BSS: Vanthoor/Ramos win after clash with teammates

Laurens Vanthoor and Cesar Ramos claimed a dominant victory for the WRT Audi team in the Blancpain Sprint Series qualifying race at Zolder.

Pole winner Vanthoor lost the lead to team-mate and fellow factory driver Rene Rast in the opening exchanges and trailed the sister Audi R8 LMS ultra for eight laps before his bid for the lead at the final corner ended up in contact and a quick spin for Rast.

The mandatory mid-race pit stops all took place during a brief mid-race safety-car period, after which Ramos retained the lead ahead of Peter Kox in the Reiter-run NSC Motorsports Lamborghini Gallardo LFII. The Brazilian former GP2 driver was able to extend his lead over the Lambo to an eventual 15.9 seconds at the end of the one-hour race.

Vanthoor apologized for the clash with Rast after the race.

"What happened is not correct and I want to apologize to WRT and Audi," he said. "I showed myself to the side of him pretty early: I think I was alongside his door, but everyone will have a different opinion."

Kox, who shared the NSC entry with Nicky Catsburg, was also able to build a cushion over Hari Proczyk in the Grasser Lambo started by Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Proczyk came under pressure from Enzo Ide, who had taken the #2 Audi over from Rast, through the latter stages of his stint but was able to hold onto the final podium spot and edge closer to the championship lead.

Ide had to fend off the advances of Sergio Jimenez in the best of the BMW Team Brazil entries, who in turn had his mirrors full of Fabio Onidi's Villorba Corse Ferrari and Andy Soucek in the Beechdean Aston Martin.

Soucek made it past Onidi and Jimenez to take fifth, while the Brazilian BMW was spun out of sixth pace at the final corner by Maximilian Buhk's HTP Motorsport Mercedes.