ProSpeed Competition dominates, then within sight of the finish experiences tough luck

24 Hours of Zolder 

ProSpeed Competition had marked off the 24 Hours of Zolder in red in their diary, and the team were on hand for the meeting. For more than twelve hours long Rudi Penders, Franz Lamot, David Loix and Stéphane Lémeret dominated this 30th edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder, only to have a broken clutch throw a spanner in the works. The ProSpeed Competition technical crew resorted twice to replacing the clutch in a record time and finally the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S finished in seventh place.

Following on from the qualifying sessions the Porsche in the Clabots and DHL colours was in ninth place, just behind the competition out to clinch the pole position. "We didn’t see what the others were doing and you don’t win or lose the 24 hours on a Wednesday or Thursday", Rudi Penders explained. "We worked hard on our race set-up and during the race we’ll be following an endurance strategy."

Under a glorious sun and packed grandstands the GT3s took off on Saturday afternoon and very soon the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S of Rudi Penders, Franz Lamot, David Loix and Stéphane Lémeret was moving up the field. "We’re able to drive longer stints than the cars with larger engines and we stuck to our tight rhythm", Stéphane Lémeret told us.

"This meant that after a mere few hours we were up with the top-three and as dusk fell we took over the lead. Everyone in the team carried out their job perfectly and as such we were able to systematically build up our advantage."

Come dawn ProSpeed Competition had no less than an eight lap lead over their nearest rivals and certain observers were already talking about a victory, but as the cliché clearly states, a race is only won when the finish line has been crossed.

"And unfortunately in our case the cliché became a reality", a highly disappointed Franz Lamot commented. "After some nine hours the clutch gave up the ghost, perhaps one of the few weak points of the Porsche. We dropped back to sixth place, but didn’t give up.

Our technical team sorted out the problem in a record time and we wanted to thank them for this. Around lunchtime we were lying back in second place, but the Gods weren’t on our side. Once again the clutch gave up and now the battle was over. Seventh place is not really a consolation, especially when you have had your sights on victory for so many hours."

"The only positive element I have gained out of this race is the fact that one of our clients, NGT, won the race in a brilliant manner", Rudi Penders concludes the weekend. 

1. Couwberghs-Maes-Sluys-« Heinz (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S), 800 laps;

2. Lagrange-Nelissen Grade-Verbist-Leest (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 16l (1st D3);

3. Palttala-Pulinx-Menten-Fumal (Fin-Bel-NL-Bel/Porsche 996 RS) – 20 l;

4. Bouvy-Coens-V. Ickx-Van de Velde (Ferrari F430 GT3) – 21l;

5. Van Hover-Langeberg-Tavernier-Raus (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 33l;

6. Lumbeek-Van de Plas-Werckx-Kuus (Bel-Bel-Bel-P-B/Dodge Viper) -33l;

7. Penders-Lamot-Loix-Lémeret (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S) – 33l;

8. Van Rompuy-Van Rompuy-Jeuris-Belien (Porsche 996 Supercup) – 36l (1st D2) ;

9. Van Beurden-Van Uytsel-Van Loo-Matot (Porsche 996 GT3 Cup) – 45l ;

10. Derdaele-Vanierschot-Dujardyn-Marchal (Bel-Bel-Bel-NL/Porsche 996 Biturbo) – 46l

-JF Van Laere - also photo VImages