GLPK-Racing looking for 4th consecutive victory After a severe off at the Spa Euro Race it has been uncertain if the GLPK Viper would ever be hitting the tracks again. The Chrysler Viper GTS-R was in a winning position when bad luck was striking hard. A suspension problem or a flat tire degraded driver Bert Longin into a mere passenger of the Viper. The snake went straight ahead at Blanchimont, where the armco brutally stopped the car. Luckily Longin got out of the car unharmed. The Leuven-based Belgian only suffered some bruises and stiffness. For the car it looked a lot worse...
"The chassis got damanged by the impact. Only at the end of june we started repairing the Viper", says co-driver Anthony Kumpen. "The chassis has now been corrected, yet the problem is mainly with the spare parts. As there are only few Vipers still racing it's become hard to find the right ones. Owing to some GLPK-owned developments and custom built parts we could continue to be competitive throughout the last years. Those cannot be bought. There's no other way but re-manufacturing these once again. I'm quite confident. It has been widely acknowledged that GLPK is relying on the best technicians and no doubt the Viper will be on the Zolder 24 Hours grid in the best shape ever."
 Next to the spare parts problem GLPK-Racing also had to go after an extra pilot. The team management decided, with the FIA GT programme in mind, that Mike Hezemans should be at Oschersleben. Yet Bert Longin and Anthony Kumpen will be travelling the weekend between the Belgian and the German track. Dutch-Belgian Val Hillebrand had been signed as a third driver for the Zolder 24 Hours several months ago. Val already caught some important Viper driving experience at the wheel of the Zwaans Racing Viper in the FIA GT championship. It has not yet been decided who will be the fourth driver for Zolder. Still rumours suggest the team is looking at Marc Duez – widely appreciated as a top driver in Belgium and abroad... also someone who would be functioning quite well with the GLPK family.
 In the last five years the Limburg-based squad got hold of no less than four victories. This year's ambitions are accordingly strong: "Despite the fact that the Viper is slightly outdated comparing to the SRT Corvette C5-R, we still have high hopes for victory", the GLPK side states. "We're not coming to Zolder to stuff up the grid. During qualifications we will be battling for first row, yet realistically speaking the pole position is beyond our reach. Just like the past editions we will take an easy pace early on and gradually move up. This strategy has proved very rewarding. The Viper goes round like a Swiss watch and we're not at all worried about reliability issues. If we stay out of trouble and don't make mistakes we have a good chance to take the chequered flag on sunday.
(MK)
Photography: Racingworld.be - Marnik Mouchaers & Anthonykumpen.com
 VZW 24u.be - Jan-Frans Lemmens on Friday 5 August 2005 at 11:49. | 
