Blancpain Endurance – The hunt for McLaren is on

When approaching the last round of theEndurance Cup 2016, we would be tempted to place the clan McLaren and Garage 59 favorite to win. On the one hand, because it is indeed a copy of the 650S GT3 which won the Sprint test last July on this same circuit (in the short version), with the duo Rob Bell – Alvaro Parente, on the other hand, because the balance sheet remains in favor of Woking in 2016 with two successes at Monza in Italy and at Castellet in the Var.

A perspective that it is necessary to qualify, however, because the trio Bell–Ledogar–van Gisbergen, leader of the Endurance Cup before the German event, will be deprived of the last city, lined up in Supercars for the first round of the Enduro Cup on behalf of the Red Bull Racing Australia.

An absence, compensated numerically by Duncan Tappy, which could however be detrimental for Garage 59, as the New Zealander has shown himself to be effective this season with the 650S, as evidenced by his victory at the Bathurst 12 Hours, and his performances in the SRO championship.

Facing McLaren, Bentley, BMW and Mercedes will be the adversaries most likely to thwart British plans. Maxime Soulet, Andy Soucek and Wolfgang Reip played the card of consistency, and are only nine lengths behind the McLaren crew standings. Reip could, if crowned, retain his crown acquired last year with Nissan and Team RJN.

The BMW M6 GT3 of ROWE Racing (winner at the 24 Hours of Spa) of Philipp Eng, Alexander Sims and Nick Catsburg, who replaces Maxime Martin, and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of HTP Motorsport of Buhk-Baumann-Jaafar, still remain in the running for the title.

At Audi, title hopes will be found in the Teams crown, owned by WRT for two seasons, but which could well leave Vincent Vosse's team.

Nürburgring entry list