastian Asch Didi Gonzales | Team a-workx | 29 | 31 | 35 | 31 | EX | 31 | 39 | ||||
5 | Rinat Salikhov Norbert Siedler | Rinaldi Racing | 23 | 22 | 31 | ||||||||
6 | Matias Henkola Maxime Martin | Boutsen Ginion | 25 | 25 | 21 | ||||||||
7 | Daniel Keilwitz Steve Parrow | Black Pearl Racing | 33 | 26 | 19 | ||||||||
8 | Christopher Brück Alexander Mattschull | Rinaldi Racing | 25 | 27 | 16 | ||||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Pos. | Driver | Team | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | Michele Beretta Luca Stolz | GRT Grasser Racing Team | 16 | 23 | 23 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 26 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 125 |
2 | Nicolaj Møller Madsen | Phoenix Racing | 19 | 15 | 19 | Ret | 20 | 15 | 9 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 104 |
3 | Stuart Leonard Michael Meadows | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Ret1 | 18 | 15 | Ret | 28 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 96 |
4 | Ricardo Sánchez Sean Walkinshaw | Nissan GT Academy Team RJN | 24 | 28 | 31 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 23 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 79 |
5 | Markus Pommer | Phoenix Racing | 19 | 15 | 19 | Ret | 20 | 15 | 61 | ||||
6 | Jeroen Mul Max van Splunteren | Attempto Racing | 21 | 20 | 24 | 13 | 22 | 21 | 21 | Ret | 60 | ||
7 | Alessio Picariello | Phoenix Racing | 9 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 43 | ||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Pos. | Driver | Team | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | Claudio Sdanewitsch | AF Corse | 30 | 30 | 36 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 161 |
2 | Stéphane Lémeret | AF Corse | 30 | 30 | 36 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 134 | ||
3 | Christian Hook Steve Parrow | Black Pearl Racing | 28 | 34 | 32 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 92 | ||
4 | Stephen Earle David Perel | Kessel Racing | 31 | 25 | 29 | ||||||||
5 | Rino Mastronardi | AF Corse | 29 | 26 | 27 | ||||||||
6 | Laurent Jenny Cédric Leimer | X-Bionic Racing Team | 32 | 33 | 22 | ||||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | Team WRT [N 1] | Audi | 13 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 104 |
2 | (AMG - Team) HTP Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 97 |
3 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 89 |
4 | AKKA ASP | Mercedes-Benz | 7 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 61 |
5 | Garage 59 | McLaren | 9 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 59 |
6 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley | 1 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 55 |
7 | Rowe Racing | BMW | 2 | 3 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 36 |
8 | ISR | Audi | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 7 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 33 |
9 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 16 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 28 |
10 | Saintéloc Racing | Audi | 11 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 28 |
11 | Rinaldi Racing/Black Pearl Racing | Ferrari | 6 | 6 | 14 | 26 | 11 | 5 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 22 | 20 |
12 | Phoenix Racing | Audi | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 15 | 9 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 10 |
13 | Nissan GT Academy Team RJN | Nissan | 17 | 14 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 4 |
14 | AF Corse | Ferrari | 12 | 9 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 16 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 4 |
15 | Attempto Racing | Lamborghini | 18 | 10 | 24 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 24 | Ret | 17 | 19 | 2 |
Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 23 | 13 | 30 | 21 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 30 | 25 | 0 | |
Boutsen Ginion | BMW | 25 | 25 | 0 | |||||||||
Team a-workx | Porsche | 29 | 31 | 35 | 31 | EX | 31 | 0 | |||||
X-Bionic Racing Team | Lamborghini | 32 | 33 | 0 | |||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 23 | 13 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 148 |
2 | AKKA ASP | Mercedes-Benz | 27 | 24 | 29 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 128 |
3 | Rinaldi Racing/Black Pearl Racing | Ferrari | 33 | 26 | 23 | 22 | 50 | ||||||
4 | Team a-workx | Porsche | 29 | 31 | 35 | 31 | EX | 31 | 45 | ||||
5 | Boutsen Ginion | BMW | 25 | 25 | 21 | ||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | ||||
1 | AF Corse | Ferrari | 30 | 30 | 36 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 161 |
2 | Black Pearl Racing | Ferrari | 28 | 34 | 32 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 92 | ||
3 | Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 31 | 25 | 29 | ||||||||
4 | X-Bionic Racing Team | Lamborghini | 32 | 33 | 22 | ||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | QR | MR | Points |
MIS | BRH | NÜR | HUN | CAT |
Raffaele "Lello" Marciello is a Swiss-born Italian professional racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for BMW M Team WRT. A former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he was the 2013 European Formula Three Champion, a reserve and test driver for the Sauber Formula One team in 2015, and spent three seasons competing in the GP2 Series. He switched to GT racing in 2017 and became a works Mercedes-AMG driver ahead of the 2018 campaign, where he stayed until leaving in 2023 and subsequently signing with BMW. In 2022, Marciello earned his first major endurance race victory by winning the Spa 24 Hours.
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