Thursday Qualifying Report
Odd wins…
© Joost Custers

“The car is heavily damaged, but we’ll try to fix it,” comments Jonathan Moury, after the crash of the Canadian driver Ryan Cambell in the #46 BPO Porsche this morning. “The car had a huge crash at Spa in BTCS. It’s the Porsche running under Monroe colours in BTCS, and now this. But OK, the team will do everything in order to get it on the grid.”

Both the Porsche and the #2 Kuismanen Viper went off in the Kanaalbocht, where a little stream of water crossed the track, right in the acceleration zone. The Viper suffered less than the Porsche.

The even numbers got away for their third session at 13.15, still on a wet track. No times were bettered and, what’s more important, no cars were damaged. Most teams seem to play it safe, with only a few laps for the new drivers - or even no laps at all. “We’ll run but only a little,” says Patrick Selleslagh. “The risk is too high and an incident would be stupid.”

But as odd numbers got underway at 13.55, the track seemed to be drying a little. Meanwhile the Thiers family announces that they will race, after their car’s Wednesday night crash - but the rules stipulate that a car may not be replaced….. So it’s a new entry on the list! The consequence of this guest entry is the Thiers xcar not being allowed to score points.

It was still wet on track - as Vincent Radermecker proved. by putting the #5 PSI Porsche in the gravel bed.

It’s been a routine session so far… so we take a walk.

PSI is running the #4 Porsche RSR in GTA, in order to defend their championship hopes. “We’re running the car, it’s the RSR-chassis from Spa, as a newly developed 3.8 litre car. The car should be reliable and fast so we hope to get an overall podium,” explains one of the team.

Wim Verjans, a young Belgian driver, has just landed a seat in the Saker and has just had his first outing, in the car from New Zealand. “It’s a fun car but difficult to drive. But with a decent budget and a driver capable of developing it, it can be a good car.”

By the end of the last session, the track is drying. Bouvy sets fifth overall and the Audi TT makes up ten places on the grid.

Five others also make improvements. So with only a full session left for the odd numbers it still could be fun. It’s sad for the even numbers, but the odd numbered cars take advantage of the sunny track by the end of the last session.

So the odd numbers go up the qualifying ranking.

Link to times

Palttala, Couwberghs, Goossens etc all go out for faster laps. It’s the flying Finn, Markus Palttala, putting the #5 PSI Porsche on the front row. But Marc Goossens is untouchable. He’s now unbeaten for over a year in Belcar qualifying. Both Vipers take the second row and Ruben Maes in the #3 RS Porsche Biturbo takes fifth.

In GTB, #25 Markant remains first, #31 TT Racing is second and the beautiful #33 Qvick Ultima completes the top 3.

Nothing changes in touring, with the #72 GS M3 V8 on pole, while the #98 Van der Kolk BMW Compact takes the spoils in TB. This is the new Moore Motorsport BMW... and beneath that, the little Mazda plays in the afternoon sunshine.