2014 Blancpain Endurance Series

[JD Media]

Im not very good in French.... but at least 1 car in Blancpain Enduro with Perrera/Dermont and maybe a second for Pro Almeras GT? And also they are doing ELMS...

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/un-...lippe-almeras/

"La saison 2014 s’articulera autour de l’European Le Mans Series et la Blancpain Endurance Series. Avec qui et avec combien de voitures, cela reste Ã* être déterminé. Il n’y a rien de figé. L’idée est de rouler en ELMS dans la catégorie GTC afin de gagner le ticket pour aller aux 24 Heures du Mans 2015. On devrait retrouver les inséparables Franck Perera et Eric Dermont en ELMS et Blancpain."

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

ROAL have connections with BMW in Italy, not sure if they receive any factory support from the Motorsport division though.

If Roberto Ravaglia is still I/c then he will be getting plenty of BMW blessing.

[Coach Ep]

2 Bentleys confirmed for BES Pro category: http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/n...durance-series

Drivers TBA (fully expecting Guy Smith to be the lead driver in one of the entries).

Edit: Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick drove with Smith in the Gulf 12 hours at the end of last year, so we´ll probably see them on board as well.

[urdragon]

" Reiter Engineering has confirmed that it will bring its Chevrolet Camaro GT3 to the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Monza. The car will have the experienced trio of Peter Kox, Tomas Enge and Albert von Thurn und Taxis at the wheel."

http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/n...rican-in-monza

New car, more variety than ever, now only we miss some new viper and Maserati, and a confirmation of a Nissan.

[Rodger Davies]

Kessell have two cars confirmed too, not sure yet if one will be a Pro one again. Here's hoping.

Strong SaReNi lineup. Assuming the 'Re' is Reiter, what are the other components of the name?

[Rodger Davies]

And I thought RaceArt had a Viper? Or is it not for BES?

[Coach Ep]

Not quite it seems:

In addition to the Viper GT3 R Team RaceArt will also continue to field their Corvette C5-R with both cars aiming for an ambitious programme including Supercar Challenge , BRCC in Belgium and a 24-hour programme, starting with the 24 Hours of Spa in July (for the Viper), subject to successful homologation.

Car looks awesome in black!



from: http://www.dailysportscar.com/?p=22859

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by urdragon

" Reiter Engineering has confirmed that it will bring its Chevrolet Camaro GT3 to the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Monza. The car will have the experienced trio of Peter Kox, Tomas Enge and Albert von Thurn und Taxis at the wheel."

http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/n...rican-in-monza

New car, more variety than ever, now only we miss some new viper and Maserati, and a confirmation of a Nissan.

Good to see Tomas Enge back, seems like he has won the appeal against his drug-likely suspension issued by pig-head FIA?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Good to see Tomas Enge back, seems like he has won the appeal against his drug-likely suspension issued by pig-head FIA?

No, his suspension period has simply expired as far as I'm aware.

[Marcel ten Caat]

Correct. Expired in December. It was an 18-month ban.

[dj choc ice]

Originally Posted by Marcel ten Caat

Correct. Expired in December. It was an 18-month ban.

?

I thought Enge's drug debacle happened years and years ago, didn't realize it was so recent.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by dj choc ice

?

I thought Enge's drug debacle happened years and years ago, didn't realize it was so recent.

Second debacle and suspension in mid-2012.

[JoestForEver]

Oh...I thought it was life time ban but good to have him back with Reiter, they used to do great job in Gallardos.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Oh...I thought it was life time ban but good to have him back with Reiter, they used to do great job in Gallardos.

The Camaro is an entirely different beast though! I'd love to see something like this or a Mustang be competitive, but look what they have to compete against!

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by chunterer

The Camaro is an entirely different beast though! I'd love to see something like this or a Mustang be competitive, but look what they have to compete against!

I'm not entirely convinced by the Camaro... or the Mustang, for that matter. GT3 is simply too competitive, and it's quite difficult to homologate such a heavy, lumbering car to the same specifications as a Ferrari 458 or McLaren MP4, me thinks..

GT4 is where they're suited best. But whatever the case may be, I wish them well!

[KA]

Originally Posted by urdragon

New car, more variety than ever, now only we miss some new viper and Maserati, and a confirmation of a Nissan.

Confirmation of Nissans seems to have slipped out quietly on earlier in the week- looks like RJN will be running the GT Academy winners again.

This year's GT Academy drivers are Miguel Faisca, Stanislav Aksenov, Nick McMillan and Florian Strauss, and will apparently be joined by Japanese driver Katsumasa Chiyo, who was in the NISMO car at the Bathurst 12 hours recently

http://www.dailysportscar.com/?p=23049

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/le-...am-rjn-boucle/

[JoestForEver]

So that's the customer team which JRM will focus on?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

So that's the customer team which JRM will focus on?

Aside from building the vast majority of them now I'm not sure JRM will have any involvement in running the cars at races. That's down to RJN with NISMO support.

[urdragon]

If the Nismo program is all JRM is thinking, its painful.
With one car, not much ahead of the newcomers Bentley and Viper in Spa.
Somethings wrong there with the GT3 car sales, considering that's the cheapest car in running costs and last year won the PRO-AM title. Much Nissan haters at the blancpain?.

[dj choc ice]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Second debacle and suspension in mid-2012.

More fool him, shame as he's one of the best GT drivers out there.

[somebodysb2]

Originally Posted by urdragon

If the Nismo program is all JRM is thinking, its painful.
With one car, not much ahead of the newcomers Bentley and Viper in Spa.
Somethings wrong there with the GT3 car sales, considering that's the cheapest car in running costs and last year won the PRO-AM title. Much Nissan haters at the blancpain?.

The Nismo is expensive at £ 295,000 compared to the € 195,000 Sareni. Let's not forget the massive rear traction issues, inferior selection of factory pro drivers compared to Ferrari or Porsche, etc.

[urdragon]

Originally Posted by somebodysb2

The Nismo is expensive at £ 295,000 compared to the € 195,000 Sareni. Let's not forget the massive rear traction issues, inferior selection of factory pro drivers compared to Ferrari or Porsche, etc.

Don't forget all the other cheaper cars (AKA Porsche,LAmbo,FordGT) are on the margin 300K-250K, the camaro is the "this year" ultra-cheap exception (When nobody knew that the camaro was ready, there weren't buyers anyway).

Maybe It's what you've got when you try to sell a GT3 from a Road 100K€ car for as much money as other sell a factory Porsche GT3. Or 50K less than an factory Audi or 50K less than a 458.

[Rodger Davies]

So no Pro Ferrari this year, pro-am and gentlemen only for their two cars.

[urdragon]

quote:
Correct me if i'm wrong, that's part of the list, by now: 



* UNCONFIRMED CAR  	     ** UNCONFIRMED CLASS 



TEAM                         		              DRIVERS              	               SOURCE

PRO 

Audi R8 LMS Ultra

1x WRT Belgian Audi Club     		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA **

1x WRT Belgian Audi Club     		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA **			(BES)

1x WRT Belgian Audi Club     		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA **

1x Seb loeb Racing		Sebastien Loeb   / 	TBA     / 	TBA			(autosport)*



Mercedes BENZ SLS AMG GT3

1x HTP 				Stef Dussep ? Lucas Stolz ? Harold Primat(/ Bern Schneider(SPA))(EI) 



Bentley Continental GT3

1x M-Sport ?????	  	?? Guy Smith ??  /?? Andy Meyrick ?/? Steven Kane ???		(EI)

1x M-Sport ?????			TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA	



BNW Z4 GT3 (E89)

1x BMW Team Brasil 		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA  	(SPA)	 (EI Baku Weekend Notebook)*



Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 

1x Bhai Tech Racing 		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA		 (EI Baku Weekend Notebook)*



Viper GT3-R

Team RaceArt  			Roger Grouwels   /      TBA     /       TBA(Selected rounds)  Autosport.nl(JorritVD)*



Reiter Camaro GT3 

1x Reiter engineering  		Peter Kox/Tomas Enge/Albert von Thurn und Taxis			(BES)



Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 

1x AMR FACTORY ????			TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA			(BES) *



Callaway CORVETTE C7 GT3	

1x Callaway TBA				TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA(Selected rounds) (EI Baku Weekend Notebook)



PRO - AM	

Ferrari 458 Italia GT3

1x KESSEL RACING  		Michal Broniszewski / Italian Giacomo Petrobelli 		(BES)

1x AF CORSE				TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA	 (Ferrari #50)	(BES)

1x TEAM UKRAINE				TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA	 **	

1x TEAM UKRAINE				TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA	 **		(BES-AFCorse) 

1x Flex-Box			Martin Jensen / Dennis Andersen					(BES) 



Audi R8 LMS Ultra

1x Team Parker Racing  		Ian Loggie, Chris Jones and Julian Westwood. 			(EI)

1x Team Parker Racing  		TBA  /TBA /   TBA   *		(http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/story-240609.html)





PORSCHE 911 GT3 

1x Almeras Pro GT 			Perrera/Dermont  				 (EI Alméras Pro GT program)



BNW Z4 GT3 (E89)

1x ROAL Motordport 		Michela Cerruti / Stefano Comandini / Eugenio Amos		(BES)

1x Barwell MP-Ecurie Ecosse     Alasdair McCaig / Andrew Smith / Olly Bryant (Joe Twyman SPA)	(BES)



Lamborghini Gallardo FLV2 

1 x rhino Leipert Motorsport		TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA  *			(EI)



Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4

Lago Racing of Australia 	24 Hours of Spa  Roger Lago /DavidRussell/Steven Richards/Steven Owen.  (BES) 



Nissan GT-R R35 GT3

1x Nissan GT Academy Team RJN   Katsumasa Chiyo/ Nick McMillen (USA) 			(Nismo 2014 Prereleas)

1x Nissan GT Academy Team RJN   Miguel Faisca (Portugal)/Stanislav Aksenov (Russia)/Florian Strauss*

1 x JMB Racing	TBA			TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA * ** 	(EI-JRM program)

 

Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 		

1x MP Motorsport AMR 		Richard Abra / Mark Poole / Joe Osborne				(BES)

1x Beechdean AMR 			TBA	 / 	TBA 	/ 	TBA (Selected Rounds)*	(EI)





GENTLEMAN

Ferrari 458 Italia GT3

1x KESSEL RACING  		Stephen Earle / German Freddy Kremer  				(BES)

1x AF CORSE 			Filipe Barreiros/Peter Mann/Francisco Guedes (Ferrari #51)	(BES)

1x AF CORSE			Yannick Mallegol/Howard Blank/Jean-Marc Bachelier (Ferrari #49) (BES)

		

Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 

1x Boutsen Ginion Team			Karim Ojjeh / TBA / TBA **



JEmil Frey Jaguar XK GT3

Emil Frey Racing  		Fredy Barth / Lorenz Frey / Gabriele Gardel			(BES)

[MitchZ06]

2x McLarens? Oh man.