BSS finale moved from Baku to Zandvoort

The Baku round of the Blancpain Sprint Series in Azerbaijan has been replaced by an event at Zandvoort. The move follows the organizer of the Baku World Challenge informing series promoter the Stephane Ratel Organization that it would be unable to stage the event set for Oct. 25.

The finale of the seven-round BSS will now take place on Oct. 11 at Zandvoort, which was part of the BSS last year and its forerunner, the FIA GT Series, in 2013.

Ratel said: "Even though the announcement came as a surprise, with the third edition of the Baku World Challenge having been confirmed as part of a three-year agreement, SRO would like to thank the promoter, International Concept Event Aztexnika, Manouchehr Ahadpour [its president] and all who have been involved in the two previous editions of the Baku World Challenge. They were two fantastic events which greatly contributed to the global growth of GT racing.

"I am also happy that we have found a fitting alternative by organizing the final round of the 2015 BSS on the challenging Zandvoort circuit."

The two SRO events in 2013 and '14 on a 2.72-mile street circuit followed the non-championship Baku City Challenge on a different layout in 2012.

Baku is set to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix on a Tilke-designed street circuit in 2016.