2018 GT Series Sprint Cup

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.

2018 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup

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2017

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2019

Calendar

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]

Race format

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

Entry list

Christian Klien in the pits at Circuit Zolder.

Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Belgian Audi Club Team WRT[4] Audi R8 LMS[4] 1 Christopher Mies[5] P All Alex Riberas[5] 2 Will Stevens[5] P All Dries Vanthoor[5] 3 Gilles Magnus[6] S 1 Alessio Picariello[6] Ricardo Feller[7] 3–5 Adrien De Leener[7] 17 Stuart Leonard[5] P 1–2, 4–5 Robin Frijns[5] 1, 4–5 Frédéric Vervisch[8] 2 Stuart Leonard[7] S 3 Sheldon van der Linde[7] Black Falcon[9] Mercedes-AMG GT3[9] 6 Hubert Haupt[9] S 4–5 Luca Stolz[9] Kessel Racing[10][N 1] TP 12 - Kessel Racing[11][N 1] Ferrari 488 GT3[11] 11 Michał Broniszewski[10] PA 1 Giacomo Piccini[10] 39 Piti Bhirombhakdi[11] PA All Carlo van Dam[11] Emil Frey Lexus Racing[12][N 2] Emil Frey Jaguar Racing[13][N 2] Lexus RC F GT3[12] 14 Albert Costa[14] P All Christian Klien[14] Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar[13] 54 Alex Fontana[15] S 3 Mikaël Grenier[15] Lexus RC F GT3[12] 114 Norbert Siedler[10] P All Stéphane Ortelli[10] 1–3 Markus Palttala[9] 4–5 Boutsen Ginion Racing[10] Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX[10] 15 Pierre Feligioni[10] Am 1 Claude-Yves Gosselin[10] GRT Grasser Racing Team[16] Lamborghini Huracán GT3[16] 19 Andrea Caldarelli[16] P All Ezequiel Pérez Companc[16] 63 Mirko Bortolotti[16] P All Christian Engelhart[16] 82 Loris Hezemans[16] P 1–4 Franck Perera[16] Audi Sport Slovakia[17] Audi R8 LMS[17] 21 Christian Malchárek[17] PA 3–4 Jirko Malchárek[17] Saintéloc Racing[18] Audi R8 LMS[18] 25 Simon Gachet[19] P All Christopher Haase[18] 26 Nyls Stievenart[19] PA All Markus Winkelhock[18] Team Parker Racing[20] Bentley Continental GT3[20] 31 Josh Caygill[20] S 1–3 Árón Taylor-Smith[20] 32 Ian Loggie[8] PA 2 Callum MacLeod[21] SMP Racing by AKKA ASP[22][N 3] AKKA ASP Team[23][N 3] SunEnergy1 Racing[24][N 3] Mercedes-AMG GT3[23] 35 Vladimir Atoev[22] S All Aleksey Korneev[22] 87 Nico Jamin[23] P 1–2, 5 Félix Serrallés[10] 1–2 Adam Christodoulou[25] 5 Denis Bulatov[26] S 3–4 Nico Jamin[26] 88 Raffaele Marciello[23] P All Michael Meadows[23] 90 Nico Bastian[23] S All Jack Manchester[23] 751 Kenny Habul[24] PA 4 Tristan Vautier[24] 3Y Technology[10] BMW M6 GT3[10] 37 Lukas Moraes[10] S All Andrew Watson[10] 1–4 Denis Dupont[25] 5 Attempto Racing[27] Audi R8 LMS[27] 55 Pierre Kaffer[27] P All Pieter Schothorst[27] 66 Kelvin van der Linde[27] P All Steijn Schothorst[27] Rinaldi Racing[28] Ferrari 488 GT3[28] 333 David Perel[28] PA 5 Rinat Salikhov[28]

Icon Class P Pro Cup S Silver Cup PA Pro-Am Cup Am Am Cup

Race results

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 standings

Scoring system

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

Drivers' championships

Overall

Pos. Driver Team ZOL BRH MIS HUN NÜR Points 1 Raffaele Marciello Michael Meadows AKKA ASP Team 8 2 3 4 2 10 2 1 4 1 98 2 Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 3 Ret 2 2 1 1 Ret 4 1 16 90.5 3 Kelvin van der Linde Steijn Schothorst Attempto Racing 4 1 8 3 Ret 4 10 3 6 4 65 4 Will Stevens Dries Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 2 11 1 Ret Ret 2 5 7 2 Ret 63.5 5 Mirko Bortolotti Christian Engelhart GRT Grasser Racing Team 1 7 10 5 3 18 1 6 DSQ EX 57.5 6 Nico Jamin AKKA ASP Team 9 4 5 6 Ret 5 3 8 7 6 45 7 Stuart Leonard Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 5 5 4 1 8 6 Ret 16 11 9 44.5 8 Simon Gachet Christopher Haase Saintéloc Racing 10 12 7 8 Ret 3 4 2 10 3 44.5 9 Andrea Caldarelli Ezequiel Pérez Companc GRT Grasser Racing Team 6 3 12 Ret 4 20 16 11 3 5 37 10 Frédéric Vervisch Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 4 1 25 11 Félix Serrallés AKKA ASP Team 9 4 5 6 19 12 Denis Bulatov AKKA ASP Team Ret 5 3 8 18.5 13 Albert Costa Christian Klien Emil Frey Lexus Racing Ret 20 11 14 9 Ret 6 13 5 7 15.5 14 Hubert Haupt Luca Stolz Black Falcon 9 12 15 2 14 15 Robin Frijns Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 5 5 Ret 16 11 9 13 16 Norbert Siedler Emil Frey Lexus Racing 14 13 9 9 5 8 11 14 9 8 13 17 Loris Hezemans Franck Perera GRT Grasser Racing Team 20 Ret 13 7 17 7 13 5 12 18 Nico Bastian Jack Manchester AKKA ASP Team 11 9 19 15 6 15 7 9 16 17 10.5 19 Stéphane Ortelli Emil Frey Lexus Racing 14 13 9 9 5 8 10 20 Gilles Magnus Alessio Picariello Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 7 6 7.5 20 Adam Christodoulou AKKA ASP Team 7 6 7.5 21 Pierre Kaffer Pieter Schothorst Attempto Racing Ret 14 6 12 Ret 12 12 17 8 12 6.5 21 Sheldon van der Linde Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 8 6 6.5 22 Vladimir Atoev Aleksey Korneev SMP Racing by AKKA ASP 16 8 18 Ret 12 17 8 18 14 11 4 23 Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier Emil Frey Jaguar Racing 7 11 3 24 Markus Palttala Emil Frey Lexus Racing 11 14 9 8 3 25 Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock Saintéloc Racing 15 15 17 11 11 9 18 19 12 15 1 26 Ricardo Feller Adrien De Leener Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 10 13 14 10 13 Ret 1 27 Piti Bhirombhakdi Carlo van Dam TP 12 - Kessel Racing 12 10 14 13 13 14 17 21 Ret 13 0.5 27 Lukas Moraes 3Y Technology 17 17 DSQ 10 14 16 20 15 Ret 14 0.5 27 Andrew Watson 3Y Technology 17 17 DSQ 10 14 16 20 15 0.5 27 David Perel Rinat Salikhov Rinaldi Racing Ret 10 0.5 Michał Broniszewski Giacomo Piccini Kessel Racing 13 18 0 Denis Dupont 3Y Technology Ret 14 0 Josh Caygill Árón Taylor-Smith Team Parker Racing 18 16 15 Ret 15 Ret 0 Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier SunEnergy1 Racing 15 DNS 0 Christian Malchárek Jirko Malchárek Audi Sport Slovakia 16 19 19 20 0 Ian Loggie Callum MacLeod Team Parker Racing 16 Ret 0 Pierre Feligioni Claude-Yves Gosselin Boutsen Ginion Racing 19 19 0 Pos. Driver Team ZOL BRH MIS HUN NÜR Points

Key Colour Result Gold Race winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Withdrew (WD) Blank Did not participate Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Silver Cup

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

Pro-Am Cup

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

Am Cup

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

Teams' championships

Overall

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

Pro-Am Cup

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

Am Cup

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

See also

• 2018 GT Series
• 2018 GT Series Endurance Cup
• 2018 GT Series Asia

Notes

1. Car No. 11 entered as Kessel Racing under Swiss licence and car No. 39 entered as TP 12 - Kessel Racing under Thai licence.
2. Cars No. 14 and 114 entered as Emil Frey Lexus Racing and car No. TBA entered as Emil Frey Jaguar Racing.
3. Car No. 35 entered as SMP Racing by AKKA ASP under Russian licence. Cars No. 87, 88 and 90 entered as AKKA ASP Team and car No. 751 entered as SunEnergy1 Racing, both under French licence.