After a shaky first two seasons for the re-named Blancpain Sprint Cup, it returns in 2016 with 39 cars and nine manufacturers entered for the first round of the championship and an almost entirely new calendar. It appears that it’s finally becoming the series that SRO hoped it would be after the FIA GT1 World Championship folded back in 2013.

Stephane Ratel outlined the reg changes last year which ultimately bolstered the Sprint Series grid. Along with the new five-round calendar that will see the teams visit more F1-standard circuits including Barcelona and Hungaroring rather than the smaller tracks the Series has visited in recent years including Zolder and Nogaro, manufacturers have to enter at least a pair of cars in the Sprint Cup Pro Class this year in order to compete in the Blancpain GT Series Pro Cup; which crucially includes the Spa 24 Hours.

Those two changes together have contributed to the growth in the Sprint Cup, which struggled to field more than 20 cars in 2014 and 15. Only time will tell whether the changes are a good move or not in the long-term, but for now, with an abundance of new GT3 cars taking centre stage, Blancpain Sprint racing looks bigger and better than ever.

With all that in mind, here’s a look at the field that’s set to line up on the grid in Italy this weekend, as HTP looks to defend its crown:

Audi

Of the 39 entrants, 12 are Audi R8 LMS’.

Belgian Club Team WRT is present as ever, with an enormous team spanning six cars and 12 very capable drivers.

Last season’s runners up Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns have been split up as a driver pairing, after narrowly missing out on the title at the final round in Zandvoort.

This time round Laurens Vanthoor and Frederic Vervisch will share the #1 car, meanwhile Frijns is due to share with Laurens’ younger brother Dries in the #4.

Arguably the most exciting new pairing on the grid comes in the form of ex-Manor F1 driver Will Stevens, the Brit, who is new to GT racing, and will share the #28 car with a very capable mentor, Rene Rast.

The other three cars from the Belgian squad will be driven by Audi factory driver Filipe Albuquerque and series’ newcomer Rodrigo Baptista in the #3. The #2 is a Silver Cup entry, and consists of Stuart Leonard and Michael Meadows. Leonard has decided to put any plans for his team, Leonard Motorsport, on hold. Enzo Ide and Christopher Mies will be in the #33.

Phoenix Racing is also back in the Sprint, and this year will run two cars again after scaling back to one last year.

Markus Winkelhock will once again share duties with Niki Mayr-Melnhof as the duo look for some race wins after a challenging season in 2015. Alongside them will be Markus Pommel and Nicolaj Moller Madsen, who are entered in the Silver Cup driving the #6.

Sainteloc Racing and ISR are also entered with two cars apiece.

The French Sainteloc crew will have a very capable pairing of Audi works peddler Christopher Hasse and Mike Parisy in the #25 to headline.

ISR’s stronger lineup should be the Filip Salaquarda and Audi veteran Frank Stippler #75 R8. The team’s second car is an addition to the original entry list and will see Franck Perera and Marlon Stockinger pair up in the #75.

Mercedes

Like Audi, Mercedes too have a strong contingent of teams, with no fewer than six new AMG GT3s entered; two in the Am Cup.

Three of the new GTs come from the reigning champion HTP Motorsport, which looks to take another Sprint title after Max Buhk and Vincent Abril won 2015’s in dramatic fashion.

HTP has switched back to using Mercedes after a year with Bentley; but don’t look any less capable as a result. Abril isn’t back with the team this year, after securing drive with Bentley Team M-Sport, but its three-pronged entry nevertheless looks strong.

The #84 which includes the pair that won the 2012 GT3 European Championship will be searching for wins – 2015 Sprint champ Buhk and Dominik Baumann. The #85 has Clemens Schmid and Jazeman Jafaar aboard and the #86 has a very intriguing pair of Jules Szymkowiak and Bernd Schneider.

AKKA ASP, after ending its French GT programme, is also present with a pair of AMGs (one in the Am- Cup) after being loyal to Ferrari for multiple seasons.

Jerome Policand told DSC at Ricard that the AMG GT3 package is so much more cost-effective. And also spoke about how the addition of LMP3 cars to the GT Tour put them off entering in 2016.

The French team’s Pro entry, the #88, consists of F3 European Champion Tristain Vautier and Felix Rosenqvist.

Bentley

Last year Bentley were represented by two HTP Continental GT3s, but the German team’s move back to Mercedes means this time round the M-Sport squad will flying the flag for the British marque.

M-Sport Bentley is more than capable of gunning for the Blancpain GT Series overall title with its two cars. The first driven by Steven Kane and Bentley’s youngest boy Vincent Abril in the #7, while Maxime Soulet and Andy Soucek will drive the #8.

Nissan

RJN, like M-Sport, is making its full-time series debut this year, with two GT-Rs. The Japanese brand had a presence in the the Sprint Series last season, but it was a tough year for all involved. Craig Dolby and Sean Walkinshaw struggled in the first half of the season driving for MRS, before the team changed to Always Evolving, resulting in more promising performances.

Nevertheless this year Sean Walkinshaw is back in the series driving a Nissan, hoping for a more fruitful year with the experienced RJN team. He’s partnered with Ricardo Sanchez in the #22 while Alex Buncombe and Japanese F3 star Mitsunori Takaboshi will share the #23.

We know that in the right hands the Nissan GT-R is a car more than capable of winning races and championships. RJN’s Blancpain Endurance Series title last season was proof of that.

McLaren

Garage 59 should be considered among the favourites this year. The newly formed team backed by McLaren will run two 650S GT3s under the watchful eye of Bas Leinders.

McLaren factory drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente will be behind the wheel in the #58.

And the pair for the #59, which was confirmed yesterday, sees Martin Plowman and Craig Dolby team up once again after racing together for JRM in the past.

Both sets of drivers have good chemistry together, and should be consistently quick.

Lamborghini

As was apparent by at the Blancpain Test Day in Ricard, the new Huracan has been very successful already from a commercial point of view, as they’re now seemingly all the rage. This year’s Sprint Cup more specifically will see seven entered.

The Grasser Racing Team is the most prominent face on the list. The Austrian squad is making its full-time return to the Sprint Series after a very successful 2014 campaign with a pair of Gallardos which saw the team narrowly miss out on the title to HTP.

Its headlining Huracans, the #16 and #63, will be driven by the dangerous pairings of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Stefan Rosina, and Nicolas Pohler and Mirko Bortolotti respectively.

The team’s third Lambo fielded by the team is entered in the Silver Cup and will see Luca Stolz and Michele Beretta make their Sprint Cup debuts.

Also entering a trio of Lamborghinis in the Sprint Cup is Attempto Racing, who last year had a very difficult first year in the series running McLarens. This year though, Attempto’s effort seems far more promising, with two solid driver lineups for its Pro entries.

Max Van Splunteren and Jeroen Mul will share the #100, and Daniel Zampieri and Patric Neiderhauser will pair up in the #101.

Attempto is also entering a Huracan in the Pro-Am Cup with Brit Jack Falla and Italian Davide Valsecchi driving.

The seventh Lambo in for Misano is an AM Cup entry under the X-Bionic Racing Team banner, though the team’s intentions for the season are yet to be confirmed.

BMW

Rowe Racing is bringing a pair of brand-new BMW M6s to the Sprint Cup, flying the flag for BMW in Pro. Absent this year is BMW Team Brasil, who competed in the first two years of SRO’s Sprint Series, which is unfortunate as the outfit was beginning to hit its stride during the second half of 2015.

Nevertheless, having Rowe in for the full-season is a very welcome addition to the field, they are a team with a ton of GT3 experience and shouldn’t be overlooked.

In the #98 M6 Rowe has Stef Dusseldorf and Nick Catsburg, and in the #99, it has Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims. Both cars will be searching for wins right off the bat, as team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf revealed to DSC that he is very confident about the M6’s chances.

There is a third BMW M6 on the entry list, the #12 Pro-Am Cup M6 entered by Boutsen Ginion with Maxime Martin was a confirmed participant late after speculation that the events in Brussels would cause the team to sit out the opening round.

Martin will be partnered with Finn Matias Henkola for the opening round, the team is yet to reveal its plans for the remainder of the Sprint Cup season.

Ferrari

The 488 GT3 has had a rough inception, with the focus on building the 488 GTE cars meaning the GT3 car’s debut has been delayed. At the Paul Ricard Test Days zero were present, at Misano three are expected to take to the track.

Of the five Ferraris on the list for the first round (two being Am Cup 458s entered by AF Corse and Black Pearl Racing) two are set to run in Pro.

International GT Open regulars Ezequiel Perez Companc and Raffaele Gianmaria will be hoping for a good season in AF Corse’s #90 488.

Meanwhile Rinaldi Racing, which was extremely competitive throughout 2015 but suffered from more than its fair share of bad luck is back with Marco Seefried and Norbert Seidler once again.

It’s too early to tell how the 488 will fare with such limited running competitively to this point. It may take both AF Corse and Rinaldi Racing a couple of races to get comfortable with their new kit.

Porsche

Another manufacturer which has struggled to get its GT3 car into the hands of customers is Porsche.

Just one new 911 GT3 R is entered for Misano, that of newcomers Team a-workx which has Sebastian Asch and Dieter Ulrich driving.

2016 promises to be a very interesting season, with so many new teams, cars and circuits entering the fray for the new-look Blancpain Sprint Cup.

Fans can tune into Eurosport for coverage of the opener this year. Mark Cole and Stuart Hall will be presenting all the action at 21.00 UK time, 22.00 for European viewers.

And the full entry list for Misano can be found here.

Stephen Kilbey