The 2018 GT Series Sprint Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup) was the sixth season of the GT Series Sprint Cup following on from the demise of the SRO Motorsports Group's FIA GT1 World Championship (an auto racing series for grand tourer cars), the fifth with the seasons sponsored by Blancpain. The season began on 7 April at Zolder and ended on 16 September at the Nürburgring.
At the annual press conference during the 2017 24 Hours of Spa on 28 July, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation announced the first draft of the 2018 calendar. Zolder became the season opener instead of Misano. [1] On 9 October 2017, the finalised calendar was announced, confirming the dates of the races at the Hungaroring. [2]
In previous years a race weekend consisted of one Qualifying session, one Qualifying Race - of which the results set up the grid for the Main Race - and one Main Race. On 2 October 2017, changes to the format of race weekends were announced. In 2018 a race weekend consisted of two races scoring equal points and featuring separate Qualifying sessions for each race. [3]
Round | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|
1 | Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium | 8 April |
2 | Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain | 6 May |
3 | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico, Italy | 24 June |
4 | Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary | 2 September |
5 | Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany | 16 September |
Bold indicates overall winner.
Round | Circuit | Pole position | Pro Winners | Silver Winners | Pro-Am Winners | Am Winners | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | R1 | Zolder | No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing | No. 15 Boutsen Ginion Racing |
Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor | Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart | Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello | Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam | Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin | |||
R2 | No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 66 Attempto Racing | No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing | No. 15 Boutsen Ginion Racing | ||
Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart | Kelvin van der Linde Steijn Schothorst | Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello | Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam | Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin | |||
2 | R1 | Brands Hatch | No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 31 Team Parker Racing | No. 39 TP 12 - Kessel Racing | No entries |
Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor | Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor | Josh Caygill Árón Taylor-Smith | Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam | ||||
R2 | No. 17 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 17 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 37 3Y Technology | No. 26 Saintéloc Racing | |||
Stuart Leonard Frédéric Vervisch | Stuart Leonard Frédéric Vervisch | Lukas Moraes Andrew Watson | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | ||||
3 | R1 | Misano | No. 87 AKKA ASP Team | No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 90 AKKA ASP Team | No. 26 Saintéloc Racing | |
Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin | Christopher Mies Alex Riberas | Nico Bastian Jack Manchester | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | ||||
R2 | No. 88 AKKA ASP Team | No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 87 AKKA ASP Team | No. 26 Saintéloc Racing | |||
Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows | Christopher Mies Alex Riberas | Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | ||||
4 | R1 | Hungaroring | No. 90 AKKA ASP Team | No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 87 AKKA ASP Team | No. 751 SunEnergy1 Racing | |
Nico Bastian Jack Manchester | Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart | Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin | Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier | ||||
R2 | No. 88 AKKA ASP Team | No. 88 AKKA ASP Team | No. 87 AKKA ASP Team | No. 26 Saintéloc Racing | |||
Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows | Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows | Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | ||||
5 | R1 | Nürburgring | No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team | No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | No. 26 Saintéloc Racing | |
Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart | Christopher Mies Alex Riberas | Ricardo Feller Adrien De Leener | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | ||||
R2 | No. 6 Black Falcon | No. 88 AKKA ASP Team | No. 6 Black Falcon | No. 333 Rinaldi Racing | |||
Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz | Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows | Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz | David Perel Rinat Salikhov |
Championship points were awarded for the first ten positions in each race. The pole-sitter 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. A new points system was introduced this season. It takes the maximum points an entry could earn in the old 'Qualifying Race + Main Race'-format divided by two. [29]
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 16.5 | 12 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 |
|
Bold – Pole |
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Bastian Jack Manchester | AKKA ASP Team | 11 | 9 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 108.5 |
2 | Vladimir Atoev Aleksey Korneev | SMP Racing by AKKA ASP | 16 | 8 | 18 | Ret | 12 | 17 | 8 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 80.5 |
3 | Lukas Moraes | 3Y Technology | 17 | 17 | DSQ | 10 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 15 | Ret | 14 | 59 |
4 | Denis Bulatov Nico Jamin | AKKA ASP Team | Ret | 5 | 3 | 8 | 50.5 | ||||||
5 | Andrew Watson | 3Y Technology | 17 | 17 | DSQ | 10 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 49.5 | ||
6 | Ricardo Feller Adrien De Leener | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 10 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 13 | Ret | 47 | ||||
7 | Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz | Black Falcon | 9 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 43 | ||||||
8 | Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 7 | 6 | 35 | ||||||||
9 | Josh Caygill Árón Taylor-Smith | Team Parker Racing | 18 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 33 | ||||
10 | Stuart Leonard Sheldon van der Linde | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 8 | 6 | 22.5 | ||||||||
11 | Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier | Emil Frey Jaguar Racing | 7 | 11 | 21.5 | ||||||||
12 | Denis Dupont | 3Y Technology | Ret | 14 | 9.5 | ||||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock | Saintéloc Racing | 15 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 134.5 |
2 | Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam | TP 12 - Kessel Racing | 12 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 21 | Ret | 13 | 126 |
3 | Christian Malchárek Jirko Malchárek | Audi Sport Slovakia | 16 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 39.5 | ||||||
4 | Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini | Kessel Racing | 13 | 18 | 21.5 | ||||||||
5 | David Perel Rinat Salikhov | Rinaldi Racing | Ret | 10 | 16.5 | ||||||||
5 | Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier | SunEnergy1 Racing | 15 | DNS | 16.5 | ||||||||
6 | Ian Loggie Callum MacLeod | Team Parker Racing | 16 | Ret | 12 | ||||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin | Boutsen Ginion Racing | 19 | 19 | 35 | ||||||||
Pos. | Driver | Team | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 123 |
2 | AKKA ASP Team SMP Racing by AKKA ASP SunEnergy1 Racing | Mercedes-AMG | 8 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 119 |
3 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini | 1 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 95 |
4 | Attempto Racing | Audi | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 | Ret | 4 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 83 |
5 | Saintéloc Racing | Audi | 10 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 77.5 |
6 | Emil Frey Jaguar/Lexus Racing | Jaguar Lexus | 14 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 50.5 |
7 | (TP 12 -) Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 12 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 21 | Ret | 13 | 26.5 |
8 | Black Falcon | Mercedes-AMG | 9 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 25 | ||||||
9 | 3Y Technology | BMW | 17 | 17 | DSQ | 10 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 15 | Ret | 14 | 14 |
10 | Team Parker Racing | Bentley | 18 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 16 | Ret | 7 | ||||
11 | Audi Sport Slovakia | Audi | 16 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 4 | ||||||
12 | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | Ret | 10 | 2 | ||||||||
13 | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Lamborghini | 19 | 19 | 1 | ||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Saintéloc Racing | Audi | 15 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 137 |
2 | (TP 12 -) Kessel Racing | Ferrari | 12 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 21 | Ret | 13 | 126 |
3 | Audi Sport Slovakia | Audi | 16 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 39.5 | ||||||
4 | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari | Ret | 10 | 16.5 | ||||||||
4 | SunEnergy1 Racing | Mercedes-AMG | 15 | DNS | 16.5 | ||||||||
5 | Team Parker Racing | Bentley | 16 | Ret | 12 | ||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Lamborghini | 19 | 19 | 35 | ||||||||
Pos. | Team | Manufacturer | ZOL | BRH | MIS | HUN | NÜR | Points |
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