No four victories in a row for GLPK, and what’s logical no record of five wins in Zolder for Anthony Kumpen. Vincent Dupont will stay, for at least one more year, co-record holder. After four hours, the Viper became involved in a crash, and that was it for the GLPK-crew. SRT took a well-deserved win with the Corvette C5-R of Goossens / Hart / Verheyen / Heylen, while the PPC/TT Porsche of Penders / Lamot / Couwberghs / Dujardyn came home in second, taking the spoils in GTB. The KS-Motorsport BMW M3 Silhouette, driven by Van Bellingen / Leyssens / Vandermaesen / Fumal, was a surprising third in the Zolder classic. So we saw three cars, from three different classes, and three different makes, on the podium.

But it was a hard fight for SRT. PSI Motorsport was an incredibly strong opponent throughout the race, but both of the team’s Porsches hit mechanical problems by the end of the 24 hours. Other contenders for victory suffered the same fate. Mechanical failures and gremlins crossed the path of the Viper of Kuismanen / Vosse / Huisman / Alamäki and the Porsche Biturbos of AD Sport and RS Racing. But SRT had its bad luck too: just after midnight, Jan Heylen and one of the KS-Motorsport BMWs touched and the Corvette crew lost 20 laps. Astonishing double stints from Marc Goossens, Jan Heylen and David Hart hauled the Chevy all the way from 14th place into the lead, just before 9 o’clock.

In GTB, the PPC / TT Porsche of Penders / Lamot / Couwberghs / Dujardyn was in a league of its own, while the surprising Belgium Racing Ultima of Derdaele / Empsen / Verhoeven / De Wit took second and the GPR Porsche of Gastines / Turco / Tonet / Gonnissen completed the GTB podium. In touring, it was the German GS Motorsport BMW E46 of Josten / Muytjens / Cracco which won the race, in both the Touring division and the TB class. There was nothing but BMW on the Touring podium, with TA winners Beliën / Jakobs / Colman / Brinkmann coming home second and Carlier / Pauwels / Pasteels / Vanderstraeten a lucky third.

Other podium spots in the TB class were for the Dutch quartet De Hoen / Essers / Grouwels / Wijnen and the Daikin-girls, Van de Velde / Ickx / Grifnée / Uljee in the MINI S3.

In the guest class, AD Sport had some relief, with a victory for Lèmeret / Cloet / van den Broeck / Herman: the Dumarey family followed in second and the Jes-Porsche of Heyman / Nelissen Grade / Van Hoof / Van den Brande was third.

A good crowd of 45.000 spectators visited this edition of the Euphony 24 hours of Zolder. There was quantity on the track, with 50 starters, but quality too. SRT beat the distance record of GLPK by over 20 laps and the new distance target is 799 laps. Good weather conditions and only one safety car intervention made it a very attractive race.

The championship is now wide open again. The GTB Porsche of Lamot / Penders (191,5) leads, while Hart / Goossens (179) go to 2nd and Kuismanen / Vosse (175) drop into 3rd. In Touring Beliën / Jakobs lead Josten / Haschke by one point.

Short race report.

With Georg Severich not starting owing to an engine problem, 50 cars left the startline at 17.00. 4 Porsches, Russell, Jes, Speedlover and Markant, started from the pitlane.

The opening stints of the race saw the Goossens Corvette easing away, while we lost some of the favourites and outsiders. The Kuismanen Viper and Markant 996-RS, the latter on pole in GTB, hit mechanical problems, while both Verbergt and Bruynoghe spun off in AD Porsches. Former Touring winner Beliën lost precious time when his BMW would not start.

After 4 hours, a crash with the GS-BMW of Muytjens saw the early exit of the GLPK Viper while at the front, both PSI Porsches and the SRT Corvette had a very good fight for the lead.

After 6 hours, or 25% of the race, SRT grabbed the first points, followed by both PSI Porsches. In GTB, the TT-Porsche of Penders, the Belgium Racing Ultima of Derdaele and the S&P Porsche 996-R stood on the virtual podium, while in TA and TB the MSE BMW and the GS-BMW took the spoils.

Right after that, we lost the RS Racing Porsche with a broken engine and the SRT Corvette dropped back after an incident: meanwhile, the Kuismanen Viper and the AD Porsche of Wauters fought back.

Halfway into the race, points were distributed again. The PSI Porsche of Menten took first, while Palttala in the other PSI car was 2nd and SRT, in fifth overall, was third in GTA. In GTB, Penders once again won the contest and the GPR-PINO Porsche of de Gastines and the Ultima of Derdeale were 2nd and 3rd. In TA and TB, Beliën and GS Motorsport took the spoils, with place of honour for MSE, the Daikin girls etc.

Meanwhile, we also noticed some terrific performances. KS-Motorsport was 5th overall in its BMW M3 Silhouette and the guest class Porsches of AD and JES-Competition entered the top-10.

Sad news again for the AD Porsche of the Wauters brothers, with a broken engine, and the G&A M3 GTR was disqualified as the car had been pushed.

The race was completely open again and between 05.00 and 09.00 in the morning, we had 4 different leaders. Both PSI Porsches, the PPC/TT Porsche and the impressive SRT Corvette all led the bunch at least once. The Corvette crew made up a remarkable 20 laps in 9 hours, thanks to the very fast double stints of Goossens, Hart and Heylen. The PSI Biturbo was the first of the leaders to hit trouble with a broken gearbox, and the PPC/TT Porsche lost 5 laps with a broken belt. The atmospheric PSI RSR was the last contender and as this Porsche was less thirsty, the battle remained open, until the engine of the blue Porsche died with over two hours to go. The way to victory was now wide open for SRT...

In GTB, Penders secured his victory, while the Belgium Racing Ultima and the GPR Porsche had a good fight until the end, for 2nd. Some frontrunners still hit trouble in the closing stages - Speedlover, First Motorsport and AD Sport among them. The 996 RS of AD crashed out 25 minutes before the end.

GS Motorsport won in Touring and TB, Beliën in TA and the Daikin MINI girls saved their podium spot, even though the crew fitted a new gearbox right before the chequered flag. The leaders in the Touring championship, Broodcoren / De Coster, in the Belgium Racing BMW E36, were not classified, after an endless series of mechanical problems.