This coming Thursday the third leg of the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar Original will be held at Circuit Zolder. Organising a competition on a Thursday is an entirely unique occasion in the annals of not only Zolder but also the Belgian motorsport. No doubt this will bring a frown to many spectators, but this date was strategically chosen. It is in fact the last but one school day and the period of traditional school outings. Circuit Zolder is offering schools and students a free alternative to break away from the traditional school visits. In just over a week prior to the competition numerous schools and students have already confirmed whereby thousands of students will be starting their holiday break in a most spectacular manner. In addition companies are evermore looking for weekday activities to welcome and entertain their business contacts, who all seem to be gasping for a free weekend.
For the first time this season not all the Belcar Series disciplines will be on hand. It would not be feasible to have them all competing in one single race day. There are in fact two races on the programme. Quite obviously the Mediagroep Van Dyck Belcar Original is the main course on the menu, with one Belcar Sprint Cup competition as appetiser.

In class-1, there has been no opposition for the Corvette C5-Rs of GLPK (Kumpen-Longin) and SRT (Bleekemolen-Hart). The two crews have dominated the series and even an intervention by the RACB Sport committee after the Belcar First Race in Francorchamps didn’t change the situation. The minimum weight of the Corvette was increased to 1180 kilograms, but GLPK had a very clever response on this new situation. The team put an extra 20-kilogram in the car, so the weight of the car was up to 1200 kilogram. Why? Well, the answer is simple; the rules allow bigger restrictors from 1200 kilogram… The result was that the opposition, in the form of the Porsche Biturbo and Marcos LM600, still were outpaced. For the future, RACB Sport could well decide to put smaller restrictors on the Corvettes, but the C5-R is, even in international competitions such as FIA GT, LMGT1, ALMS GT1, FFSA, ... still a very competitive machine and will be hard to beat by machines of another generation.

“The Corvette requires of course a certain budget. Not every team in Belcar has the financial or technical possibility to enter this type of car, but we did a good job over the past months and as a result of this intensive work, we are right now successful in Belcar,” explains Anthony Kumpen. “Last season, Bert and I, Kuismanen-Vosse and Menten-Bouvy were not so much slower than the strongest car of the field, the SRT-Corvette. But Belcar lost some frontrunners and the rules became even more severe for the Marcos and the Porsche (FIA-rules), especially concerning the rear wings of those cars. The organizers now try to slow us by increasing the minimum weight and giving us smaller restrictors and we’ll have to find a solution in order to stay at the front of the field. Personally, I prefer smaller restrictors as an unlimited increasing of the weight could put us in a difficult and even unsafe position. Michelin warned us that 1300 kilogram is the absolute maximum for the tyres and both the chassis and the brakes have their limitations too.”
“On the other hand, I believe that for the same budget as a good Porsche Biturbo, there are even more modern solutions such as a Saleen.”

The opposition is also working to close the gap. Eurotech twice finished on the podium with the LM600 driven by Goossens and Van Dongen and the team still has a serious margin for development and progression. For the next race, the car gets a better air box, resulting in a better airflow for the restrictor and the drivers are also working on a better set-up of the car. The major technical problem of the Marcos is without doubt the small rear wing, due to the size of the front wing (as it is for the Stealth B6).
But the team is very positive and also very happy about the collaboration with Marc Goossens. “We’re optimistic but also realistic for next Thursday. Last race, Marc set a 1.30.3 in practise and I did a 1.30.7 in the race, but if we want to be a match for the Corvette, we should be able to lap regularly under 1.30”, says Van Dongen.
Everybody is also very keen to se the ‘debut’ of the AD Sport Viper. Koen and Kris Wauters will drive the Viper, also penalized by the new rules.
Kris Wauters: “After 10 years of Porsche, this is without doubt a new challenge to us. The Viper demands a different driving approach and is somewhat easier to drive compared to the Biturbo. The Viper has better weight distribution resulting in a much more pleasant driving in the slower corners where the Porsche has understeer. The car has also lots of power and fantastic torque.”
“But Koen and I lack experience. Another difficulty is that the Viper has no ABS or sequential gearbox. We’ll first try to get as close as possible to the front in Belcar, which means going round in about 1.31/32. It will be impossible to go as fast as Kumpen / Longin last year or to beat the Corvette. Rules became more severe for our car and drivers such as Kumpen or Goossens are real professional drivers whereas we are gentleman drivers. We’ll now first try to get some more experience before driving the car on the limit.”

In class-2, the GS Motorsport BMW M3 GTR V8 is leading the points after a victory in the first round and a runner-up spot in Zolder. The outright favourite in class-2 still remains the Prospeed Porsche of Lamot / Penders. The reigning champions in GTB retired in Spa and won the race in Zolder and thus got extra ballast.
Rudi Penders: “The 20-kilo ballast is no real problem. Franz weighs 20 kilo more than I do, so…” laughs the Porsche dealer.
“But this extra ballast is good for the battle. Class-2 is already very open, with the GS BMW and some other Porsche squads. Due to our early retirement, we’ll have to win again if we want to get closer in the standings. But I’m sure the Zolder 24-hour race at the end of August will be decisive. We’ll again fit in a Supercup-engine for that race, by the way.”
“For next week, we’ll enter again our second 996 GT3-RS for Kelders/Nelissen-Grade, which was heavily damaged in Spa mid-April. The car is ready again and even got some aero dynamic updates.”
After their victory in Zolder, Lamot and Penders are now 5th in the rankings, 17 points behind the leading BMW. As the AD Sport Porsche 993, actually second, will not be present, second and third place go to the Dodge Viper of the Dutch Grouwels brothers and the CEO Racing-Porsche of De Laet-Vollebergh.
Other fast squads with only one result are Van Rossem-Bouvy in the PSI Porsche RSR and the Thiers-brothers with their Porsche RS. Both are expected to climb up the rankings.
The season promises to be very good in class-2 and the field is still growing. The first one to join class-2 is the brand new G&A Mosler of Guino Kenis and Michaël De Keersmaecker. With a roll-out during free practise, the pairing will possibly have difficulties to perform at its full 100% this race, but Mosler will soon become a serious contender in Belcar.

In class-3 the battle is even more intense. Most of the top teams have already had their share of bad luck and lost precious points. The Belgium Racing Ultima of Derdaele-Verhoeven-Empsen leads the standings, together with the Bongou Porsche pair Van Hover-Döring.
Jurgen Van Hover had physical problems due to dehydration during the race in Zolder and lost precious time and points. He also got involved in a crash with team-mate Chris Mattheus, victorious in the opening round at Spa. So Team Speedlover lost a probable first and second place in the championship.
First Motorsport took its first podium in Zolder and their driver pair Haane / Meert are now third in the championship, two points behind the leaders. And what’s more, the team also was very successful during the BTCS Spa 12-hour race some weeks ago. The fourth overall and second place in GT will be a motivation to do even better in this week’s race in Zolder. Haane-Meert and Jamers-Van Rompuy are now fourth and fifth in the championship. GS Motorsport was also unlucky during the opening round, but Steinberg-Neyens are keen to get another podium finish after Zolder.
Anyway, the class-3 is very open, and betting on a potential winner could be risky business.

The success of both class-2 and 3 is obvious. Right now, it’s impossible to make any predictions and both classes will still have their surprises. The pace of the frontrunners in both classes is also very impressive, the level of preparation very high and battles very intense.
In the former GTB-class, it was almost impossible for a Supercup or even the Ultima to beat a RS or Mosler, and so the birth of class-3 is a gift for teams running such cars.

We’ll also see some guests next Thursday: Signa Motorsport enters a Dodge Viper SRT 10 for Patrick Chaillet and Laurent Nef. And Rudiger Noll and Karl Hasenbichler will drive the stunning Audi RS4.

Handicap Ballast:

Class 1

GLPK Corvette – Kumpen/Longin +40 kg
SRT Corvette – Hart/Bleekemolen +30 kg
Eurotech Marcos – Goossens/Van Dongen +20 kg

Class 2

Prospeed Porsche – Penders/Lamot +20 kg
GS Motorsport BMW V8 – Severich/Josten +15 kg
CEO Racing Porsche – Van Rossem/Bouvy +10 kg

Class 3

Belgium Racing Ultima – Derdaele/Empsen +20 kg
GS Motorsport Porsche – Neyens/Steinberg +15 kg
First Motorsport Porsche – Haane/Meert +10 kg