JD Competition: Bringing alternative weapons to the 24 Hours of Zolder

Preparations are now well underway for the season's highpoint of the Belgian GT Championship Mediagroep Van Dyck . For the thirtieth time the Belgian teams are readied for these 24 Hours of Zolder, the absolute classic in the national Belgian mortorsport calendar. JD Competition will once again be present on 30th and 31st August. But as compared to the first races of the season the team will be changing their tack. "That's correct ", Danny De Laet, the driving force behind the team told us. "Contrary to the three Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s which we usually enter, we have opted this time for one Porsche and one Lamborghini. However our ambition remains unchanged; a place on the podium."

The thirtieth edition of these 24 Hours of Zolder promises to be a battle between the old and new generations of racing cars. "Indeed", Danny De Laet continues. "On the one hand we have the GT3s, the latest power beasts on the European circuits and on the other, when it comes to 24 hours races, many teams are calling on the services of a car they have had previous experience with, and in our case the Porsche 996 GT3 RS, a thoroughbred race car. At the beginning of the season we had opted for three new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s, with in the meantime two podium places in four meetings to our name. But deep down we still believe in our "good old" Porsche, which we normally enter in the DSMEC; it's a thorough and reliable machine, obviously of major importance in a 24 hours endurance race. But we're betting on two horses as it were seeing we'll be entering a Gallardo also. As we expect to welcome no less than 300 guests we want to pull out all the stops and look forward to the outcome on Sunday afternoon."

When it comes to the drivers various changes are afoot within the Antwerp based team.
Danny De Laet: "Tim (Verbergt) and I will be at the wheel of the Porsche and we'll be joined by the fast and experienced Jean-François Hemroulle, who recently won the GT3 class at the 24 Hours of Spa, and our regular Joost Vollebergh. For Tim and Jean-François it's a case of meeting up once again, as for many years they were the official drivers in the BTCS and Belcar for Audi, in fact works' drivers so to say. With these drivers we're aiming at a podium place, with less than a top-5 you can't really be satisfied. The Porsche is reliable and relatively economical, two undeniable assets in the 24 Hours of Zolder."

In the other car, the Lamborghini, regular drivers Henk Haane and Patrick Ceusters, will be joined by Dutchman Arjan van der Zwaan. In the past this experienced driver competed in Belcar, FIA GT and Dutch Supercar and knows how to crack the whip. The Gallardo received an endurance cure at Reiter and will be ready to take on the longer distance.

Seeing JD Competition will be competing in the 24 Hours of Zolder, the team will be obliged to give default in the DSMEC race, being held prior to the main event.

VZW 24u.be - Gordon McKay on Wednesday 20 August 2008 at 13:16.