09 mei 2008Poles for Longin and Radermecker - The Scuderia Monza miracle
Battlefield for the second meeting of the Belgian GT Championship MVD is the highly challenging Dijon-Prenois circuit, and similar to Zolder there are once again two races of one hour each on the programme. Bert Longin in the Gravity Mosler MT900 and Vincent Radermecker with the Gravity Mosler MT900 clocked up the fastest times during the two qualifying sessions of the Grand Prix de Dijon Côtes d’Or and will be starting from pole position tomorrow for the third and fourth race of the season.
The first qualifying session on Friday midday is brought to a standstill after quarter of an hour for the stranded Lamborghini of Danny de Laet. At that moment none of the top teams have registered any fast laps. Once the session gets under way again a real battle develops for pole spot, between Bert Longin (Gravity Racing International), Fred Bouvy (Francorchamps Motors) and Ron Marchal (Gravity Racing International). Longin finally clinches the deal, ahead of Bouvy, who is hindered during his fastest lap: “Just at the peak moment of the tyres I got caught up with some traffic in several bends. We experienced a few technical problems yesterday, but notwithstanding that we’re a player up front I’m pretty confident!” Fred ‘Bull’ commented. Greg Franchi with the GPR Pino Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S manages a fourth place, ahead of Ruben Maes (NGT Porsche Cup S). In Division 2 the fastest time goes to Olivier van Oost, whilst Niels Lagrange ruled the roost in Division 3.
The second qualifying sessions also turns out to be a nail biting affair. Anthony Kumpen (Gravity Racing International), Vincent Vosse (Sport Garage) and Vincent Radermecker (Gravity Racing International) take it in turn to head up the list. Some fifteen minutes before the end of the session ‘Rader’ clocks up an unbeatable lap time. Kumpen finishes second, ahead of Vosse. The difference between the top three represents a mere tenth of a second. Jeffrey Van Hooydonk (A+ Viper) presently still without a sequential gearbox still manages to register a fourth place on the grid, ahead of Maxime Soulet (GPR Porsche Cup S). In Division 2 Erik Bruynoghe in the Lotus 2-Eleven clocked up the best lap time. Division 3 was right up the street for Tom Langeberg, replacing Vladimir Hladik in the Speedlover Porsche 997 GT3.
Worth mentioning is the heavy crash of Hans Thiers during the first free practice session. The West Flanders driver in the Ferrari F430 GT3 of Scuderia Monza took a heavy crash into the safety barriers: “At the end of the straight my left rear tyre blew, resulting in a pretty violent impact with the safety barriers. The car is seriously damaged. But…. no worries. Together with Kessel Racing, the GT3 Ferrari developers, we were able to find a solution. Early this morning a race ready replacement car was delivered. Scuderia Monza is still in the running!”
Qualifying Race 1: 1.Longin (Mosler MT900) 1’19,317, 2.Bouvy (Ferrari F430 GT3) +0.351, 3.Marchal (Mosler MT900) +1.277, 4.Franchi (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) +1.285, 5.Maes (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) +1.453, 6.Kr. Wauters (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +2.108, 7.Ko. Wauters (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +2.375, 8.Renard (Ferrari F430 GT3) +2.628, 9.Van Moerkerke (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +2.765, 10.Lagrange (Porsche 997 GT3) +3,183
Qualifying Race 2: 1.Radermecker (Mosler MT900) 1'19.453, 2.Kumpen (Mosler MT900) +0.064 , 3.Vosse (Ferrari F430 GT3) +0.098, 4.Van Hooydonk (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +0.465, 5.Soulet (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) +0.588, 6.Couwberghs (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) +0.981, 7.Coens (Ferrari F430 GT3) +1.245, 8.Lumbeeck (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +2.360, 9.Haane (Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) +2.432, 10.Schreurs (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) +2.744
