The final of the Blancpain GT Series Europe and the Blancpain GT Sports Club was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on October 1st. This last European venue of the year hosted other renowned competitions and the number of cars competing had never been so high, with a record-breaking 168 vehicles.
Blancpain GT Series
After a solid performance and despite their third position after three hours of racing in Barcelona, Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart (Grasser Racing Team #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3) were crowned the new 2017 "Blancpain GT Series" 2017 champions. Together with Andrea Caldarelli, they also took the driver’s Endurance Cup.
The winners of the last round of the 2017 "Blancpain GT Series" season in Barcelona were Felix Serralles, Tristan Vautier and Dani Juncadella (AKKA ASP #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 team), which narrowly beat the Team WRT #17 Audi R8 LMS.
"Grasser Racing Team" took the "Blancpain GT Series" team title in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3, while Bentley Team M-Sport claimed the Endurance Cup team’s title, a consolation for the trio Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet and Vincent Abril. The latter had managed to gain a dozen positions in the opening stint, but halfway through the race and after a three-way fight with a BMW and a Jaguar, the Bentley gearbox was damaged and the driver had to park the car, thus putting an end to any hopes of winning the championship.
Blancpain GT Sports Club
Although Anthony Pons (AKKA ASP #72 Mercedes-AMG GT3 team) had already wrapped up the overall championship title during the previous round in Budapest, that did not prevent him fighting to the end and winning the qualifying race on Saturday.
Despite his second spot in the qualifying race, Stephen Earle, of Kessel Racing (#111 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) became the new Iron Cup (60 years plus category) champion of the Blancpain GT Sports Club season.
Due to torrential rain on Sunday during the main race, organizers were forced to cut the latter short.
