Thick mist meant that the first quarter of the second race of the Belgian GT Championship Mediagroep Van Dyck was run behind the safety car. Once the mist had cleared Vincent Vosse was the first driver to turn in at the Source. Unfortunately the Aston Martin very quickly dropped down in the rankings.
Conditions in the second race of the weekend with mist and a damp track were undoubtedly to the of the Jesco driving school instructors advantage, namely Jeffrey Van Hooydonk (Dodge Viper) and Jean-François Hemroulle (Audi R8 LMS), and they very quickly built up a gap with their closest followers.
During the mandatory driver change-over Van Hooydonk was the last one to call in, but was unfortunately hindered by safety harness problems. ‘I had pulled rather too hard on the belts and Koen wasn’t able to tighten them’, the Antwerp based driver confessed. The Dodge KRK N°4 lost valuable seconds and saw its lead melt away like snow under a strong sun.
‘But I didn’t allow myself to be routed’, a happy Koen Wauters commented after the finish. ‘This is my first victory, the team’s first victory and a first victory for a Dodge Viper. I allowed myself two laps to get into the rhythm and to acclimatise to the dried out track. I saw the Audi coming closer, but remained calm and always managed to retain a certain margin.’
The Audi R8 LMS did in fact finish second and this means that Hemroulle and Verbergt have strengthened their lead in the championship. On the teams front Phoenix and KRK now share the lead.
Thanks to an early stop François Verbist and Bert Longin were able to make up good time, Verbist having been caught up in heavy traffic during his stint. Later in the race Bert Longin fought a great battle for third place with the Lamborghini Gallardo of the Van der Zwaan brothers. Unfortunately just before the finish Robert had a flat and the Lambo lost any hope of clinching a first podium. The First Motorsport Porsche of Bert Longin and François Verbist were then able to take the third tread of the podium for the second time this weekend.
Kris Wauters and Raf Vanthoor finished in an excellent fourth place, amongst others due to the retirement of the Ford GT of Pertti Kuismanen (engine) and two errors from Damien Coens (Ferrari). Renard and Vosse in the Aston Martin and the Lamborghini Gallardo of Marchal-Lumbeek completed the top 6.
In British GT Allan Simonsen showed some excellent driving skills during the first half of the race, but his team-mate couldn’t finish off the good work put in. Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkin finally won the race, also in a Dodge Viper.
Result race 2:
1. Koen Wauters – Jeffrey Van Hooydonk (Dodge Viper KRK), 22 laps in 1h01.34.573
2. Hemroulle-Verbergt (Audi R8 LMS Phoenix) + 6.428
3. Verbist-Longin (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S First) + 46.810
4. Vanthoor-Chris Wauters (Dodge Viper KRK) + 53.953
5. Renard-Vosse (Aston Martin DBRS9) + 2.19.386
6. Marchal-Lumbeek (NL-Bel/Lamborghini Gallardo JD by KS) + 2.35.606
7. Bouvy-Coens (Ferrari 430 GT3) + 1l
8. Van der Zwaan – Van der Zwaan (NL/Lamborghini Gallardo JD by KS) + 1l
9. Van der Straeten-Lémeret (Ford Mustang FR500) + 6l
10. D. Huisman-Kuismanen (NL-Fin/Ford GT) + 7l
Intermediate classifications:
Teams:
1. Audi Phoenix and Dodge Viper KRK N°4 26
3. Porsche First Motorsport 21
4. Ferrari Delahaye 17
5. Dodge Viper KRK N°8 15
6. Ford Kuismanen 14
7. Lamborghini JD by KS N°10 12
Drivers:
1. Hemroulle-Verbergt 60
2. Koen Wauters-Van Hooydonk 56
3. Verbist-Longin 55
4. Bouvy-Coens 50
5. Kris Wauters-Vanthoor 44
