ProSpeed Competition ready to take on the streets of Bucharest

A mere three weeks after the 24 Hours of Spa, the fifth round of the FIA GT championship, the following race is already on the horizon. On the 23rd and 24th August the FIA GT is heading for the Rumanian capital Bucharest, where in a rather different environment the sixth meeting of the championship is being held.

During 48 hours the streets in the centre of Bucharest will be transformed into a spectacular street circuit on which the GTs will compete exceptionally in two races of 60 minutes each. Prior to heading off down to Eastern Europe we had a conversation with the team owner of ProSpeed Competition, Rudi Penders.

Rudi Penders, the 44 year old Belgian, heads up the Porsche concession in Liege and in addition also runs, with his business partner Luc Goris, ProSpeed Competition, one of the top teams in the FIA GT. Rudi Penders’ first steps in the motorsport world came about some ten years ago and since then he has numerous victories and titles to his name in the Belgian GT championship.

Rudi Penders: "Motorsport for Porsche blends in perfectly with the sale of the road going versions and I therefore decided some three years ago, together with my partner Luc Goris, to streamline our motorsport activities and ProSpeed Competition is the fruit of that idea.."

Rudi Penders: "For the most part positive, we have in fact experienced some setbacks, with amongst others the affair at Monza, but I have now closed that chapter. We’vealready come a long way, because in fact for ProSpeed Competition the ambition was to be battling it out at that level in 2010.

However as the result of the collaboration with Porsche everything went into overdrive and today we’re already up where we had scheduled ourselves to be in a year and a half’s time. We still need to grow, but after five races we have already clinched one victory, various podium places and a pole position, which proves that we can comfortably keep up with the top players. In fact over all I’m satisfied."

Rudi Penders: "Our will to win on the track has always been there, however the passion in the workshops, the stands and the pitlane has increased no end through ourcollaboration with the manufacturer.

There was still a margin for growth in that area. Winning at FIA GT level can only be achieved when everything slots into place perfectly; the reporting, internal communication, ... , everything has to be just right and in that respect Porsche has influenced us enormously."

Rudi Penders: "Obviously we want to win and as long as we have a mathematical chance of becoming champion this will remain our ambition. Beside that it is every team’s target to claim as many victories, podium places and pole positions as possible. It would be rather strange if I were to answer this question differently. And our intention is to bring this ambition to fruition as from Bucharest.

The race in Rumania really appeals to me, even though I’m fully aware that the race can hold some dangers. The risk of incurring damage is higher, but that goes for everyone else also. Racing in Rumania is somewhat the same as it was here 20 years ago, with a limited margin for errors, the public able to enjoy the race from close by, a true spectacle...

You can count me in as one of the aficionados of such a race weekend. I’m also convinced that we’ll come into our own in Rumania."

ProSpeed Competition is presently ranked fourth in the FIA GT2 championship, a place also held by the drivers Richard Westbrook and Emanuel Collard. Markus Palttala and Mikael Forsten are 16th. Additional information regarding ProSpeed Competition can be found on www.prospeed.be.

15.00 – 16.20 FIA GT Championship Free Practice 80’

08.45 – 10.05 FIA GT Championship Pre-Qualifying 80’

13.15 – 13.50 FIA GT Championship Qualifying Practice 15/5/15

17.15 – 17.40 FIA GT Championship Drivers Presentation

17.40 FIA GT Championship Pit lane open

18.15 – 19.15 FIA GT Championship Race 1 60’

10.00 – 10.30 FIA GT Championship Warm Up 30’

13.15 – 13.40 FIA GT Championship Drivers Presentation

14.15 – 15.15 FIA GT Championship Race 2 60’

 - JF Van Laere - photos ProSpeed