ProSpeed win 24 Hours of Zolder - First and Kuismanen complete the podium

For a long while it looked as though First Motorsport could still pull out a trick against the ProSpeed-quartet Franz Lamot, Rudi Penders, David and Louis Machiels. But fate was to decide the outcome differently. ProSpeed Competition started out as the underdog, but was one of the few teams to stay out of trouble. "Only a sheared off nut on the splitter cost us some time. During the race we also raced without a bonnet lid, but that was really the only abnormality throughout the race ", a smiling and happy Rudi Penders told us after the gruelling endurance race. For Penders and cohorts this is the first victory in the 24 Hours of Zolder, all thanks to the legendary reliability of the Porsche and the hard work put in by the Liege based team. Whilst the rest of the field had to fight with mechanical problems, with the exception of the Porsche 997 GT4 of First and the Speedlover Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, the ProSpeed Competition model ran like Swiss clockwork.

During the night First Motorsport team boss Jo Jamers gave his troops the assignment to attack full out: "I told my boys to raise the bar high. We managed to win eight laps but stranded just some four laps from victory. If I analyse matters I know where it went wrong. We lost roughly eleven laps by opting for the wrong brakes. I had been led astray to fit a new system, which they guaranteed would be more efficient than the system we normally use for endurance races. If you then include the eight laps we made up we then had a good opportunity to win this race. Once again First Motorsport was very close. This confirms that the results obtained in previous years weren't flukes. I really want to win this race once. I'm definitely coming back next year, most probably with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S. The car was good, the drivers were good, but it wasn't to be. At the end we didn't take any further risks either - we've gained valuable points for the championship. Who knows we might still have a great chance with the final round of the season here in Zolder!"

With the retirement of both Delahaye-cars it was no longer so thrilling for the third place. Kuismanen Competition was easily capable of consolidating the third spot following an excellent catch-up run especially by the Dutch pole holder Duncan Huisman. André van Hoof once again also enjoyed a great 24 Hours of Zolder. The Speedlover-boss offered up his standard Porsche 997 GT3 Cup to Hemroulle, Verbergt, van Hover and Raus. The quartet stuck to their assignment perfectly, with a sensational fourth place as outcome - second in the Belgian GT. With this Hemroulle and Verbergt are now within two points of the KRK Racing-duo Koen Wauters-Jeffrey van Hooydonk. They finished fifth in the Dodge Viper Competition Coupé bearing number four.

KS Motorsport was out for an excellent result, with three cars in the top-ten, but unfortunately the #22 BMW M3 Silhouette wasn't reliable enough to finish the event at race speed. Vanbellingen and cohorts, following a catch-up race climbed into seventh place, just behind the surprising Porsche 997 GT4 of First Motorsport. Best Touring car was the BMW M3 GTR of Moore International Motorsports, good for an eighth place. For the second time in a row JD Competition by KS finished with the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 - this time around in ninth place overall. For McDonald's Racing Team the turnabout has started. The team based around François Bouillon finished tenth overall with the Porsche 996 GT3 RS.

The AD Sport Viper needed to roll out the race quietly. Marchal, Heyer, Kuus and Lumbeeck ended eleventh, ahead of the #22 BMW M3 Silhouette of KS, the #24 BMW 120d of Recy Racing Team, the Rudolph Racing #77 Renault Clio, whilst the AD Sport Porsche 996 Biturbo completed the top-fifteen. The Ford Mustang GT4 of VDS Racing Adventures was classed as last, enough to offer Christian Deridder the title in Division 2 of the Belgian GT Championship.

It should also be noted that over the weekend some 22.000 visitors came on down to Circuit Zolder for this 31st edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder. Over the entire meeting (four days) there were 28.000

The top ten overall:
1. #60 ProSpeed Competition - Porsche 996 GT3 RSR - 844 laps (new record!)
2. #50 First Motorsport - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S +4 laps
3. #12 Kuismanen Competition - Chrysler Viper GTS-R +37 laps
4. #20 Speedlover - Porsche 997 GT3 Cup +38 laps
5. #4 KRK Racing - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé +65 laps
6. #150 First Motorsport - Porsche 997 GT4 +77 laps
7. #21 KS Motorsport - BMW M3 Silhouette +89 laps
8. #7 Moore International Motorsport - BMW M3 GTR +96 laps
9. #10 JD Competition by KS - Lamborghini Gallardo GTR +98 laps
10. #217 McDonald's Racing Team - Porsche 996 GT3 RS +104 laps

VZW 24u.be - Gordon McKay on Sunday 23 August 2009 at 16:47.