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BELCAR SHORT NEWS 2006-04-20 – BSN10

Just over a week ago, we lived the opening round of the Belcar series. The winners are probably still enjoying their victories, while the others hope for a better result in 4 weeks’ time. On the 20^th and 21^st of May the second round of the series takes place on the home soil of Belcar: Zolder.

This first round resulted in two new chapters in the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar Original book of records. Anthony Kumpen set an astonishing 2’15”205 in qualifying with the Corvette C5-R of GLPK Carsport. During the race, his fastest lap was 2’17”916. Both new records were about half-a-second faster than the times set by the SRT Corvette. Anthony Kumpen now holds two more Belcar records.

As the fastest qualifying and race time are also rewarded by two bonus points for the drivers challenge, Anthony Kumpen is the first leader in this challenge. (all standings on: http://www.giganet.nl/belcar/index.htm/mgvd/standen/PDF%20BMVD-R1.pdf)

As insiders predicted, the new layout of Zolder is likely to be faster than the old one, so records should be beaten there as well. Marc Goossens holds both records at the moment.

If we compare the times set by Kumpen 10 days ago with the times set during the Spa 24 hours last year, we see that the green Corvette would have been on the front row of the FIA GT round. Kumpen’s 2.15.205 is about 4/10s better than his own fastest qualifying lap in 2005. Only the Vitaphone Maserati MC12 of Bartels/Scheider/van de Poele was faster – by three tenths.

The switch from Pirelli to Michelin by GLPK apparently caused no major problems.

The SRT-Corvette also broke its records. Jeroen Bleekemolen was 7/10s of a second faster than Marc Goossens last year. Notice that Marc Goossens drove the Corvette with chassis number 007 and Jeroen Bleekmolen the (updated) 005.

For some teams/drivers the first weekend of the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar Original was less successful. During the free practice and qualifying, we lost two main contenders. On Friday, the Thiers brothers damaged their PSI Porsche 996 Biturbo extensively in a huge crash at Eau Rouge.

Caroline Grifnée repeated this on Saturday in the BPO Daikin Ferrari 360 Modena. While the Thiers brothers had still the opportunity to enter their Porsche 996 GT3-RS during the weekend, even though a problem with the water pump ended this adventure after only 2 laps, the crash of the Ferrari meant the definitive end of the Ferrari duo Van de Velde/ Grifnée at Spa.

The G&A BMW 130i of Kenis/De Keersmaecker also suffered several mechanical problems. Qualifying came to an end owing to a differential problem, while the race was shortened after the gearlever broke. “We encountered no problems during winter and now this happens,” said a highly disappointed Gino Kenis after the weekend.

But there’s also good news for G&A; the long awaited Mosler finally arrived!

Laudi Racing drivers Van Moerkerke and van Hillebrand suffered major aerodynamic problems on their Stealth B6 during the entire weekend. The new dimensions of the rear wing were the source of the problems. The new rules limit the width of the rear wing to the width of the front screen + 30 centimetres. As the cockpit of the Stealth - and thus the front screen – is rather small (110 cm), the little rear wing was unable to create sufficient downforce.

Kurt Van Campenhout, technical director of the RACB Sport, found a solution by enlarging the rear wing, which of course needed a complete new set-up of the car. Time left was too short to find an optimal set-up. Other problems during the race slowed the car even further, but Van Moerkerke remains confident about the car’s potential.

The GS BMW suffered an electronical problem and stopped immediately before the warm-up lap. Rudi Penders and Franz Lamot lost their lead in class 2 after the gearbox broke, a problem also experienced by Porsche drivers Vancraeynest/Leest.

Some cars did make it to the start via the pit lane: both Porsche biturbos of JMT Racing, the Stealth of Laudi Racing, Stielstra/De Vries with the Ham Car Porsche 996 GT3-RS, the Thiers brothers and Koen Leyssens/Lumbeeck with KS-BMW Silhouet. The latter encountered gearbox problems during the race while the other KS BMW lost part of its bodywork.

JMT lost its qualifying times, sixth for Vannerum/Tonet, after a disqualification, as the restrictors were not conforming to the rules. The other car (Van Sande/Van Dyck) retired after a problem with the spark plugs.

Class 3 proved very competitive in Spa. It was an open battle and if two of the main contenders, Belgium Racing with the Ultima and First Motorsport (Haane), had not had tyre problems the battle would have been even more intense. Promises to be kept at Zolder!

Several Belcar teams raced at Spa last weekend during the BTCS Francorchampagne meeting. One week after a dark Belcar opening weekend, the KS Motorsport team of Steve Van Bellingen won both races. Belcar runners Bouvy, Steinberg, Cracco, Van de Plas, Van Den Broeck, Steegmans, Broodcooren, De Coster, Van Rossem, De Laet and Alexandra Van de Velde also started and some did very well by taking podium spots.

Jos Menten was not at Spa, as he drove for PSI Experience in the Corvette C6-R together with Markus Palttala and Pertti Kuismanen in the first round of the Le Mans Series at Istanbul. Kurt Mollekens replaced the Dutchman behind the wheel of the Porsche.

The crew did a perfect job in Turkey, with second in qualifying, a time set by Menten, and a very promising race debut right behind the Larbre Aston. Unluckily, a broken alternator brought an end to their race.

BSN10 (en)