Blancpain Endurance Series
| Blancpain Endurance Series | |
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 Blancpain Endurance Series 2019
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| Vehicle type | Gran Turismo |
| Country or region | European Championship |
| Current name | Blancpain Endurance Series |
| First season | 2011 |
| Official website | www.blancpain-endurance-series.com |
The Blancpain Endurance Series is a motorsport racing series for Gran Turismo vehicles of the GT3 class . It was launched in 2011 by the SRO Motorsports Group . It is intended to take up the long-distance character of the old FIA GT championship from the first years of the millennium, which was no longer available in the SRO series at the time it was founded. The FIA GT2 European Championship originally planned for this purpose had to be given up in 2010 before the actual start of the season, as there were not enough starters.
GT4 vehicles were also permitted in the first season . The title sponsor of the series is the Swiss company Blancpain . The highlight of a season is the annual Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race .
Sporting regulations
Categories
In the first season the starting field was divided into five categories, four for GT3 vehicles and one for GT4 vehicles. As of the 2012 season , the GT3 Cup and GT4 Cup classes no longer exist.
The differentiation between the classes is based on the driver's strengths. The strength of a driver is determined by the driver categorization of the SRO, which is already used in other SRO series. The drivers are classified according to their previous sporting performance and their current age in platinum, gold, silver or bronze. The following categories are advertised for GT3 vehicles:
| GT3 Pro Cup | GT3 Pro-Am Cup | GT3 Gentlemen Cup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| at least one driver per car | three | two three) | two three) |
| Driver categories | open | Bronze / bronze / platinum or gold / (platinum or gold) silver / silver / bronze / (silver) |
Bronze / bronze / silver / (silver or bronze) |
in brackets: only valid for 24h spa
All five categories are always on the track at the same time on the weekend.
format
The race weekend begins with a free practice session for bronze pilots and two further free practice sessions for all pilots. This is followed by a three-part qualification in which every pilot has to complete one part. However, there is no elimination procedure, the fastest lap time from the entire qualification counts. Each third is 15 minutes long. The only race of the weekend usually lasts three hours, there was a 6-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2013 and 2014 . A 6-hour race has been held on the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet since 2015 . Two pit stops have to be made during the race, with a driver and tire change always taking place.
There is a different schedule for the weekend for the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race .
Current scoring
The awarding of points is different depending on the length of the race. The points system for 3-hour races is analogous to the well-known FIA scheme, for all other races there are more points:
| 3 hour race | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 25th | 18th | 15th | 12 | 10 | 8th | 6th | 4th | 2 | 1 |
| 6 hour race | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 33 | 24 | 19th | 15th | 12 | 9 | 6th | 4th | 2 | 1 |
| 24 hour race | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 |
| Points after 6 hours | 12 | 9 | 7th | 6th | 5 | 4th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Points after 12 hours | 12 | 9 | 7th | 6th | 5 | 4th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Points after 24 hours | 25th | 18th | 15th | 12 | 10 | 8th | 6th | 4th | 2 | 1 |
In the team evaluation, only the points of the best-placed vehicle are counted, so that teams with different numbers of vehicles (one to three) have the same chances.
Technical regulations
→ Main article: Group GT3
The technical rules correspond to those of the FIA category GT3.
master
swell
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/endurance/about/regulations
Web links
- official website
- International Sporting Code, Appendix J, Article 257A (Group GT3 regulations; PDF; 65 kB)