2005 Belcar Review
© Joost Custers

The 2005 Belcar Championship was a good one, one of the very best, with a David and Goliath-like battle between a GTB-Porsche and GTA-Corvette. There was a third element in this seven-round battle, the Kuismanen Viper – but the outcome is now known and we dare to say that both SRT and Goossens deserved the championships.

Before we go through the top five of the 2005 Belcar series, some ‘afterthoughts’:

With both the GLPK and the Hezemans / Hart Viper ‘disappearing’, we lost some frontrunners and what’s more, we did never get a guest as we had last year, with the double participation of BMW Motorsport. Throughout the season, other interesting entries, such as the British Stealth (at Spa in April, where the weather was foul), the Euser Marcos, the official and private Vertigo… did show up occasionally, or more often.

Altogether Belcar still has an attractive grid, but the championship cannot afford to lose more of the big guns. A close look at the LMES and FIA-GT calendar could be wise, in order to avoid clashes, and two or three foreign contenders for the top races, as there are in the Spa 6-hours and Zolder 24 hours, would be a major boost for the series’ international rating.

Belcar has known a period of three years with fixed rules. 2005 was the last year of this period of three years and so we’re (still) expecting new rules. In 2002, the rules were announced by the end of the season, whereas now we’re still waiting. This is not optimal for the teams and sponsors – but we believe that the anticipated class structure already posted on dsc will apply.

Spectator figures were not increasing this year - but are still typically very good. Belgium now has two endurance championships, which means at least 13 weekends of BTCS or Belcar, plus Renault World Series, DTM, Spa 24 hours, F1, LMES etc. Maybe this is somewhat too much? BTCS and Belcar joining forces and sharing weekends could be a step forward together with an optimized marketing plan.

Top 5 of 2005

1. SRT Corvette Hart / Goossens (259 points)
A first title after three years of hard work is the reward for Patrick Selleslagh’s team. And they really took it all, as not only did the team win 5 out of 8 races, including the Zolder 24-hour race and the Spa 6-hours, but also they won both GT and GTA-titles and Marc Goossens became Belcar driver champion and David Hart vice champion.

So a Grand Cru for Corvette… (a long interview with Marc will follow later this winter).

2. TT-PPC Porsche 996 GT3-RS Penders / Lamot (257,5) (GTB Champion)
What a year for this gentleman driver duo. They took all but one victory in GTB and finished on the overall podium three times, with a second in the Zolder double-header as a fantastic highlight. A well deserved GTB crown and vice-championship for Lamot and Penders, who each take their second GTB-title. Rudi also finished third in the driver challenge.

3. Kuismanen Viper Kuismanen / Vosse (231)
Until the Zolder 24-hour race, these Belcar regulars were on their way to a potential title, based on both speed and regularity, and with a foundation of two outright victories during the Spa LMES-weekend. But a disastrous 24-hour race and a bizarre penalty during the Spa Racing Festival brought an end to their dreams. Even though Vincent Vosse is of course the faster driver of the team, the speed of Perti Kuismanen, the senior man in Belcar, deserves all respect.

4. PSI Porsche 996 Biturbo Menten / Bouvy (199)
Christian Schumacher declared before the season that his team could be a contender for the Belcar title. Unfortunately, Fred Bouvy went off in the first corner of the first race and most of the chances were already gone. An undeserved retirement in the closing stages of the 24 hours did the rest.

On the other hand, driving the PSI power machine, Jos Menten (right) proved to be a real star driver (remember the opening stages of the Spa 24 hours with the SRT Corvette). A good win at Brands Hatch eased the pain.

5. PSI Porsche 996 Biturbo Palttala / Van Sande (182)
Markus Palttala is without doubt one of the fastest Porsche drivers in Europe, but sharing the Biturbo with Leo Van Sande was, even for him, insurmountable. The PSI Porsche Biturbo is a very good, fast car but on the other hand it is difficult to drive: perhaps there isn’t a great deal of pleasure to be gained, tackling this task as a gentleman driver? But we admire Leo Van Sande for accepting the challenge.

Further down we find in 6th and 7th the numbers two and three in the GTB-championship. Erik Qvick and Christophe Geoffroy had a fine year with the Ultima GTR and finished on the podium six times in GTB: well done Erik. Last but not least, First Motorsport came home third in the GTB championship and virtually were the first GT3-class runners, a good performance from De Sterck, Van Rompuy and Johan Van Loo, also winners of the Junior Trophy.

In Tourism and TA, Beliën / Jakobs took their third consecutive title in the good old BMW V8 M3 GTR (below). Hashke / Josten / Muytjens were laureates in TB, while Alexandra van de Velde was the fastest lady as Vanina Ickx did not race at Zolder last weekend (she was in Zhuhai).