The 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was the eighth season of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 22 April at Monza and ended on 30 September in Barcelona. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of three hours besides the 24 Hours of Spa and the 1000 km Paul Ricard events.
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. No changes were made to the schedule compared to 2017. On 17 September 2017, it was announced the race at Silverstone was moved a week to avoid a clash with the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Round Race Circuit Date 1 3 Hours of Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy 22 April Report 2 3 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Great Britain 20 May Report 3 Circuit Paul Ricard 1000km Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 2 June Report 4 Total 24 Hours of Spa Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium 28–29 July Report 5 3 Hours of Barcelona Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain 30 September Report
Entry list On 2 October 2017, it was announced grids would be limited to 26 Pro class entries, in an effort to make the championship more attractive to Pro-Am and Am class competitors. The entry cap was in place for all races except for the 24 Hours of Spa. Team Car Drivers Class Rounds Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS 1 Christopher Mies P All Alex Riberas Dries Vanthoor 2 Robin Frijns P 4 Nico Müller René Rast 17 Stuart Leonard P All Sheldon van der Linde 1–3, 5 Robin Frijns 1, 5 Marcel Fässler 2, 4 Frédéric Vervisch 3 Daniel Serra 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 4 Yelmer Buurman P All Maro Engel Luca Stolz 5 Rui Águas PA All Saud Al Faisal Kriton Lendoudis Tom Onslow-Cole 4 6 Abdulaziz Al Faisal S All Hubert Haupt Gabriele Piana Manuel Metzger 4 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 (2018) 7 Jules Gounon P All Steven Kane Guy Smith 1–2 Jordan Pepper 3–5 8 Vincent Abril P All Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet Target Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 9 Stefano Costantini Am 4 Sylvain Debs Bernard Delhez Alberto Di Folco Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 11 Michał Broniszewski PA 1, 5 Alessandro Pier Guidi Ombra Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 12 Alex Frassineti S All Romain Monti Andrea Rizzoli Kang Ling 4 Emil Frey Lexus Racing Emil Frey Jaguar Racing Lexus RC F GT3 14 Albert Costa P All Christian Klien Marco Seefried Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar 54 Alex Fontana S All Mikaël Grenier Adrian Zaugg Lexus RC F GT3 114 Stéphane Ortelli P All Markus Palttala Norbert Siedler Antonelli Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 18 Giacomo Altoè PA 4 Gianluca Giraudi Juan Perez Loris Spinelli GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 19 Raffaele Giammaria P All Ezequiel Pérez Companc Marco Mapelli 1, 3–5 Giovanni Venturini 2 63 Mirko Bortolotti P All Andrea Caldarelli Christian Engelhart 82 Rolf Ineichen P All Phil Keen Franck Perera GT SPORT MOTUL Team RJN Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2017) 22 Struan Moore S All Ricardo Sánchez Jordan Witt 1–4 Sean Walkinshaw 4 Colin Noble 5 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 (2018) 23 Alex Buncombe P All Matt Parry Lucas Ordóñez 1–4 Jann Mardenborough 5 Reiter Young Stars Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX 24 Lennart Marioneck S 1–3, 5 Patric Niederhauser Mads Siljehaug Saintéloc Racing Audi Sport Team Saintéloc Audi R8 LMS 25 Christopher Haase P All Simon Gachet 1–3, 5 Antoine Jung 1–2 Markus Winkelhock 3–4 Frédéric Vervisch 4 Ricardo Feller 5 26 Marc Rostan PA 1–2, 5 Nyls Stievenart Markus Winkelhock Christian Kelders Am 3–4 Marc Rostan Nyls Stievenart Simon Gachet 4 Daiko Lazarus Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 27 Giuseppe Cipriani PA 1–3, 5 Fabrizio Crestani Miguel Ramos 28 Arno Santamato S All Stefano Gattuso 1–4 Federico Leo 1–3 Fabrizio Crestani 4 Nicolas Pohler Toby Sowery 5 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS 29 Kelvin van der Linde P 4 Sheldon van der Linde Jeffrey Schmidt Castrol Honda Racing Honda NSX GT3 30 Bertrand Baguette PA 4 Loïc Depailler Esteban Guerrieri Riccardo Patrese Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 (2016) 31 Seb Morris PA All Derek Pierce Rob Smith Andy Meyrick 4 ARC Bratislava Mercedes-AMG GT3 33 Miroslav Konôpka PA 1 Andrzej Lewandowski Kang Ling Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 34 Tom Blomqvist P 4 Philipp Eng Christian Krognes 36 Immanuel Vinke Am All Henry Walkenhorst 1–2, 4–5 Anders Buchardt 1, 3–4 Andreas Ziegler 2 Ralf Oeverhaus 3–5 SMP Racing by AKKA ASP SMP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 35 Denis Bulatov P All Michael Meadows Vitaly Petrov 1–4 Aleksey Korneev 5 Ferrari 488 GT3 72 Mikhail Aleshin P All Miguel Molina Davide Rigon Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 42 Chris Buncombe PA All Nick Leventis Lewis Williamson David Fumanelli 4 43 Maximilian Buhk P All Maximilian Götz Álvaro Parente 1, 3–5 David Fumanelli 2 44 Adrien Tambay P 1–3 David Fumanelli 1, 3 Lucas Auer 1 Oliver Rowland 2, 5 Thomas Jäger 2 Felipe Fraga 3–5 Christian Vietoris 4–5 Rubens Barrichello 4 Ram Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 49 Euan Hankey PA 1–4 Salih Yoluç Darren Burke 2–4 Felix Rosenqvist 4 Tom Onslow-Cole 5 Remon Vos AF Corse T2 Motorsports 961 Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 51 Duncan Cameron PA All Matt Griffin Gianluca de Lorenzi 3 Lorenzo Bontempelli 4–5 Aaron Scott 4 53 Andrea Bertolini PA All Niek Hommerson Louis Machiels Marco Cioci 4 75 Christian Colombo Am 4 Matteo Cressoni Gregory Teo David Tjiptobiantoro 961 Lorenzo Bontempelli PA 1 Alex Demirdjian Giancarlo Fisichella Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS 55 Pierre Kaffer P 1–4 Jeffrey Schmidt 1–3 Nicolas Pohler 1–2 Kim-Luis Schramm 3–5 Clemens Schmid 4–5 Anders Fjordbach 5 66 Pieter Schothorst P All Steijn Schothorst Kelvin van der Linde 1–3, 5 Jamie Green 4 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 666 Sven Heyrowsky Am 4 John-Louis Jasper Jürgen Krebs Tim Müller Rory Penttinen Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 58 Ben Barnicoat P All Côme Ledogar Andrew Watson 1–3, 5 Olivier Pla 4 188 Chris Goodwin Am All Chris Harris Alexander West Andrew Watson 4 R-Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 62 Marvin Kirchhöfer P All Maxime Martin Alex Brundle 1–3 Dominik Baumann 4–5 76 Jake Dennis P All Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 77 Adrian Amstutz Am All Leo Machitski Francisco Guedes 1, 3 Jon Minshaw 2 Richard Abra 4–5 Patrick Kujala 4 78 Michele Beretta S All Martin Kodrić Sandy Mitchell Rik Breukers 4 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER SunEnergy1 Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 84 Edoardo Mortara P 4 Gary Paffett Renger van der Zande 175 Kenny Habul PA 4 Thomas Jäger Martin Konrad Bernd Schneider Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP AKKA ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 87 Jean-Luc Beaubelique PA 1–3, 5 Nico Jamin Mauro Ricci 88 Raffaele Marciello P All Tristan Vautier 1–2, 4–5 Daniel Juncadella 1, 4–5 Adam Christodoulou 2–3 Thomas Jäger 3 89 Fabien Barthez Am All Eric Debard Philippe Giauque 1–4 Nico Jamin 4 90 Nico Bastian S All Jack Manchester Jules Szymkowiak Fabian Schiller 4 Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 97 Charlie Eastwood S All Ahmad Al Harthy Euan McKay Ross Gunn 4 Rowe Racing BMW M6 GT3 98 Ricky Collard P 1–4 Jesse Krohn 1, 3–4 Jens Klingmann 1, 5 Nick Yelloly 2–3 John Edwards 2 Marco Wittmann 4 Tom Blomqvist 5 Nick Catsburg 99 Alexander Sims P 1, 4–5 Nick Catsburg 1, 4 Marco Wittmann 1 Jens Klingmann 2–4 Jesse Krohn 2, 5 Connor De Phillippi 2 Tom Blomqvist 3 Chaz Mostert Philipp Eng 5 Brussels Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 100 Sam Dejonghe PA 4 Nicolas Vandierendonck Tim Verbergt Koen Wauters Aust Motorsport Audi R8 LMS 111 Tobias Dauenhauer S 4 Philipp Frommenwiler Loris Hezemans Nikolaj Rogivue KÜS Team75 Bernhard Porsche 911 GT3 R 117 Earl Bamber P 4 Timo Bernhard Laurens Vanthoor Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 333 Alexander Mattschull PA All Rinat Salikhov Dominik Schwager 1 Daniel Keilwitz 2, 4–5 Luca Ludwig 3 David Perel 4 488 Pierre Ehret Am All Rick Yoon Rory Penttinen 1–3, 5 Nicholas Boulle 4 Murad Sultanov Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 540 Jeroen Bleekemolen PA 4 Marc Lieb Marc Miller Tim Pappas HB Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 777 Jens Liebhauser PA 5 Luca Ludwig Florian Scholze Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS 888 Toni Forné PA 1, 3, 5 Frank Stippler Dimitri Parhofer 1, 5 Mike Hansch 3 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 911 Romain Dumas P All Frédéric Makowiecki Dirk Werner Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R 991 Edward Lewis Brauner Am All Jürgen Häring Wolfgang Triller Alfred Renauer 4 Group N entries are ineligible to score points GDL Racing Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo 67 Sarah Bovy N 4 Beniamino Caccia Andrew Haryanto Andrés Josephsohn SpeedLover Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 70 Grégory Paisse N 4 Pierre-Yves Paque Gilles Petit Bob Wilwert Icon Class P Pro Cup S Silver Cup PA Pro-Am Cup Am Am Cup N Group N
Race results Bold indicates overall winner. Round Circuit Pole position Pro Winners Silver Winners Pro-Am Winners Am Winners 1 Monza No. 72 SMP Racing No. 1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar Racing No. 333 Rinaldi Racing No. 89 AKKA ASP Team Mikhail Aleshin Miguel Molina Davide Rigon Christopher Mies Alex Riberas Dries Vanthoor Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier Adrian Zaugg Alexander Mattschull Rinat Salikhov Dominik Schwager Fabien Barthez Eric Debard Philippe Giauque 2 Silverstone No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 6 Black Falcon No. 49 Ram Racing No. 188 Garage 59 Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Abdulaziz Al Faisal Hubert Haupt Gabriele Piana Darren Burke Euan Hankey Salih Yoluç Chris Goodwin Chris Harris Alexander West 3 Paul Ricard No. 76 R-Motorsport No. 14 Emil Frey Lexus Racing No. 78 Barwell Motorsport No. 51 AF Corse No. 188 Garage 59 Jake Dennis Nicki Thiim Matthieu Vaxivière Albert Costa Christian Klien Marco Seefried Michele Beretta Martin Kodrić Sandy Mitchell Duncan Cameron Matt Griffin Gianluca de Lorenzi Chris Goodwin Chris Harris Alexander West 4 Spa-Francorchamps No. 62 R-Motorsport No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport No. 12 Ombra Racing No. 333 Rinaldi Racing No. 77 Barwell Motorsport Dominik Baumann Marvin Kirchhöfer Maxime Martin Tom Blomqvist Philipp Eng Christian Krognes Alex Frassineti Kang Ling Romain Monti Andrea Rizzoli Daniel Keilwitz Alexander Mattschull David Perel Rinat Salikhov Richard Abra Adrian Amstutz Patrick Kujala Leo Machitski 5 Barcelona-Catalunya No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon No. 54 Emil Frey Jaguar Racing No. 27 Daiko Lazarus Racing No. 77 Barwell Motorsport Yelmer Buurman Maro Engel Luca Stolz Yelmer Buurman Maro Engel Luca Stolz Alex Fontana Mikaël Grenier Adrian Zaugg Giuseppe Cipriani Fabrizio Crestani Miguel Ramos Richard Abra Adrian Amstutz Leo Machitski
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.
Race points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 1
1000 km Paul Ricard points Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points 33 24 19 15 12 9 6 4 2 1 1
24 Hours of Spa points Points were awarded after six hours, after twelve hours and at the finish. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole Points after 6hrs/12hrs 12 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 Points at the finish 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Drivers' championships
Overall