Abril's winning streak, can it be broken?

The 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series saw an epic season long battle between the HTP Motorsport Bentley, driven by Vincent Abril and Maxi Buhk, and the Team WRT Audi of Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor. This battle ultimately ended in a championship for Maxi Buhk and Vincent Abril. Fans of the Blancpain Sprint Series will know that Abril won the silver cup in 2014 meaning he is the only driver to of won titles in both seasons of the championship, can he continue this winning record in 2016?

It'll be incredibly difficult to do so as he know has a provisional thirty seven rivals instead of twenty three last season, many of whom didn't compete in the full championship. This increased entry list features no fewer than six Team WRT Audis, all of which will be strong challengers and you can expect to see at least one of them in the title fight at the end of the year. Laurens Vanthoor is undeniably one of the best drivers on the planet when it comes to sports car racing and while inexperienced Frederic Vervisch should quickly learn from Vanthoor and build on his already rapid pace. Audi numbers 2, 28 and 33 also have the potential to be race winners and genuine championship contenders. On top of that the Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracans were incredibly quick in their one off Sprint Series appearance and the Nissan GT-R was on the pace last year and now the Nissans are being entered by the factory team with four highly talented drivers. Then there's the garage 59 Mclarens, the Sainteloc Audi, the ROWE Racing BMWs and three HTP Mercedes that could all realistically challenge for the championship.

So there's a lot of stiff competition but how do the Bentleys compare? Well as already mentioned, Vincent Abril is a double title winner and incredibly quick, Abril often matched or beat his more experienced teammate's lap times last season. For 2016 Abril has a factory backed team running his car which should help lead to an improved pace and he has a strong teammate, Steven Kane. Kane has competed in and won in the British Touring Car Championship so he knows just what it takes to be successful in shorter, more fraught races where you have less time to advance through the field. Plus, Kane has a wealth of experience in the Bentley Continental having been a part of the project since the beginning of 2014. There will be a second Bentley for Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet and while they're quick it's unlikely they can match their teammates and will probably end up playing a supporting role.

To answer the original question, it seems very likely that Abril and Kane can fight for the championship. The Bentley Boys have experience with the car, quick drivers and strong knowledge of the race format however that can be said about plenty of other driver line-ups. You can't deny that Abril and Kane will be strong but whether they'll be strong enough to maintain Abril's winning streak is a completely different matter. 2016 is shaping up to be very interesting indeed...