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BELCAR SHORT NEWS 2006-03-14 – BSN7

Despite the 2006-season being a transition year with a renewed rulebook, the entry list keeps on growing. The majority of the Belcar teams and drivers remain clearly faithful to the Belcar Series.

The former GLPK Viper, for years one of the most successful racecars of the Mediagroep Van Dyck, went to AD Sport. Even if Wauters-Wauters-Vanierschot are still entered on an AD Porsche Biturbo, the chance to see them appearing on the Viper is realistic.

“When I sent in the entry, the deal to take over the Viper wasn’t 100% signed and what’s more, my ideas about what to do with the car were still uncertain”, explains AD-Sport boss Albert Vanierschot. “Koen and Kris are very keen to drive the Viper but it’s not yet sure if they will do so right from the start of the season. If the Viper stays sidelined for one round, Koen and Kris will drive the Porsche Biturbo as usual. In the mean time, we’re negotiating to rent this Biturbo to another team. If this deal is signed, everything could come very quickly to a good end. The Viper would be a new challenge for AD Sport, certainly as the new rules are not too positive for the Biturbo.”

“As Koen has a very busy professional life and he will also compete in different rounds of the World Cup Rally Raid, I’m still on the entry-list as the third driver.”

Now that Pertti Kuismanen is heading for FFSA and LMS together with Markus Palttala and Jos Menten (LMS only) on a PSI Experience Corvette C6R and GLPK will enter a Corvette C5R, the AD-Viper will be the only competitive American snake left in Belcar class 1. As this car has been successful for so many years since its first appearance in 1999, it became more or less a Belcar icon.

Pertti Kuismanen might still come to the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar Original for a few outings in the guest class as his Viper has been rebuilt over the winter months. The car is at least ready to race.

Belgium Racing will enter the Ultima in class 3, which is a big surprise for many. As like last season, Patric Derdaele remains the first driver and he will get alternating support from Johan Empsen and Stefan Verhoeven.

Patric Derdaele explains his choice: ”Last year, we proved to be very competitive. The Euphony 24-hour race and the Belcar Masters were our season highlights and except for a broken gearbox paddle and two worries with the wheel hubs, we encountered no problems.”

“I think we really belong in class 3 regarding to the new 2006-rules. But if we ever might feel that class 2 suits us better, a switch to that class remains possible. In class 3, we’ll have to add 80 kilos, from 1020 kg up to 1100. But we are free to put the extra weight wherever we like to. We will most likely put it on the floor of the car, which is good for the behaviour of the car. We also bettered the rear suspension by replacing the 2005-one by a suspension developed by Marcos. The chassis will also be more rigid. The engine remains a 3.2 litre BMW. This cocktail should be good for a strong place in class 3 and even a regular top-10 overall.”

KS Motorsport will run two BMW E46 Silhouette for the entire season. Koen Leyssens and Wim Lumbeeck will share the first one and Armand Essers will drive the second one with both Patrick Smets and Guido Werckx.

Ham Car will come to Belcar with three Porsche. Jaak Janssen recently bought an ex-GPR Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS. Peter van Audenhove and Raymond Raus will drive the RS while the Porsche 996 GT3-R and the Biturbo will go to Dutch crews. Gunther Raus, son of Raymond, will be the third driver on the RS for the Euphony 24 Hours of Zolder.

Peter van Audenhove will do both the Belcar Original and the Belcar Endurance Cup. In the latter he will enter a FM Racing Porsche 993 together with Clocheret. FM racing will also enter a Mercedes for Van Den Bossche-Scheers in the Endurance Cup.

“I remain faithful to the 993 because of the behaviour and brakes of the car. In order to counter the Supercup we put a 3.8 litre engine in the 993”, explains Peter van Audenhove.

Chris Mattheus made his debut in the international Porsche Supercup last weekend during the Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrein. The Belgian driver, who lives in Monaco, set a 28^th time in practice and finished 25^th in a 30-car strong field.

“It seemed like I had to forget everything I learned in the past to drive this car. Endurance driving is opposite to this kind of sprint races. I knew that this maiden race would be a difficult task. My aim was to finish and to gather experience and to keep the car in one piece in this highly competitive competition. This is what I did and last but not least, I did not finish last of the bunch. I hope to do better in the future”, explains the Flandria-rent driver.

BSN7 (en)