11 juli 2009Excellent Audi-Porsche duel in Spa
For the third consecutive time the Belgian GT Championship Mediagroep Van Dyck travelled on down to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Following on from the 1000 km of Spa and the 12 Hours of Spa, the 25 Hours VW Fun Cup is now the stage for two exciting races of the BGT 2009. The first race was held on Friday evening, whilst the second one will take place on Saturday midday.
The qualifying sessions were pretty tense and once again proved that the balance of power in GT3 is now perfect. In the first session Verbergt was faster than Bert Longin in de First Motorsport Porsche and the KRK Viper of Koen Wauters. The second pole went to the Aston Martin DBRS9 of Vosse, ahead of the Audi R8 LMS of Hemroulle and Duncan Huisman’s Ford GT.
Just before the end of the session Raf Vanthoor went off seriously damaging the KRK Dodge Viper, which he shares with Kris Wauters, and the car will be out of action for the remainder of the weekend.
Bert Longin, at the wheel of the Porsche of First Motorsport took a brilliant start and built up a small gap with his nearest rivals, Koen Wauters in the KRK Viper and Tim Verbergt in de Audi R8 LMS. It soon became apparent that the winners would be amongst these gentlemen as the only real contender behind these three, Damien Coens in the Delahaye Ferrari, spun round just before the mandatory pitstop and lost all contact with the leading trio.
During the pitstop the Audi-crew were able to handle the mandatory 65” which the car must spend in the pitlmane far better, seeing Jeff Hemroulle was able to charge back up the Raidillon just ahead of François Verbist. Both drivers then produced a thrilling second half of the race, but the Porsche was unable to get passed the Audi, scoring its third win of the season.
Notwithstanding tyre and brake problems Jeffrey van Hooydonk still managed to clinch third place, ahead of Vincent Vosse (Aston) and Duncan Huisman (Ford GT). In sixth place Fred Bouvy in the Ferrari 430 GT3 still managed to grab a few points for the championship, ahead of the Van der Straten-Lémeret Mustang and the Ferrari of the Thiers brothers.
The Audi duo Hemroulle and Verbergt remain as leaders in the championship.
Rendezvous tomorrow for Race 2 of the Belgian GT Championship Mediagroep Van Dyck, on the fabulous Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Result Race 1: 1. Verbergt-Hemroulle (Audi R8 LMS) 24 laps; 2. Longin-Verbist (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) +0.656; 3. Wauters-Van Hooydonk (Dodge Viper) +13.924; 4. Renard-Vosse (Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3) +15.684; 5. Kuismanen-Huisman (Fin/P-B-Ford GT3) +17.888; 6. Coens-Bouvy (Ferrari F430 GT3) +55.140; 7. Van der Straten-Lémeret (Ford Mustang FR500 GT3) +1:33.100; 8. Thiers-Thiers (Ferrari F430 GT3) +2:14.544; 9. Nurminen-Vanhanen (Fin-Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) +2:36.312; 10. De Laet-Van der Zwaan (B/NL-Lamborghini Gallardo) +1 lap; 11. Princen-Deridder (Ford Mustang GT4) +3 laps.
