Clearly defined ambition for Henk Haane (First): "I'm competing to win!" We're back in Sunday 9th September 2007, 14.47hrs. and François Verbist is underway to victory with the First Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the 24 Hours of Zolder. Together with Henk Haane, Stefaan van Campenhoudt and Gosse Stielstra, Verbist has dominated the Zolder endurance race. Jo Jamers troops are heading for a definite victory, but suddenly fate intervenes. "For us it was a bitter pill to swallow", Henk Haane recalls."Up until then we had done everything right, but the gearbox let us down. Motorsport is and remains a mechanical sport, and lady luck is not always on your side."
In the First Motorsport camp the disappointment was enormous, but in 2008 team boss Jo Jamers hits back with a victory in Division 3 for the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup #250. Not only a class victory, but also a second place overall for Verbist and cohorts! The other car out of the Jamers stables, a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup competing in Division 2, also clinches the spoils with a class victory. "This year Jo's car is one of the main contenders for overall victory", Henk Haane confided."The competition is not to be underestimated, with two powerful Chrysler Vipers and a fast Mégane, but last year a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S proved what it was capable of. First Motorsport is an unbelievably strong team, Jo is a first-rate strategist and technically speaking the car is in perfect order. I truly believe we have all the right ingredients to clinch victory in this 31st edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder. With Bert Longin, François Verbist, Ruben Maes and myself as the drivers, we form a strong line-up!"
At this moment in time the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S remains a blank page for the experienced Haane, who last season took a few podium places in the Belgian GT series with the JD Competition Lamborghini Gallardo GT3: "This year I'm competing with a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the Dutch Super Car Challenge, but you can't really compare this car with the Porsche we'll be racing with in Zolder. On top of that I'll be switching from Dunlop over to Michelin. The adaptation period should be pretty short, but the true work really only kicks off on Saturday. Zolder is a tough circuit, both for driver and machine. An additional difficulty will be overtaking the slower competitors. Taking into consideration the fact that the 24 Hours of Zolder now has an 'open' character the door is wide open for cars with a smaller engine capacity, which means that there will be far more traffic on the track. But as usual the level of the drivers is pretty high, so in fact it should all work out fine", our northern neighbour continued.
The strategy has not as yet been defined, but the assignment is quite clear: "We're going all out for victory. And I'm competing to win!" a smiling Haane commented, now competing in his fifth edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder. "To clinch victory everything has to fall into place. Two years ago we were very close, but this year the running gear needs to hold out that additional hour. In a 24 hours race it is imperative to stick to a tight rhythm, combined with a large dose of luck. You haven't got all the elements in hand. On the sly I'm hoping for a heavy downpour, but most probably I'm not the only one hoping for that!"
Picture: Marnik Mouchaers
 VZW 24u.be - Gordon McKay on Thursday 13 August 2009 at 22:27. | 
