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Paul van Splunteren content with 4th place
ProSpeed Competition experience difficult weekend on home ground
Last Wednesday ProSpeed Competition travelled on down with four cars to the centre of Spa for the traditional parade of the 24 Hours of Spa with great ambitions for this 63rd edition of the race, this year the sole event of the FIA GT2 European Cup, where the strongest GT2 teams battle it out. The team had a strong start during the qualifying sessions; however Lady Luck was not on hand for the four Porsche 911 of the Liège-based team in the race. “We didn’t experience a single mechanical or technical problem, the teams and drivers did what was expected of them, but a whole series of race incidents thwarted our plans, not in the least for our Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Marc Goossens, Marc Lieb, Marco Holzer and Richard Westbrook, who were running well up amongst the top-3 until coming into contact with another competitor.
Quite clearly this wasn’t our year. On the other hand I am well pleased with the excellent performance put in by our Le Mans trio, joined by Phil Bastiaans for the occasion”, is how Rudi Penders summarised the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Spa for ProSpeed Competition.”
FIA GT2 European Cup
In Spa Marc Goossens, Marc Lieb, Marco Holzer and Richard Westbrook started as one of the favourites for victory and during the first hours of the race this quartet confirmed their status. After eight hours the Porsche was lying second in the rankings a mere one second down the race leaders. “Obviously one is never sure of victory, but we were there up front, that’s for sure”, Richard Westbrook commented. “But then came the collision and the ordeal started, which finally resulted in our retirement. In the meanwhile the #4 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Paul van Splunteren, Louis Machiels, Phil Bastiaans and Niek Hommerson were busy working their way up through the pack. The quartet finally finished in seventh place, fourth in the FIA GT2 European Cup, exactly the same position as achieved last year. “I’ve had a truly awesome weekend”, a beaming Paul van Splunteren commented after the race, “and I reckon that goes for my team mates also. We had performed well in Le Mans and here also we completed a pretty reasonable race, another great experience with a good team.”
FIA GT3
“Spa is the toughest race of the year”, is how one of the winning Porsche drivers described the endurance race in our Belgian Ardennes and this appeared to be the case with this edition also. In the first hours of the race ProSpeed Competition lost the well placed #61 Porsche 911 GT3-R of Christophe Kerkhove, Philippe Noziere, Remy Brouard and Ludovic Sougnez.
Christophe Kerkhove: “During an overtaking manoeuvre a slower competitor brutally nudged my rear wheel and I went off. The wheel was entirely ruined and retirement was the only solution. What more can I say? So it will be down to eight consecutive arrivals in Spa I presume. I’m exceptionally disappointed, not only for myself but for the whole team.”
The other Porsche 911 GT3-R, the #60 with the strong quartet comprised of Jos Menten, Maxime Soulet, Julien Schroyen and Oskar Slingerland experienced a difficult race. The car finally finished in 16th place overall and seventh in the GT3 class.