# 2015 ENEOS 1000 kilometrų lenktynės

2015 ENEOS 1000 kilometru lenktynes (ENEOS 1000 km race) was a 16th running of ENEOS 1000 kilometrų lenktynės, a touring car and GT endurance racing event held in Lithuania, at Palanga circuit, 2 kilometers away from resort town Palanga on July 16–18, 2015.
Race was won by Jonas Gelžinis, Ignas Gelžinis and Tautvydas Barštys who drove for Juta-KG Group team. Nerijus Dagilis, Nemunas Dagilis and Robertas Kupčikas finished second for Balpol-15 min powered by Oktanas Racing and Steve Vanbellingen, Erik Qvick, Dirk Vanrompuy and Tom Vanrompuy took final podium position for Belgian Qvick Motors team.

## Background

For the first practice session, all teams were divided into two groups. 2013 ENEOS 1000 kilometrų lenktynės winners General Financing-Autopaslauga by Pitlane confirmed their favourite status, as Jeroen Bleekemolen went fastest in first practice session with a laptime of 1:12.796. Juta-KG Group and MOPTRANS-Club PORT by JR Motorsport also impressed with their speed, as they completed top three.
Algirdai Racing Team with Aquila CR1 was fastest in other group, but slower than Porsche of General Financing-Autopaslauga by Pitlane. Ramūnas Čapkauskas of Algirdai Racing Team damaged his car in the first practice session, but the team managed to repair it before the start of second practice session, where he showed best lap time of 1:12.920
"Blue Ghost Racing Team" driver Modestas Jakas crashed his Toyota Celica heavily in the second practice session. Luckily, he wasn't injured, but his team was forced to withdraw from the race.

## Qualifying

Jeroen Bleekemolen, who drove for General Financing - Autopaslauga by Pitlane, qualified on pole with best lap time of 1:09.679. Jonas Gelžinis from Juta Racing was second, less than half a second behind Jeroen Bleekemolen (Lap time 1:10.090). Algirdai Racing Team's Ramūnas Čapkauskas took third position, driving Aquila CR1 prototype (Lap Time 1:10.156).
Qualifying was red-flagged several times. At the end of the first phase of qualifying, Daniel Colembie went off the track and heavily damaged his BMW M4. His JR Motorsports teammate Simas Juodviršis also crashed, this time in top 10 shootout. Team was unable to rebuild both cars before the race, therefore Daniel Colembie and his co-drivers Michael Verhagen and Ward Sluys withdrawn from the race.
Some drivers were unable to improve their lap time due to crash of Simas Juodviršis, as qualification was cancelled early. Defending race winners, Liqui Moly Racing Team Lithuania, did not advance to top 10 shootout: Kazimieras Vasiliauskas qualified in 12th position.

### Qualification: Top 10 shootout results

| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Vehicle | Lap time |
| 1 | GT | 52 | General Financing - Autopaslauga by Pitlane | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Porsche Carrera GT3 Cup | 1:09.679 |
| 2 | GT | 71 | Juta-KG Group | Jonas Gelžinis | Porsche Carrera GT3 Cup | +0.411 |
| 3 | X1 | 7 | Algirdai Racing Team | Ramūnas Čapkauskas | Aquila SR1 | +0.477 |
| 4 | GT | 15 | Balpol-15min powered by Oktanas Racing | Robertas Kupčikas | Porsche Carrera GT3 Cup | +2.165 |
| 5 | X1 | 45 | MOPTRANS-Club PORT by JR Motorsport | Simas Juodviršis | BMW M4 | +2.168 |
| 6 | GT | 8 | RaceTech | Marius Slaboševičius | BMW M3 GT2 | +2.616 |
| 7 | A3000+ | 21 | Palanga SPA hotel by Qvick Motors | Erik Qvick | BMW M3 GTR | +5.509 |
| 8 | GT | 51 | Finance Group – GSR | Rokas Steponavičius | Ginetta G50 GT4 | +6.754 |
| 9 | D | 92 | RIMO | Martynas Samuitis | BMW 335D | +7.462 |
| 10 | X1 | 19 | MOJO Lounge Racing by JR Motorsport | Daniel Colembie | BMW M4 | no time |

## Race

Jeroen Bleekemolen led early stages of the race, as Jonas Gelžinis and Robertas Kupčikas closely followed him in second and third. Ramūnas Čapkauskas retired from the race after only 50 laps due electronic failure of his Aquila CR1 prototype. 70 laps into the race unexpected heavy rain caught many fast drivers, including Dainius Matijošaitis with BMW M4, Edvinas Arkušauskas with BMW E90 EDVA, Marius Steponavičius with BMW M3 GT2 and Arūnas Mrazauskas with Lexus IS-F, who crashed heavily. Only Mrazauskas was able to continue the race after lengthy repairs in pitlane, as all other drivers retired. Due to crashes, safety car was deployed several times.
Rain stopped only 100 laps later. As the race track began to dry, two race-leading Porsches took a gamble and pitted for slick tyres. However, the risk didn't paid off as the rain started to fall again. Both cars stayed on track on slick tyres as Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ignas Gelžinis hoped that the rain will stop soon. However, this was a crucial mistake for Bleekemolen, who missed a breaking point on the wet track and crashed into the barriers. He managed to return to pitlane for repairs, but lost 14 laps and the race lead in the process.
Battle for the lead continued between Juta-KG Group and Balpol-15min powered by Oktanas Racing, as the two teams were separated by only a few seconds during majority of the second part of the race. However, 30 laps until the end of the race Nerijus Dagilis ran out of fuel and was forced to stop at the track. His Porsche was pulled back to pitlane, but after this mistake his team lost 6 laps and all chances to win a race. That left Ignas Gelžinis comfortably in front. For the final stint he handed the car over to Tautvydas Barštys, who easily crossed the finish line in first place. This was first win for Tautvydas Barštys in 1000 kilometrų lenktynės, second win for Ignas Gelžinis, and a record-breaking fifth win for Jonas Gelžinis.
Former Formula 1 drover Michael Bleekemolen and his co-driver Rene Steenmetz was running fifth as the race was coming to an end. However, after mechanical problems with his Renault Clio he was forced to retire from the race when only six laps were remaining. In the process, he dropped to sixth place, as all other drivers were six laps behind.

### Race results

Class winners in bold.
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Vehicle | Laps |
| 1 | GT | 71 | Juta-KG Group | Jonas Gelžinis Ignas Gelžinis Tautvydas Barštys | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 373 |
| 2 | GT | 15 | Balpol-15min powered by Oktanas Racing | Nerijus Dagilis Nemunas Dagilis Robertas Kupčikas | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 369 |
| 3 | A3000+ | 21 | Palanga SPA hotel by Qvick Motors | Steve Vanbellingen Erik Qvick Dirk Vanrompuy Tom Vanrompuy | BMW M3 GTR | 363 |
| 4 | GT | 51 | Finance Group – GSR | Arūnas Granskas Rokas Steponavičius Ernesta Globytė Eugenijus Misiūra | Ginetta G50 GT4 | 352 |
| 5 | A3000+ | 27 | Bauer Racing | Ramūnas Čapkauskas Linas Adomavičius Žilvinas Juršys Tomas Šipkauskas | BMW M3 | 350 |
| 6 | A3000 | 25 | Team Bleekemolen | Michael Bleekemolen Rene Steenmetz | Renault Clio | 340 |
| 7 | GT | 5 | Luktarna | Giedrius Notkus Remigijus Devainis Yuri Pukhkyy | BMW M3 | 340 |
| 8 | D | 18 | ALWARK-Kaukas | Kęstutis Binkauskas Karolis Šikšnelis Marius Masiulionis Igoris Ivanovas | Volkswagen Golf | 334 |
| 9 | GT | 52 | General Financing - Autopaslauga by Pitlane | Benediktas Vanagas Jeroen Bleekemolen Sebastiaan Bleekemolen | Porsche Carrera GT3 Cup | 333 |
| 10 | A3000 | 54 | Autoverslas Racing Team | Valdemaras Zakarauskas Rimgaudas Statnickas Andrejus Teras Vytenis Gulbinas | Audi A4 | 329 |
| 11 | A2000 | 55 | Autoklubas AB ALYTAUS CHEMIJA | Karolis Blėdis Arūnas Lekavičius Tomas Isiūnas | Renault Clio Sport | 329 |
| 12 | A2000 | 14 | SIUSKPIGIAU.LT – ZAIBELIS | Ignas Palaima Ignas Brusokas Mantas Gasiūnas | Honda Integra Type R | 328 |
| 13 | A2000 | 23 | JP Sport – Transprofus | Jonas Pipiras Mantas Morkis Jonas Paukštė Gintaras Morkevičius | Honda Civic Type R | 328 |
| 14 | GT | 1 | Skinest Rail Kaminera | Arūnas Tuma Tomas Petraitis Oleg Ossinovski Mikolai Sobol | BMW M3 | 328 |
| 15 | D | 36 | Cor Euser Racing | Hal Prewitt Jim Briody Cor Euser | BMW M3 | 326 |
| 16 | A3000 | 24 | Alfa Romeo klubas | Rimvydas Agurkis Giedrius Čenkus Alminas Malaiška | Alfa Romeo GT | 326 |
| 17 | A2000 | 90 | MK Technika Rally | Gintautas Šlepikas Alfredas Griškonis Silverijus Lapėnas Audronis Gulbinas | Honda Civic Type R | 325 |
| 18 | A3000+ | 53 | Dynam!:t Energy | Mantas Matukaitis Tadas Aganauskas Aistė Antanaitytė Molly Taylor | BMW M3 | 323 |
| 19 | A3000 | 89 | Helios sport – Pirelli Key point | Redas Navalinskas Vaidotas Mitkus Karolis Gedgaudas Artūras Radinis | BMW 325i | 321 |
| 20 | A3000+ | 10 | Techninis Projektas | Aurimas Šiaulys Tadas Petronis Vygandas Urbanas Mindaugas Urbanas | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX | 321 |
| 21 | A3000 | 99 | Rednut | Rene Tunder Kren Tunder Kasmar Tunder | BMW 325 | 311 |
| 22 | A3000+ | 58 | Rotoma Racing | Robertas Graudinis Mindaugas Boguševičius Linas Vaškys | BMW M3 | 304 |
| 23 | X1 | 4 | Kauno automobilininkų sporto klubas | Dovilas Čiutelė Aurimas Mištautas Conrad Rüdiger Tomas Šutinis | Lada 2104 Turbo | 301 |
| 24 | A3000 | 33 | Domus Lumina | Mantas Jančauskas Gediminas Vilimas Mindaugas Liatukas Kevin Abbring | BMW E36 Compact | 292 |
| 25 | X1 | 68 | EBMotorsport | Egidijus Bulotas Gediminas Udras | Porsche 968EBR | 291 |
| 26 | D | 31 | AEGN Engineering-Telšių Statyba | Giedrius Nomeika Audrius Kirklys Gvidas Aukštuolis Artūras Ežerskis | BMW 120D | 275 |
| 27 | D | 81 | Kaukas | Igoris Ivanovas Kęstutis Vilkas Martynas Giknius Sigitas Ambrazevičius | Volkswagen Golf | 253 |
| 28 | X1 | 79 | DFDSDHR | Andrew Holland Michael Holland David Holland | Ford Zak | 234 |
| 29 | A3000+ | 20 | Nero Racing | Nerijus Malasevičius Tobbe Söderberg Kent Persson Mindaugas Varža | BMW M3 | 224 |
| 30 | D | 11 | Sparti reklama Racing Team | Rimas Cesiulis Almantas Sadauskas Karolis Staniulynas | BMW 120D | 219 |
| 31 | A3000+ | 77 | EVO performance | Vytas Bilinskas Kiril Ososov Martynas Gediminas | Porsche Cayman | 200 |
| 32 | A2000 | 88 | AUTOMANAI | Marius Miškūnas Mantas Miškūnas Edvinas Mardosas | Honda Civic | 196 |
| 33 | GT | 12 | Orion Racing Team | Rytis Garbaravičius Marijus Mazuch Gediminas Ramonas | BMW M3 | 165 |
| 34 | X1 | 66 | Domus Lumina by Samsonasracing.com | Martynas Samsonas Kevin Abbring Mindaugas Varža Egidijus Valeiša | Samsonasracing Kit Car | 135 |
| 35 | A3000+ | 22 | 222 | Igoris Sidunovas Linas Puzonas Eugenijus Misiūra Audrius Gricius | Volkswagen New Beelte RSI | 105 |
| 36 | D | 92 | RIMO | Rimantas Blažulionis Saulius Vitkauskas Martynas Samuitis | BMW 335D | 104 |
| 37 | GT | 96 | Lexus Team LT | Artūras Mrazauskas Dainius Kablys Darius Baltramiejūnas | Lexus IS-F | 90 |
| – | X1 | 45 | MOPTRANS-Club PORT by JR Motorsport | Dainius Matijošaitis Andrius Jasionauskas Simas Juodviršis | BMW M4 | 82 |
| – | A3000+ | 8 | Liqui Moly Racing Team Lithuania | Edvinas Arkušauskas Justas Tamašauskas Kazimieras Vasiliauskas | BMW E90 EDVA | 65 |
| – | GT | 8 | RaceTech | Dennis de Groot Marius Slaboševičius Džiugas Tovilavičius Egidijus Valeiša | BMW M3 GT2 | 46 |
| – | X1 | 7 | Algirdai Racing Team | Ramūnas Čapkauskas Deividas Jocius Vytautas Švedas | Aquila SR1 | 18 |
| – | A3000+ | 19 | VIPTUNING | Artjoms Koclamazasvili Elvis Turans Agris Petrovskis | BMW E90 | 12 |
| NC | X1 | 19 | MOJO Lounge Racing by JR Motorsport | Ward Sluys Daniel Colembie Michael Verhagen | BMW M4 | DNS |
| NC | X1 | 44 | Blue Ghost Racing Team | Benediktas Černauskas Virginijus Lukšas Modestas Jakas | Toyota Celica | DNS |