Belcar - Spa Euro Race - Preview
Six Hours
© Joost Custers

The third round of the Belcar championship brings us real endurance excitement. If the last race, almost two months ago, took only (twice) 60 minutes, this one runs over six hours, or almost 1000 K, on the magical tarmac of Spa-Francorchamps. Since 2001, this race has been a four hour event, but this year, the Belcar organisation added two more hours, to produce a classic endurance format.

Belcar's Marc Martens: “Pierre Delletre offered us the possibility to race over six instead of four hours; something we couldn’t refuse. This format is a much more traditional endurance-kind of racing and as we know a strong endurance revival, Belcar didn’t want to miss the boat.”

The championship is wide open after the first rounds at Zolder and Spa. Vosse and Kuismanen are leading in GT with 73 points, followed by the SRT Corvette (57 pts) ....

......and the Penders / Lamot Porsche (56 pts), also leader in GTB. Palttala and Van Sande (below - 52 pts) are fourth and GLPK closes out the top five with their Viper (49 pts).

A surprise in the top 10 of the GT championship is the Qvick Ultima GTR, actually ninth.

Both Vipers get a third, Dutch, driver for the upcoming the Spa 6 hours. Duncan Huisman will race alongside Vosse and Kuismanen and GLPK gets Mike Hezemans (although Mike has now pulled out owing to illness).

“We intended to come to Spa with the Corvette but Belcar rules and FIA-GT are quite different. The extra cost and risks to drive the car here are too big; we’re focussing on the FIA-GT with the ‘Vette’. But with Mike in the Viper, we will do everything possible to win here next Saturday,” explains Anthony Kumpen.

Phillipe Haezebroeck will sit alongside Van Sande and Pallttala. PSI also gets a third car on the grid, as Beltoise, Blanchemain and Coens will start in a Porsche 996 GT3-RSR.

An interesting guest is the TVR Cebrera of Canaguier and Le Calvez. The car was last seen in Spa in the 2002 Proximus 24 hours, entered by Martin Short. The French team decided to buy the car and will probably return later this year. Another ‘British’ guest is the Xero Corvette, as reported earlier on dsc.com. One other British entry stays at home, as there only will be one Stealth.

Full report on qualifying and race during the weekend.