Pitlane comments after 20 hours

Dries Heyman on the JES Competition Porsche once again confirmed his 'night owl' reputation. When handing the steering wheel to team mate Pascal Nelissen-Grade the Porsche 996 Supercup was sixth overall! Sadly also JES Competition got it's share of bad luck. Pascal Nelissen-Grade explains: "Just before five in the morning I took over hte wheel from Dries. I was only on the track for a few minutes when the engine didn't respond to the gas pedal anymore. I put the car on the verge with a broken gas cable. I had to find a way to get the car back to the boxes. So I decided to use the cable of my water reservoir, which had been annoying me anyway. I pulled out the cable, fitted it to the engine with a 'sailors' knot' and pulled it into the car through the rear window. I ultimately tied it to my wrist, allowing me to bring the Porsche home slowly after being stuck for 35 minutes."

Another surprise is coming from Garage Pino Racing (GPR). The Porsche 996 GT3-R had been ignoring the competition and totally focusing on it's own race. They managed to climb up, ultimately making it into the top-5. Team leader Pino Sperlinga is a happy man: "We can't complain. We have seen no trouble on any of our cars so far. The #30 is currently battling for second in GTB. If we could finish this way it would be a great achievement for the team. It's first of all a team effort with all the mechanics bringing the car to the grid in the best possible shape."

Koen Leyssens & co are doing extremely well in the #61 KS Motorsport Silhouette. The squad entered the top five already in the first racing hours, now in fourth overall after the 16th racing hour. "We're doing fine", Leyssens comments. "I'm glad to report there's not a lot to say. We're keeping a tight pace. Now it's only a matter of keeping it up to the finish..."

The Daikin Racing Mini Cooper S3 has been in it's box for some time for a gearbox replacement. Caroline Grifnée is confident about the outcome: "We've been at the boxes some times with minor trouble, yet now it's the gearbox letting us down. Third and fourth gear don't respond at all. Now the technicians are fitting a new gearbox. Hopefully we can rejoin. At least things are still looking well. We are leading our closest competitors by 22 laps now."

(MK)

VZW 24u.be - Jan-Frans Lemmens on Sunday 28 August 2005 at 14:00.