After a highly successful Sprint Cup season-opener at Misano, the Blancpain GT Series remains in Italy for the first round of the Endurance Cup. Tradition is the basis of endurance racing, and it is quite logically that the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza hosts this event, which has attracted no less than 56 entries.
The Belgian Audi Club has started 2016 in the best way possible, with a win in the Main race at Misano, and will be aiming at a good start in the Endurance Cup as well. The fast straights of Monza are known not to be particularly favourable to the Audis R8 LMS but the team is determined to collect a maximum of valuable points. Five cars will be on track under the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT colours, with reshuffled line-ups to cater for endurance racing needs (3 drivers per car) and some new (and heavy!) names joining the squad.
Team Principal Vincent Vosse looks ahead to Monza with curiosity: “We know that Monza is not the best track for us but we have been able to obtain podium finishes in the past, so we go there determined to do well. The new Audi R8 LMS, with its improvements and new aero, should perform better than the R8 LMS ultra, but we are still discovering the progress it brings on each track. I am sure it will be faster on the straights, but we’ll see how things go in acceleration zones, especially in traffic. Monza is really a very peculiar track, where performance on a single clean lap, benefitting from towing effect, and performance in race conditions may be two very different things. This race will also be the first race with us for a number of drivers, who all are nice additions to our squad, and I wish to welcome them all warmly. I also want to thank Chevrolet for having authorized Antonio Garc