Final entry list tweaks confirmed ahead of Paul Ricard 1000km

Final entry list tweaks confirmed ahead of Paul Ricard 1000km

A total of 51 cars are preparing to contest Saturday’s 1000-kilometre Blancpain GT Series race at Paul Ricard.

The French venue will host the fifth round of the 2018 campaign – and the third Endurance Cup event of the season – with drivers set to race into the sunset at the 5.8km circuit.

There have been a handful of tweaks to the original entry list, though all 51 cars remain on course to take the start on Saturday evening (17.45 local time).

German effort ROWE Racing have shuffled their driver roster for the French event. The #98 BMW M6 GT3 will once again be driven by Ricky Collard and Nick Yelloly, with Jesse Krohn moving over from the #99 car to join the British duo.

The #99 sees two drivers making their first Blancpain GT Series outing of the season alongside ROWE regular Jens Klingmann.

Firstly, Tom Blmoqvist will return to the squad having made previous outings in 2016 and 2017. The 24-year-old comes with a wealth of experience that includes single-seaters, prototypes and GT racing.

The line-up is completed by Chaz Mostert, who will make his series debut at Paul Ricard. The Australian is no stranger to the M6 GT3, however, having driven the same car for Team Schnitzer at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, where he secured pole position at the Mount Panorama track.

There are further minor changes at two other teams. At Attempto Racing, Kim-Luis Schraam will make his Blancpain GT Series debut aboard the #55 Audi R8 LMS. The 20-year-old German driver will take over from fellow countryman Nicolas Pohler alongside Pierre Kaffer and Jeffrey Schmidt.

At the Rinaldi Racing squad, Luca Ludwig becomes the third driver in as many races to compete alongside team regulars Rinat Salikhov and Alexander Mattschull. He follows Dominik Schwager and Daniel Keilwitz, who drove at Monza and Silverstone respectively.

Track activity gets underway on Friday, with bronze testing kicking off the event at 09.00. Free practice takes place at 10.50, followed by pre-qualifying at 15.40.

The weekend’s main action will take place on Saturday. Qualifying is set to begin at 09.40, followed by the race at 17.45. This will run for 1000km, or a maximum of six hours should that distance not be completed in time. Live streaming of the weekend's proceedings will be available on the Blancpain GT Series website.