01 March 2009The VDS Racing Adventures Ford Mustang FR500 GT3 takes to the track at Zolder...Stéphane Lémeret: «Incredible torque and power! »
Having been widely talked about at the International Racing Show Liège 2009, with the unveiling of the Ford Mustang FR500 GT3 recently acquired from the Matech Racing workshops, the VDS Racing Adventures team kicked off its development programme this Thursday on the Zolder circuit, Stéphane Lémeret and Raphaël van der Straten sharing the drive in order to really discover this American muscle car’s full potential.
During the morning session, on a damp track, Lémeret soon realised that handling such a machine was far from being a leisurely stroll … “What torque! Incredible power», the racing driver-journalist exclaimed. “This Mustang reminds me of the Chrysler Viper GTS-R GT1 of a few years ago. It’s so entirely different from other GT3s that I discovered some new bends at Zolder! In fact on a damp track it’s completely impossible to take the hillock flat out. It’s great fun, but you need to concentrate and remain doubly vigilant. I reckon the term to tame is fully suited to this power beast … »
From his side, Raphaël van der Straten, who took over the wheel once the track had dried out, boosted his experience with the Mustang FR500 GT4’s 420 bhp …up to the 600 bhp of the monstrous GT3 version, whilst at the same time discovering how to handle the sequential gearbox! Excellent practice. «Impressive, even though I’m going to have to cover quite a few kilometres in order to reduce the gap with Stéphane”, the man in charge of VDS Racing Adventures commented. “ The lap times he clocked up – with a 1’38’’ at the end of the day – underlines the Mustang’s heaviness, and has a harmful influence on both the chassis and the brakes. We’re going to try to reduce the weight, but to do that we need the approval of the RACB. With a decent homologation sheet, Stéphane should be lapping within 2 seconds of the pole, which would be positive and promising for the actual races … »
The least one can say is that this Ford Mustang FR500 GT3 is truly impressive, and no-one is left in any doubt about it. The VDS Racing Adventures team will be back on track in a fortnight’s time, back in Zolder, and prior to clocking up the laps at Francorchamps on 31st March. It will then be high time to start thinking about the kick-off of the Belgian GT Championship, to be held at Circuit Zolder the last weekend of April…
Last but not least we should also mention that the VDS Racing Adventures team will be entering another Mustang, the FR500 GT4 this time, in Division 2 of the Belgian GT, to be manned by Amin Bentchikou and Christian Deridder. A double presence allowing the famous VDS colours to be omnipresent on the Belgian scene in 2009…
