2016 is coming to an end, so it is time to take a look back at what turned out to be a unique season of the most exciting GT championship on the motorsports planet.

0: number of times the polesitter managed to win a Qualifying Race of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup event and number of times a polesitter won a round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

0.015: the smallest margin to take pole position this year. It came at the very first race of the season in Misano, when Laurens Vanthoor in the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 beat Alvaro Parente in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren.

0.304 sec: the smallest gap at the end of a race, after the Qualifying Race of the Nürburgring Sprint Event, won by Enzo Ide and Christopher Mies, from Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente.

1: number of pole positions Dominik Baumann and Maxi Buhk needed on their way to the overall Blancpain GT Series drivers’ title. Maxi Buhk took it in Monza.

1: number of Main Race laps Enzo Ide led on the way towards his Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup drivers’ title. That was during the final event in Barcelona. His car also led 13 laps of the Main Race at Brands Hatch, but then it was Christopher Mies at the wheel.

1.257 sec: the average gap between the winner and the second place car in the four ‘normal’ races of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. With the Total 24 Hours of Spa included, the average is 24.087 sec.

2 drivers managed to claim more than one pole position, both at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS: Laurens Vanthoor (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) in Misano and Spa, and Franck Perera (ISR) in Brands Hatch and Barcelona.

4 Am Cup podium finishes in four Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup races, for Maurice Ricci, Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet. But because they missed the Total 24 Hours of Spa they came four points short to claim the title.

5: number of times the margin for pole position was less than one tenth of a second. That’s half the races of the Blancpain GT Series.

5 different brands have taken at least one overall win in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series: Audi (2 wins), BMW (1), Lamborghini (1), Mercedes-AMG (3) and McLaren (3).

10: number of times 2016 Blancpain GT Series Pro-Am champion Michal Broniszewski scored class points in a main race. That’s ten out of ten, in case you were wondering. Half of them were class wins.

11 prestigious car brands were represented during the 2016 Blancpain GT Series.

31: number of cars that where within the same second at the end of the Monza qualifying session.

32,21°C was the highest air temperature for a Blancpain GT Series main race, at the Hungaroring. Track temperature was 42,23°C.

65 cars were on the largest grid of the year, at the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

1323 laps were raced in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series, 363 in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, 960 in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

That makes for 7656,752 km of racing in 2016, 1499,557 km in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup and 6157,195 in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (3719,124 of those in the Total 24 Hours of Spa).

In a remarkable race in which  less than two competitive laps were completed Belgium’s Laurens Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) has been awarded the FIA GT World Cup after flipping his car on its roof at the Macau Grand Prix.

Vanthoor was crowned victor ahead of Keven Estre (Porsche 991) and defending champion Maro Engel (Mercedes-Benz AMG GT) after officials ruled the race result would be decided on the penultimate lap of the race.

Vanthoor emerged from the upended wreckage of his Audi after it mounted the barrier and flew backwards upside down at the highspeed Mandarin corner to learn he’d been ruled the winner of a race he thought he’d lost.

He had led just four laps of a scheduled 18 lap event – three of them behind the safety car and only one of them truly competitive.

Vanthoor had started from pole position and ledf the first lap from the Porsches of Earl Bamber and Kevin Estre and the Mercedes-Benz of Maro Engel.

But a crash into the fence at Fisherman’s Bend by back marker Ricky Capo (BMW) brought out a safety car and ultimately led to a lengthy race suspension as track workers repaired the safety fence onto the harbor side straight.

In a time certain race Bamber in second place was able to learn that race stewards had penalised him five seconds for moving in front of Engel just after the start.

On the restart , with just 18minutes of racing remaining , Bamber forced his way past Vanthoor, desperate to open a gap to negate his penalty.

But Vanthoor hit an inside kerb in his pursuit of Bamber launching his Audi into the fence and then upending it.

By the time his car had been cleared there was just four minutes of racing remaining and officials declared the race without a second restart.

Bamber who was ahead when the race was stopped dropped to fourth with the inclusion of his penalty.

Vanthoor had been strong all race weekend , winning yesterday”s qualifying race.

Vanthoor’s win gave Audi the FIA GT World Cup Manufacturer’s Trophy

Hong Kong driver Adderly Fong ( Bentley Continental GT3) won the Non-Manufacturers’ Championship after repairing his car from a Saturday incident.

Laurens Vanthoor travelled to Sepang as leader in the Intercontinental GT Challenge driver standings. The Belgian took the win in last year’s Motul Sepang 12 Hours, and repeat of that performance would give him the Intercontinental GT Challenge driver title. But the Malaysian endurance race is special for another reason as well.

“This one is my last race for Audi and it’s the end of a big chapter in my life”, the 25-year-old Belgian says. “We have had a lot of nice moments together, but that’s the way life goes. It’s still quite special to work with these people for the last time.”

“Last year was the first time I participated in this race, and it was all about trying to survive the hot and humid conditions. I informed myself a lot on how to prepare for these conditions, and you can get ready for it, but in the end it’s quite different from one person to another. Some people can cope with the heat very well, others don’t, it’s all down on how your body responds to it.  I am the type of guy who sweats a lot, so I don’t really like these conditions.” (grins)

“Being able to fight for the title in the Intercontinental GT Challenge is a nice bonus”, the Belgian concludes. “It is always nice to add a new title to your list of accomplishments, so I will do my best to get it.”

The start of the Motul Sepang 12 Hours will be given on Saturday noon (UTC +8), so just after midnight we will know both who will be the winner of the 2017 edition of the Asian endurance classic and who will be the champions of the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge. The race will be streamed live on both the Intercontinental GT Challenge and Motul Sepang 12 Hours websites.

Kaspersky Motorsport has announced that Giancarlo Fisichella and Marco Cioci will be part of the all-new driver line-up for the 2017 Blancpain GT Endurance Series.

After two seasons in the Blancpain GT Endurance Series with AF Corse, the Kaspersky Motorsport team has renewed its program by choosing an all-new professional line-up. In signing former F1-driver Giancarlo Fisichella, the team adds one of the most experienced racing drivers in the world, with the goal firmly set on podium finishes. Fisichella will team up with Marco Cioci and a third yet to be determined driver in an all Pro line-up

Giancarlo Fisichella: “This is a new opportunity with a new team. Ferrari has always been a big player in the motorsport world and together with Kaspersky Motorsport I look forward to develop the new car to perfection and hopefully contribute to writing more racing history.”