08 juni 2009The Audi and the Viper as during the 1000 Km of Spa
The fifth race of the Belgian GT Championship Mediagroep Van Dyck, held as a curtain raiser to the BTCS 12 Hours of Spa meeting, and was one worth framing. Tim Verbergt set off from pole, but was taken by surprise as the Audi R8 LMS watched Koen Wauter’s Dodge Viper raced past. Koen Wauters led the race, but later on tyre problems obliged him to let the Porsche of Verbist, Verbergt’s Audi and the Dodge of his brother Kris through. The entire field remained very packed together and after the mandatory driver change-over Bert Longin continued to lead the pack, by a mere one second from Jean-François Hemroulle’s Audi.
Bert Longin put up a bold fight fully determined to offer the First Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 its first victory, until a wheel bearing and tyre problem threw a spanner in the works. This left the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS of Hemroulle-Verbergt to clinch its second victory of the season.
Behind the Audi Damien Coens and Fred Bouvy in their Ferrari drove a strong race, just staying ahead of the Dodge Viper of Jeff Van Hooydonk and Koen Wauters, who crossed the line in third. Vincent Vosse, at the wheel of the Aston Martin did his utmost, but just missed out on a podium place. The Ford GT of Kuismanen-Huisman finally finished in fifth spot, ahead of the JD by KS Lamborghini of Van Der Zwaan-De Laet and the Ford Mustang VDS with Raphael Van der Straten and Stéphane Lémeret, who grabbed their first points of the season.
Even before the start of the second race two of the leading lights were out of the running. Both the Bouvy-Coens Ferrari N°3 as also the Lamborghini of Vollebergh-Van der Zwaan needed to extinguish a fire, resulting in both cars not taking the start. Vincent Vosse on pole took the lead but soon had to relinquish the lead to Jeffrey Van Hooydonk’s Dodge Viper and the KRK Dodge remained up front for the remainder of the first half. But he had to keep a close eye on the Aston and the Ford GT of Duncan Huisman breathing down his neck. Unfortunately up front the Aston developed a flat tyre dropping Vosse back and finally finishing in seventh place.
Bert Longin lying in fourth had a serious crash at the Raidillon. Once again a retirement for the Porsche of First Motorsport; for them a dramatic weekend in the battle for the championship. In the meanwhile the Audi was suffering from electronic problems, but later on was able to make up some of the lost ground. The Dodge KRK of Raf Vanthoor and Kris Wauters also disappeared from the race.
Following the pitstops the race took on a decisive edge, with a victory for Koen Wauters and Jeff Van Hooydonk, their second of the season. The Ford GT of Kuismanen-Duncan Huisman finished second and the Hemroulle-Verbergt Audi still managed to lay their hands on third spot.
Race 1:
1.Hemroulle-Verbergt (Audi R8 LMS) 24 laps in 1u00.31.472; 2. Bouvy-Coens (Ferrari 430 GT3) + 1.833; 3. Koen Wauters-Van Hooydonk (Dodge Viper) + 3.773; 4. Renard-Vosse (Aston Martin DBRS9) + 6.222; 5. D. Huisman-Kuismanen (NL-Fin/Ford GT) + 1.39.609; 6. De Laet-Van der Zwaan (Bel-NL/Lamborghini Gallardo) + 1.53.160; 7. Lémeret-Van der Straten (Ford Mustang FR500) + 2.27.428; 8. Vanthoor-Kris Wauters (Dodge Viper) + 1lap;… 11. Derrider-Martin (Ford Mustang) + 2 laps (1st GT4)
Race 2:
1.Koen Wauters-Van Hooydonk, 23 laps; 2. Kuismanen-Huisman (Fin-NL) + 9.832; 3. Verbergt-Hemroulle + 48.160; 4. De Laet-Vanderzwaan (Bel-NL) + 1.35.056; 5. Van der Straten-Lémeret + 2.02.830; 6. Thiers-Thiers (Ferrari 430) + 2.22.310; 7. Renard-Vosse + 2.32.836; 8. Cracco-Lumbeek (Dodge Viper) + 1 lap; 9. M. Martin-Derrider (Ford Mustang) + 2 laps (1st GT4)
