Glacier Racing Tops Round 4 of Blancpain GT Qualification

Glacier Racing was in winning form at Silverstone.

As the home of British motorsports, Silverstone Circuit has become synonymous with great racing over the course of its long and legendary history. From its first running of the British Grand Prix in 1948 to its more recent use as a driver boot camp for Nissan’s GT Academy, Silverstone has a little bit of everything for everyone.

Now in digital form, the iRacing.com Blancpain Endurance Series descended upon the Northamptonshire based circuit for three-hours of sim racing which would help decide who would gain entry into the upcoming Blancpain GT Series.

As the various teams arrived throughout the three-race weekend, among them were the heavy-hitters of Team Redline, ineX Racing, Foracer Coanda and the likes. With the race weekend getting underway, tensions rose and the elbows came out as the teams aimed to maintain or improve their positions in the closing rounds of the season.

Glacier Dominates
When the dust had finally settled, the team which came out on top for the fourth round at Silverstone was Glacier Racing BES #2 driven by Finnish drivers Kimmo Suominen and Jari Lohtari. Starting on pole position with a time of 1:46.803 which was posted by Souminen, the duo dominated their Strength of Field race (SoF 5243) from the start. Leading 88 of the 99 laps, Glacier Racing drove their RUF RT 12R to win from pole and were awarded with 322 championship points.

ineX Continues Form                                                                                                                                                                                                   Always a challenger in the fight, the boys from ineX Racing Blue continue to display their driving prowess and Round 4 was no different. Although they missed out on starting on the front row in a separate SoF race (5223), Dave Gelink and Robin Friskopps fought tooth-and-nail as they worked their way to the front. At the conclusion of the online race, ineX Racing Blue grabbed the win by just over .5s from Klaus Kivekäs, Rens Broekman and Jörn Jens of Foracer Coanda Simsport #18. The win nets ineX Racing Blue 319 championship points which greatly aids their overall championship efforts.

Although qualifiying didn’t go quite as hoped, Gelink and Friskopps worked their way to the front to score a win for ineX Blue.

Do you even Radical?
Taking the final step of the Round 4 podium were Anthony Roselli and Jeremy Bouteloup of Radicals Online GT3 1. The only team to pilot the BMW Z4 on this week’s podium, the duo raced in the same SoF race as Glacier Racing BES #2 and maintained their starting position to finish in second just under three-seconds adrift from the winners. Going home with 315 championship points, Radicals Online GT3 1 continues to fight back as they work their way into the top-five of the championship.

In the right hands the BMW Z4 was very competitive at Silverstone.

Championship Standings
After another successful week at the track, ineX Racing Blue holds onto the championship lead with 1271 points. Very close behind them is their sister team, ineX Racing Yellow, with 1268 points. Don’t count out Foracer Coanda Simsport #18, however, as they’re mounting a stellar and consistent comeback and currently sit in third with 1264 ahead of Glacier Racing BES #2 (1191) and Aday Coba Lopez, Nestor Garcia Jr., Julian Rodriguez Moreno and Pablo López of Iberica Racing BenQ (1189).

Return to Monza
As we head into Round 5 of the iRacing.com Blancpain Endurance Series, we return to where it all ‘unofficially’ began several weeks ago. Revisiting Monza for the first time since the technical issue which forced the initial results to be scratched, drivers won’t be able to relax one bit despite already having a strategy in place. Known for its fierce chicanes and high-speed straights, look for tight racing throughout the various three-hour races as the draft will certainly keep the drivers close. Despite the RUFs having a straight line speed advantage here over the BMWs, the McLarens will also be able to stretch their legs a bit just as we saw last season.

With only two rounds remaining and the championship battle still in full swing with the top three teams separated by only seven points, Monza will be a deciding factor for many before the season finale at Spa.

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