By Tarek Ramchani
A flag-to-flag victory for Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns at Brands Hatch. The two Audi drivers dominated the Blancpain Sprint Series main race with their #1 R8 LMS ultra.
Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns were simply flying today in the British circuit. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT aces were the fastest in the 60-minute main race and were only challenged at the start of the race when a BMW Z4 was able to catch the Audi. Double race win in the UK and big points collected following the unlucky season opener at Nogaro.
Phoenix Racing had a solid race too. The Nurburgring based squad took a strong seventh place with their #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The German car was shared by Markus Winkelhock and Niki Mayr-Melnhof. Unfortunately the team was given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Two other Audis made it into the Top 10. The #3 car from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was eighth with Stéphane Ortelli and Stéphane Richelmi. The #4 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was ninth overall with drivers James Nash and Frank Stippler.
The #75 machine from ISR Racing was eleventh with Marco Bonanomi and Filip Salaquarda. Marco Bonanomi lost the tenth place in the closing stages of the race.
Unlucky race for #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Enzo Ide and Christopher Mies. The two drivers were hit by a Drive Through penalty for jumping the start. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT drivers ended in fourteenth place. Anders Fjordbach and Thomas Fjordbach were fifteenth behind the wheel of the #74 Audi R8 LMS ultra from ISR Racing.