On Sunday the 23rd of October, the last race of the Mediagroup Van Dyck Belcar 2005 will be held. It’s the 7th round - of 7 races with 4 different formats: two races over 1 hour, 4 weekends with the traditional 125-minute endurance race, a 6-hour and last but not least the Zolder 24 hours.

Reigning champions Kumpen / Longin scored few points, were absent for some races and had no straight wins: this is one of the remarkable facts of the past 6 races. On the other hand, the SRT Corvette has been showing its real potential throughout the past 6 races: Goossens / Hart took 4 wins.

But even more important is the way the championship will be decided. Nothing is sure yet in the GT-championship and the battle will last until the chequered flag of the Belcar Masters. Main opponents are the Corvette of Goossens / Hart versus the GTB Porsche of Penders / Lamot. Never before has a GTB-car managed to start the last race leading the championship.

The SRT Corvette has no other option but winning and even then a 4th overall combined with a class victory will be enough to ensure the title for Rudi Penders and Franz Lamot. All together, this season has been a very good one, and the last race will be decisive for the outcome of all the division and class battles. In each class - GT, Touring, GTA, GTB, TA and TB - the final top three are undecided. All of this will be settled after 40 hours and 20 minutes of racing...

Thrilling end between former teammates

An eventful race at Spa earlier this month, with an unexpected 3rd for Penders / Lamot after incidents involving Kuismanen / Vosse, Couwberghs / Longin, Wauters / Schreurs and Palttala / Van Sande, ensures a thrilling end to the championship in one week’s time. SRT has to count on the other GTA runners as, in case of an SRT victory, there will have to be at least 3 cars in between the Corvette and the TT Porsche. Possible ‘referees’ are: PSI, AD Sport, RS Racing and last but not least Kuismanen. Mathematically, the Kuismanen Viper is still capable of playing the third dog’s role, but it’s very unlikely to see the Vosse / Kuismanen Viper winning the series.

Further down the ranking, the PSI pair Palttala / Van Sande could still take third. A minor detail: three out of four contenders know each other very well. Penders and Goossens became GTB champions in 2002 and Lamot drove with Marc in the Corvette last year.

The minute lost by the Kuismanen Viper ruined its championship hopes last time out. The Vosse / Kuismanen crew is now 3rd in the GT-championship. In GTA, they are still second, eight points behind the Corvette. Both PSI Porsches will fight for 3rd spot in GTA with only one point separating them. In GTB, Penders / Lamot are of course champions, but the battle for 2nd is still open. The difference between the Qvick Ultima and the First Porsche Super Cup is now up to 9 points but everything is still possible. Both teams are at least sure to finish 3rd in GTB after the forfeit of de Gastines / De Bock and the bad luck of the Belgium Racing Ultima.

Beliën / Jakobs only need 4 points to take a third title in Touring.

In the division for touring cars, a finish will make three in a row for the Beliën / Jakobs BMW squad. They are already champions in TA and a third consecutive title in Touring is very near. In TB it’s far from being decided. After the accident for the GS Motorsport pair, Muytjens / Josten, both BMW teams - De Hoen / Essers and Broodcooren / De Coster - now lead by one point over the Belgian - German GS squad.

Goossens close to Driver challenge

The driver challenge rewards the best Belcar driver of the year. The score of this competition is based upon the overall result, and the result in both division and class. But additional points can be gained for the pole (5), the first qualifying time in class (3) and the fastest lap in the race (1). Goossens now leads the rankings by 29 points over his team mate Hart, 31,5 ahead of Penders, 37,5 up on Lamot and 60,5 ahead of Vosse. The only real threat still is Rudi Penders. Only if Marc does not make it to the finish Rudi can take the spoils.

In the Philip Verellen Junior Challenge, rewarding the best young driver in Belcar, Johan Van Loo of First Motorsport is already the winner. He beats Olivier Muytjens. The latter had a big off at Spa.

The Ladies Challenge sees the MINI pair Van de Velde / Ickx leading Kelly Jamers. Kelly did race at Spa but a possible victory in Zolder keeps everything open.

Ellen Lohr could play a decisive role in the Ladies Challenge, as she returns with the Audi TT. Another guest is Rudiger Noll with the Audi A4 Quattro. Last but not least, Bo McCormick returns to Belcar, after racing at Brands in June, with his Ferrari 360.