28 juni 2007The Corvette Z06 of Kumpen-Longin clinches it in the pits
It was in a rather student oriented atmosphere, with entire classes picnicking on the grandstands and shouting for joy each time a muscle car growled past them, that Peter Kox clocked the fastest qualifying time just after the lunch break during the 4th round of the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar, exceptionally held this Thursday afternoon. Lapping in 1.33.681 at the wheel of the superb black Lamborghini Gallardo , the Flying Dutchman relegated the Mosler-Chevrolet of Radermecker-Lémeret to second spot by 9 tenths of a second.
A 4th pole man and a fourth different car led off the 33 car pack at 14:55hrs for the 125’ race under a glorious sky and at a boisterous rhythm. And to everyone’s surprise the Dutch beginner Marius Ritskes, Peter Kox’s team mate, outshone himself by retaining the lead during the first quarter of an hour. Following closely on his heels were the usual regulars amongst others the Mosler of Lémeret, the Corvette of Kumpen, the Porsche of Soulet, the Mosler of Kenis and the Dodge of Ceusters. A small pack joined by the amazing Porsche Bi-turbo of the young Kevin Leest who had come up from 12th to 4th spot, the first in D3, prior to coming back through the pitlane to serve the first of his two « Drive Through(s) » for having gone under the reference time of1’36.
For the first fifteen breathtaking minutes the battle up front gave the impression of being a sprint race. Then suddenly everything changed. On the 12th lap the leader could no longer hold off the pressure from the Corvette of Kumpen, the Dutch rookie losing the control of his immaculate Lambo and hitting the rail at the exit of the first left. A great pity for Peter Kox and his car which we hope to see again in our championship.
At the same moment the BMW Z4 GT4 blew its engine and immediately caught fire on the straight which was promptly drowned in a cloud of smoke. A show highly appreciated by the spectators for a day running around the grandstands to be told that the driver (Lagrange) was luckily unhurt.
After the appearance of the Safety Car for a period of fifteen minutes, the race was on once again with the Corvette ahead of the Mosler of Lémeret and the Porsche of Soulet. The two other Moslers came in at the worst possible moment, Kenis at the wheel of a car with a damaged rear end, Kelders with an unmanageable left front wheel, and losing all contact with the leaders up front.
Battling it out closely, Kumpen and Lémeret slowly drew away from the rest of the pack. At the end of the first hour there was less than one second between them. The victory was going to be played off between these two teams. And as has often been the case the PK Carsport team showed their professionalism during the single refuelling pitstop, winning some 15 seconds. A handicap which Vincent Radermecker would be unable to make up on the track, and the young driver from Liége finally finishing four seconds down on a Bert Longin who was only too pleased to see the race come to an end. « My tyres were on their last legs. They couldn’t have taken more than another four or five laps, » Bert Longin had to admit, whilst in the MI clan Willy Plas openly explained why his car had lost 18 seconds when refuelling: « Basically it’s all down to the design of the fuel tank and the size of the vapour lines. We now have two and a half months in which to sort this out. »
Having stayed out on the track up to the authorised maximum limit of 90’ as per usual, the excellent Maxime Soulet led the race for roughly half an hour before handing over the drive to Guillaume Dumarey who missed out on a podium place half an hour from the chequered flag to the advantage of the Aston Martin of the Dutchman Ron Marshal and … Philip Jacobs, who was standing in for Wim Coekelbergs, suffering from an elbow infection.
Still in fifth with a mere 17’ from the finish, Fred Bouvy was forced to call in at the pits to change the front tyres as the result of a flat. The Porsche Prospeed driver came back on the track in 8th spot behind the Dodge Viper of Heyer-Thomas, who had taken the start from the pitlane due to electrical problems, the 2nd GPR Porsche of Maes-Duez and the Viper of Kris Wauters-Vanthoor. A ranking still to change during the final lap, with Kris Wauters (5th) getting the better of Heyer Jr at the last braking section, whilst Fred Bouvy managed to overtake Marc Duez to clinch 7th place.
Tenth overall behind the Porsche of Penders-Lamot, the Thiers brothers had another win (the 3rd) in Division 3 as the result of problems experienced by the Ultima (4th overall at 25’ from the finish before braking the gearbox) and the fiery excess of Kevin Leest who twice went under the reference time, whilst Bart Couwberghs and Marc Neyens, 13th overall remain unbeaten in Division 2 at the wheel of their Porsche 996 Supercup NGT.
Result: 1. Kumpen-Longin (Corvette Z06) 73 laps; 2. Lémeret-Radermecker (Mosler-Chevrolet) at 4.081; 3. Marshal-Jacobs (P-B-Bel/Aston Martin) at 1 l; 4. M. Soulet-Dumarey (Porsche 997 GT3) at 1 lp 1t; 5. K. Wauters-Vanthoor (Dodge Viper) at 1 lp; 6. Heyer-Thomas (All-Can/Dodge Viper) at 1 lp; 7. Bouvy-D.Loix (Porsche 997 GT3) at 1 lp; 8. Duez-Maes (Porsche997 GT3) at 1 lp ; 9. Penders-Lamot (Porsche 997 GT3) at 2 lp ; 10. Thiers-Thiers (Porsche 997) at 2 lp (1st D3) ; 10. Penders-Lamot (Porsche 997 GT3) at 2 lp;… 13. Couwberghs-Neyens (Porsche 996 Supercup) (1st D2)
