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Blancpain Endurance Series to introduce prize money from 2015

A €100,000 prize fund will be introduced for each round of the Blancpain Endurance Series next season

Series boss Stephane Ratel announced at his traditional press conference ahead of this weekend's Spa 24 Hours round that the prize money awarded in the Blancpain Sprint Series would be replicated in the BES from 2015.

He explained that the move was intended to increase the quality of the grid, particularly in the Pro Cup class.

"We do lack a bit of competition, particularly in Pro, and this is a way of addressing it," he said.

"We hope it will encourage more teams to take part with top driver line-ups to try to win the money."

He said offering the same financial rewards in both the seven-round BSS and the five-event BES, which combine to form the Blancpain GT Series, would help integrate the two series.

"It is about consistency so that when people turn on their TVs they will see the same cars competing," he explained.

The €100,000 (£80,000) per round prize money on offer in the BSS will continue, but teams will only get the full amount if they are taking part in both series.

If they are only competing in either series they will only get 50 per cent of the figure on offer.

The top three in each of the five BES races will win €30,000, the second-placed car €20,000 and the third-placed car €10,000.

The first and second-placed cars in the Pro-Am class will win €20,000 and €10,000 respectively, while €10,000 will go to the winner of the Gentlemen Trophy division for all-amateur line-ups.

Ratel said the BES had reached the point where it could afford to pay prize money.

"We are doing well and I like the idea of redistributing some of the profits," he continued.

The €100,000 prize money for BSS will continue in 2015.

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