WRT Audi wins BSS Nogaro qualifying race

The Stephane Richelmi/Stephane Ortelli WRT Audi fended off BMW factory duo Dirk Muller and Maxime Martin to win the Nogaro Blancpain Sprint Series qualifying race by just half a second.

The stakes were raised in Sunday morning's qualifying session when reigning Blancpain GT champion Laurens Vanthoor was ruled out of the season-opening weekend due to new teammate Robin Frijns crashing their WRT Audi.

The open-wheel convert and former Caterham Formula 1 test driver backed the Audi into the barriers in Q1 and did sufficient chassis damage to sideline himself and Vanthoors. That removed a pre-race favorite, and a chaotic opening lap further narrowed the list of victory contenders.

The second-row-starting HTP Bentley of Maxi Buhk was tapped into a spin by Phoenix Audi driver Markus Winkelhock, causing a pile-up behind that also accounted for Jules Szymkowiak in the second Bentley and Craig Dolby's MRS Nissan. The top three were clear of that incident and were handed a huge advantage, with Ortelli pulling away from Muller and the second WRT Audi of Frank Stippler.

Ortelli's lead was up to eight seconds by the pitstops, but a slower getaway by Richelmi combined with an early stop for the Brazil BMW and strong out-laps by Martin reduced that gap to just over a second.

A safety car with a quarter of an hour left, caused by Albert von Thurn and Taxis' Lamborghini ending up in the gravel following contact with Rob Bell's Attempto McLaren, brought Martin right onto Richelmi's tail. The ex-GP2 driver kept it tidy around the tight circuit and resisted constant pressure from Martin, who was – along with Muller – on loan to Team Brazil from the BMW works line-up while many of its regular drivers were busy with a clashing Brazilian Stock Car race.

Bell and Estre's McLaren lost most of its front bodywork in the first-lap carnage but still made it through from 14th on the grid to third before slowing in the final laps. With Stippler and teammate James Nash delayed by a puncture, the remaining WRT Audi of Christopher Mies and Enzo Ide therefore completed the podium.

Mercedes legend Bernd Schneider carved through the field after GT Russian team-mate Alexey Karachev's low-key stint and came within a tenth of beating the Marco Seefried/Norbert Sielder Rinaldi Ferrari to fifth, winning the Pro-Am class in the process.

Formula Renault 3.5 convert team ISR's two Audis joined this battle in sixth and seventh, chased by the recovering Buhk/Vincent Abril Bentley and the second Brazil BMW.

Originally on Autosport.com