09 June 2009Stéphane Lémeret:
Following on from the season’s opener at Zolder and two races held as curtain raiser for the 1000 Km of Spa, the Belgian GT Championship was once again back in the Belgian Ardennes this weekend, with a further two heats of 60 minutes scheduled as supporting races to the 12 Hours of Spa. A meeting the VDS Racing Adventures team was approaching with optimism and motivation, as the Ford Mustang FR500 GT3 was evolving in the right direction…
«Since the two races as curtain raiser to the 1000 Km of Spa, we have continued working on the car », Raphaël van der Straten explained. «We are in fact carrying on applying the procedures regarding the latest homologation sheet for the Mustang, stage by stage. And as from the practice sessions on Friday we realised that we had taken another major step forward in the field of lap times …»
Lapping in 2’27’’6, the Mustang VDS is coming ever closer to the references of this national competition earmarked for GT3 and GT4. «At the beginning of the season our objective was to come within 2 seconds of the lap times clocked up by last year’s championship winning car, namely Bouvy’s Ferrari F430 », Stéphane Lémeret commented. «And we have made it! Obviously others have also continued to improve, but the VDS Racing Adventures team continues to improve in a highly regular and systematic manner, which is far more important. It should also be noted that the engine we ran this weekend was not our best engine block, as it had suffered on the last outing. As for the set-up, with soft tyres at the rear it still isn’t perfect. And so the development continues …»
Notwithstanding that, as from this Saturday the impressive bright red Ford Mustang FR500 GT3 turned up trumps, and more than once. In the first heat, following a foolish manoeuvre by the Lamborghini, Raphaël van der Straten took a spin at the Bus-Stop, but the VDS Racing Adventures power beast still managed to take the chequered flag in 7th place, clocking up its first points in the championship!
Even better, the second race saw Stéphane Lémeret and Raphaël van der Straten avoid all the traps and pitfalls, registering a first finish in the top-5 and scoring valuable points. «We were out to score our first points, and we did it! », Raphaël exclaimed, happy and highly proud of his team. «On top of that, it’s the way we handled it. This 5th place in the second heat is a great result which proves how well the entire team are progressing. With our new engine back in place and the Mustang’s on-going development we can’t wait to be back on this Ardennes circuit in July, this time around as curtain raiser for the 25 Hours Fun Cup… »
And that’s not all seeing the VDS Racing Adventures team had the great pleasure to welcome a top level guest this weekend, none other than Maxime Martin, current leader in the European FIA GT3 competition! The latter had in fact been invited by Raphaël van der Straten to team up with Christian Deridder at the wheel of the Ford Mustang FR500C GT4 boasting the VDS livery. « Highly enriching and enjoyable experience for everyone », Raphaël remarked, « and right from the first practice sessions Maxime demonstrated his top speed and driving skills. A bit of competition in GT4 would have made matters even more gripping, but let’s not ruin our pleasure, the Mustang GT4 didn’t experience the slightest problem during these two races, even achieving a 9th place overall in the second heat. Mission accomplished here also …»
