VDS Racing Adventures: A team with a heart and a fondness for Mustang Driven by passion, that is the least one can say about Raphaël van der Straten. The likeable Brussels based man has a passion for motorport and does all honour to the legendary 'Racing Team VDS', set-up by his grandfather in 1964. Over a period of five decennia the van der Straten family have built up an excellent reputation on the international motorsport scene. Probably the most well-known are the plans around his uncle Raphael's team, namely Marc VDS Racing. Next season the FIA GT-team will be entering two Ford GT1 in the GT1 world championship. Over the years Raphaël was often in the news with his 'VDS Racing Adventures' team, competing in the 24 Hours of Zolder and the 24Hours of Dubai. van der Straten was also to be seen in the European GT4 Cup, and always with a Ford Mustang FR500 GT4.
The Ford Mustang FR500 is Raphaël van der Straten's hobbyhorse. "My fondness for Mustang dates back to 1971. In those days my grandfather raced a Ford Mustang Boss 302. My father also owned a Mustang, and it gets into your blood. Having twice competed in the 24 Hours of Dubai with a BMW M5 it was high time to switch shoulders. You read the advertisements and evaluate the possibilities, until my eye fell on the Ford Mustang FR500 GT4 of Eric de Doncker. In the meantime our fleet has grown to five cars. VDS Racing Adventures is the owner of the only three Mustang FR500 GT3, one Mustang FR500 GT4 and one Mustang FR500 'Evo' GT4", van der Straten told us.
"For the 24 Hours of Zolder we are receiving the support from a Roush & Yates engineer, the car's tuner. The Americans have a great admiration for the work we're putting in. We knew before hand that opting for a Ford Mustang wasn't the easiest choice. It is a heavy, cumbersome car...but after an initial diet the Mustang has become far better. Our intention was to be in the vicinity of the pole times set in 2008 by the end of 2009. We have now already reached this target. We're now going to carry on further developing the car and see where we come out."
The question remains whether VDS Racing Adventures will be returning to the Belgian GT Championship next season: "I love long-distance competitions. With sprint races of twice one hour you are immediately eliminated should something go wrong. With endurance races you can always fight back. The atmosphere is entirely different ", van der Straten continued."This year I plan to travel to Budapest and the United States with our car. The 12 Hours of Budapest and the 24 Hours of Miami are fabulous events. On top of that we have also raced and won in Senegal (Dakar)! Adventures, it features in our team name. This is what we want to reflect. We are a team that lives from and for passion. Always smiling faces in our pitbox, that's what we're aiming at. We are serious, but when it turns to more labour than pleasure it's over. Motorsport must remain fun!"
Picture: Martijn Wouters
 VZW 24u.be - Gordon McKay on Friday 21 August 2009 at 16:49. | 
