Maxime Martin and Dirk Müller piloted a BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil Z4 GT3 to a win in the main Blancpain sprint series race run on Easter Monday on the Nogaro circuit in France. It was a one-event guest appearance in the series for the two BMW factory drivers; Team Brasil’s regulars were running in a round of the Brazilian Stock Car Championship. The Nogaro win was the first in the Blancpain series for the team.
Martin took the lead on the first lap and held it until he pitted. Müller fell back briefly after the stop, but he soon regained the lead and held on for a very close .368 second win over Stephane Ortelli in the Audi R8 that he shared with Stephane Richelmi. Twin brothers Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico finished tenth in a second Team Brasil Z4.
The Audi duo had won Sunday’s qualifying race, edging out Martin and Müller by just a half-second. The Sperafico twins finished ninth.
Dirk Müller said, “It was a very emotional victory and it was great to see the team celebrating beneath the podium. The key to success was Maxime’s fantastic stint, when he took the lead early on and opened a gap. As they had done in the qualifying race, the team again did a sensational job at the pit stop. The tire and driver change was incredibly quick, even quicker than I had expected. Unfortunately I then apparently did not press the ignition button properly and lost some time due to that. This happens to you only once in a life time – if it happens at all. From then on, I just went on maximum attack. It was great fun. I retook the lead with a move in turn one. Normally you don’t overtake there – but I just gave it a try. On the closing laps I just had to control my gap to my rivals. It was fantastic.”
The Blancpain sprint series runs again on May 9 and 10 at Brands Hatch in the UK.—Brian S. Morgan
