Brilliant victory in Belcar for ProSpeed Competition 12.04.2010: ProSpeed Competition celebrated the return of the renowned Belcar championship in style. Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet won the first race of the season. The second ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R of the Ruben

 ProSpeed Competition celebrated the return of the renowned Belcar championship in style. Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet won the first race of the season. The second ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R of the Ruben Maes and Enzo Ide duo were involved in a bizarre race-incident and were forced to retire somewhat later during the race.




After the seasons of Belgian GT the Belcar has risen again in Belgium; the championship that from the end of the nineties through to 2005 was looked upon with envy. For the first race almost 40 cars were on the grid watched by a mass of spectators. Noticeable amongst the entrants was the number of powerful GT3 cars. Notwithstanding the name change the GT3 remains the Royal class in Belcar. ProSpeed Competition is also on hand in this Belcar-project and this season is entering two brand-new Porsche 911 GT3 R for Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet on the one hand and Ruben Maes and Enzo Ide on the other.

During qualifying Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet clocked up the second best time, and this after Goossens having come into contact with a slower competitor in his last run. Ruben Maes and Enzo Ide registered an excellent sixth place on the grid.

The race run over 150 minutes was right up the street of the former winners of the 24 Hours of Zolder. Goossens and Soulet drove a faultless race and finished with almost a one lap bonus on their nearest rivals. The Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ruben Maes and Enzo Ide on the other hand were less fortunate. During the initial phase of the race Ruben Maes hit a steel cable from one of the emergency intervention vehicles, and this as the stranded vehicle started reversing during the emergency intervention. The damage to the car was substantial and soon after the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ide and Maes retired from the race.


Marc Goossens: “We handled the race perfectly and didn’t make any mistakes. With this type of race you need to finish off the race without losing any time. Additional pit stops, stop & go penalties or any other sort of incident can make all the difference between winning or losing in such a competitive field and the entire team made sure that this wasn’t the case for us. My appreciation for Maxime also, who drove a strong stint.”

Maxime Soulet: “In the opening phase Marc managed to build up a small buffer, especially in the heavy traffic. Following on from that I drove a controlled race and completed my part of the assignment without any problems whatsoever.”

Rudi Penders: “In France (LMS) we experienced bad luck, but the victory of Goossens and Soulet has ensured that the weekend ends on a reasonable positive note. Ruben Maes and Enzo definitely deserved better but that race-incident, which could have been avoided, decided otherwise.”




Results

1. Goossens-Soulet ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R
2. Verbist-Longin Audi R8 LMS
3. Van Lagen-Haane Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S
Retired Maes-Ide ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R


- JF van Laere - Photo ProSpeed