Belcar – Brands Hatch – Preview
Belcar To The UK
© Joost Custers

For the first time ever, the Media Group Van Dyck Belcar championship is coming to Britain. After earlier races at Zandvoort, Dijon and the Nurburgring, the mix of GTs and touring cars will race around the Brands Hatch GP track for 125 minutes this Sunday.

This Brands Hatch outing is, unluckily, also the first race without the GLPK Viper for years. “After the accident in Spa, you can see that this race is too early for us,” said Bert Longin. “Anyway, we’re racing (the Corvette) at Brno and so it’s impossible to be in England. We will still do the Zolder 24 hours even though the championship, for us, is over.”

The championship is now a duel between two, but with the proverbial underdog lurking. Only seven points separate Kuismanen and SRT and both GTA cars are of course among the fastest in the Belcar field. But… a strong third in Spa showed the endurance strength of the Penders / Lamot Porsche 996 GT-3 RS. Certainly with the upcoming endurance classic, this Porsche could be a dangerous outsider.

The Corvette is now more than ever the car to beat. The C5-R is reliable, the drivers are familiar to the car and what’s more SRT is also becoming a very well organised team. The audience could witness the first ever victory of a Pratt & Miller car on British soil – just a week after the GT1 win at Le Mans. The weather should be more like Le Mans than Spa (the LMES meeting) earlier in the season.

Marc Goossens knows the GP track, and describes it as a combination of Zolder and Spa, with a special character that Belgians will love.

In GTB, the battle is more open, even though the Lamot / Penders car (below) is without doubt the strongest. Maybe Brands will suit the Ultima GTR of Qvick / Geoffroy, surprisingly strong in the opening stages of the championship.

After the Spa incidents, there will be no MINI S3, no Moore BMW M3, no Elise and as mentioned no Viper. But there should be 40 Belcar regulars, plus the likelihood of these British guests appearing:

? Team Espace Course Canaguier (F)-Le Calvez (F) TVR Cerbera GT
20 Xero Competition Rick Cole (GB) / Dan Eagling Chevrolet Corvette
56 Hargreaves Racing Bo McCormick (GB) / Calum Lockie (GB) Ferrari 360 Challenge
57 Khan Ian (GB) Richard Westbrock (GB) Porsche 996 GT3 RS

This is how the championship tables look.

Overall
1 2 Kuismanen/Vosse Chrysler 104
2 7 Goossens/Hart Chevrolet 97
3 31 Lamot/Penders Porsche 91
4 5 Palttala/Van Sande Porsche 72
5 33 Qvick/Geoffroy Ultima 71
6 4 Menten/Bouvy Porsche 58
7 6 Wauters/Wauters Porsche 55
8 21 Thiers/Thiers Porsche 51.5
9 1 Kumpen/Longin Chrysler 49
10 37 De Sterck/Van Rompuy Porsche 44.5
11 15 Noorman/Van Dongen Marcos 42.5
12 3 Maes/Tanghe Porsche 40
13 25 De Laet/Vollebergh Porsche 38.5
14 30 De Gastines/De Bock Porsche 27.5
15 22 Verhoeven/Muytjens Porsche 24.5
16 40 Bonnaerens/Jacobs Porsche 23
17 32 Ceusters/Metior Porsche 23
18 34 Derdaele/Verhoeven/Empsen Ultima 19.5
19 23 Meert/Van de Plas Porsche 19
20 29 Schreurs/Vanierschot Porsche 19

GTA
1 2 Kuismanen/Vosse Chrysler 52
2 7 Goossens/Hart Chevrolet 48.5
3 6 Wauters/Wauters Porsche 34
4 4 Menten/Bouvy Porsche 30
5 15 Noorman/Van Dongen Marcos 28
6 1 Kumpen/Longin Chrysler 24.5
7 5 Palttala/Van Sande Porsche 23.5
8 3 Maes/Tanghe Porsche 22
9 9 Moonen/Van Audenhove Porsche 10.5
10 16 Vanloo/James BMW 10

GTB
1 31 Lamot/Penders Porsche 56.5
2 33 Qvick/Geoffroy Ultima 47
3 21 Thiers/Thiers Porsche 33.5
4 37 De Sterck/Van Rompuy Porsche 29.5
5 25 De Laet/Vollebergh Porsche 27.5
6 30 De Gastines/De Bock Porsche 19
7 22 Verhoeven/Muytjens Porsche 18
8 5 Palttala/Van Sande Porsche 17
9 40 Bonnaerens/Jacobs/Maton Porsche 17
10 32 Ceusters/Metior Porsche 16.

Tickets for the Britcar / Belcar meeting cost £12 per adult per day, with children aged 12 and under going free. Parking and paddock access is also free all weekend. Practice on Saturday (June 25) starts at 9am, with the first of three races at 12.45pm. On Sunday (June 26), the first of four races starts at 10.25am, with the Belcar race at 12.10pm.