ProSpeed Competition for the fourth time on the podium and solid leader in the championshipZOLDER - After a lengthy summer break the Belcar Endurance Championship competitors were back in action to compete in the 24 Hours of Zolder. Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet, who for the occasion had to support of endurance specialists David Loix and Markus Palttala, drove to a second place in the race, resulting in a fourth consecutive podium this season in the Belcar Endurance Championship. In addition Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet in the CPL Trans- Clabots Tools-RoundUp Porsche 911 scored, notwithstanding a mechanical problem early on in the race, both after six, twelve and at the finish highly valuable points, and as such now with a solid buffer under their belts can take on the last two races of the season. Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet presently lead by a 17 points advantage over their nearest rivals, Longin and Maassen.
Prospeed Competition, having started from the second row of the grid, was soon to experience bad luck. Even before nightfall one of the anchorage points of the universal joint gave up the ghost, and notwithstanding fast and efficient work carried out by the Liege-based Porsche 911 technical crew, valuable time was lost. As from that moment the four drivers manning the Porsche 911 were in for a heavy catch-up race, which resulted in a brilliant second place overall.
The overall analysis: Rudi Penders (Team Principal) "We have scored a fair amount of points, notwithstanding the problems we experienced early on in the race, which is of vital importance for this championship. On top of that this race turned out to be entirely different to what we had foreseen. For various reasons we opted for the Porsche 911 RS, amongst which the possibility to drive longer stints as compared to the GT3 cars. If we now make our analysis we can see that we didn't really have any advantage in this, which was quite surprising for me. In fact the mechanical problem also threw a spanner in the works, but the way in which we fought back, finished second and did an extremely good deal in the championship for me is pure proof of the strength of this entire team."
The sporting analysis: Marc Goossens (Driver) "It was, apart from our catch-up race, absolutely not an easy race. In the first instance it was extremely hot, and this was extremely heavy both for man and machine. After nightfall it hardly cooled down and then we were entertained by an enormous thunderstorm with a heavy downpour. In that optic Maxime Soulet's driving stints were brilliant, and he proved once more to be a strong driver. At certain moments he could hardly see and notwithstanding that he succeeded just before four o'clock in the morning to regain third place and help us score additional points."
The driver's vision: Maxime Soulet "Obviously I would have preferred winning, but for us the title is the most important. In that light the entire team worked brilliantly and this second place is perhaps worthy of a victory."
The driver's vision: David Loix "I'm delighted to have been able to help the team grab a podium, and I did what I was supposed to do. Two years after my victory here, coming back with a second place definitely isn't a disappointment. My partners and I thoroughly enjoyed this hard fought edition."
The driver's vision: Markus Palttala "As I had already mentioned before the race, it was a great pleasure for me to be back driving for Prospeed Competition and thanks to a strong and faultless race, help them towards the title. The collaboration was perfect from all sides in a great atmosphere, with three super friends at the wheel of the Porsche."
ProSpeed Competition Press  VZW 24u.be - De redactie on Tuesday 6 September 2011 at 15:03. | 
