RS Racing looking for top 5 rank The Euphony 24 Hours of Zolder will be the fifth race of the Mediagroup Van Dyck Belcar championship, totalling seven races. Given the double championship points, the championship is now officially halfway through. Due to recurrent bad luck the next half will be crucial to RS Racing and their driver quartet Maes/Verbist/Tanghe/Casteleyn.
After a trouble free rookie year on the Manthey Porsche 996 Biturbo in 2004, finishing fourth overall and third in GTA class and with Ruben Maes capturing the Philip Verellen Junior Trophy title, this year is much harder for RS Motors. Bad luck started at the Spa 1000 km race when Ruben was smashed off the track by a competitor. During the Spa Euro Race it was Olivier Tanghe mysteriously losing it on top of the Raidillon, resulting in a burning car getting totally destroyed.
For the trip abroad to Brands Hatch they decided to hire the ex-Wauters/Wauters Porsche Biturbo at AD Sport. Despite a well prepared car deliverd by the Albert Vanierschot works, it proved to be less powerful than the original Manthey car. So Maes/Verbist had to adapt themselves and the car during practice. The AD Porsche proved reliable and it was a decent result getting 7th in GT and 5th in GTA for both youngsters driving an unfamiliar car around an unfamiliar track. Still the West-Flanders based team had to take comfort in a 9th overall and 7th in GTA championship rankings. Given the huge RS Racing potential they deserve better.
 Ruben Maes: "Right now the championship hopes are not our concern. We're now totally focusing on this new confrontation at Zolder. After the 24 Hours we will make a round-up, eventually deciding on additional efforts allowing to move up in the overall rankings. Last year's Euphony 24 Hours of Zolder was an absolute career highlight, finishing on the overall podium. Next to a minor brake problem we didn't have any trouble at all. I'm afraid this year's competition will be even tougher, so I'll be happy with a top-5 score. With Verbist, Tanghe, Casteleyn and myself we have a very consistent driver line-up. Also the rest of the crew is highly experienced. Just like the previous 24 Hours effort we will going for consistent target lap times, allowing to go faster in the end when we need to. After the heavy off at Spa we have built a totally new car, built by Verbist and Manthey on a brand new Porsche Motorsport body.
"Especially the latest roll cage evolution should allow to bring the power to the wheels more efficiently. Moreover the engine and the gear box have been completely revised, as well as all moving parts being replaced. The original wiring was also totally destroyed, so we can basically call this a brand new car. No riska are being taken. Eventually we could still see some fine tuning problems, yet we have plenty of time to get this adjusted. Points are earned at the 6th (25%), 12th (25%) and 24th (50%) racing hour. So if we can keep the right pace, we should be able to score points already early on. Repeating last year's result would alow us to climb dramatically in the rankings, still allowing us to get a fine championship result", Ruben Maes concludes.
Not an unimportant asset for RS Racing is their tremendous support by enthusiasts and sponsors. They are meaning a lot to the drivers and to the crew.
(PDS/RS)
 VZW 24u.be - Jan-Frans Lemmens on Saturday 20 August 2005 at 06:54. | 
