Two weeks after the chequered flag fell at Brands Hatch, the Blancpain GT Series is back on British soil at Silverstone.
The Northamptonshire venue plays host to the fourth round of the 2018 campaign and the second of this year’s Endurance Cup contests, with a three-hour race set to begin at 15.00 BST on Sunday.
This is familiar territory. The British circuit is an ever-present on the calendar, having staged the closing round of the inaugural Blancpain Endurance Series campaign in October 2011. It moved to June for 2012 and 2013 before settling into its present May date in 2014.
Though its place on the calendar has become predictable, the race has been anything but. Six manufacturers have been victorious in seven races, with no repeat winner since the BMW-powered Marc VDS squad went back-to-back in 2011-2012.
Since then it’s been a case of ‘new year, new winner’. Aston Martin triumphed in 2013 courtesy of Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Frederic Makowiecki, followed by Bentley Team M-Sport in 2014.
The latter triumph saw Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick take the spoils on home turf. Smith will retire from driving duties after this weekend’s race – so, what chance a fairytale send-off for this long-serving Bentley Boy?
In 2015 McLaren made it three wins on the bounce for British manufacturers, with Rob Bell, Kevin Estre and Shane van Gisbergen triumphing in their Von Ryan Racing-run McLaren 650S GT3. What’s more, with Newcastle-born Bell part of the trio, there had been a British driver on the top step of the podium for three straight years.
But in 2016 this streak snapped when the #84 HTP Motorsports Mercedes-AMG triumphed. Dominik Baumann, Maxi Buhk and Jazeman Jaafar were at the wheel that day, triumphing over the WRT-Audi of Dries Vanthoor, Frederic Vervisch and Laurens Vanthoor by less than a second after three hours of racing.
Last year, Silverstone was a crucial foundation stone for the eventual success of the Grasser Racing squad. Driving the #63 Lamborghini Huracan, Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Christian Engelhart won at Silverstone and, in doing so, took control of the championship battle.
Come the season’s end, Grasser had multiple titles to their name. The trio of Bortolotti-Caldarelli-Engelhart had clinched the Endurance Cup crown, while Bortolotti and Engelhart also claimed the overall Blancpain GT Series title.
When it comes to unpredictability, six winners from seven races is a fine return. But will we be talking about seven from eight come Sunday afternoon?
It is certainly possible. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT squad currently lead the Endurance Cup and overall standings, having scored victory at the previous Endurance event at Monza and then a brace of wins last time out at Brands Hatch. As such they are among the favourites to triumph again this weekend.
As for the other five manufacturers yet to take a win, all stand a chance of scoring a strong result this weekend. Porsche and Ferrari are in good shape, with established teams and highly competitive driver line-ups to call upon. Jaguar have just one car to call upon, but while the #54 machine competes in the Silver Cup its driving trio of Fontana-Zaugg-Grenier was very impressive at Monza.
The challenge is perhaps greater for Lexus and Nissan. The former is entirely new to the Blancpain GT Series this season, while the latter debuted a new car at Monza. Both can rely on excellent teams and drivers, but a victory so early in their respective programmes would be a surprise.
But, given the unpredictable nature of this event, nothing should be ruled out.