Loads of great people and definitely sufficient variation at the start of the 24 Hours of Zolder
There are just three weeks to the kick-off of the 37th edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder. It promises to be a nail biting edition, with a battle on all fronts, especially in the various divisions, with amongst others the battle for victory in the BMW Clubsport Trophy and the BMW M235i Racing Cup. Herewith our third news in brief, with news from on and off the track.
Porsche: Porsche will not only be represented during the actual race of the 24 Hours of Zolder, as on Thursday the marque will be amply on hand with six series VIP laps as also the seventh and eighth race of the 2015 season of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux. Max van Splunteren and Peter Hoevenaars will once again be going head to head for the title or might local driver Dylan Derdaele throw a spanner in the works? They will also need to keep a close eye on Xavier Maassen.
Pole position: Thursday will also see the battle for top starting place on the grid for these 24 Hours of Zolder, a fight split into three parts with the grand final taking place on Thursday evening from 20.45 through to 23.45hrs
Double work: Fred Bouvy (BMW M235i) and Louis Machiels (Wolf) announced earlier that they would be at the start of the 24 Hours of Zolder. Hopefully they will experience more luck than during the recent 24 Hours of Spa, where they were both forced to retire prematurely with respectively a BMW Z4 and a Bentley Continental GT3.
Saker: true to tradition the VGL Racing team will be present with a Saker at Circuit Zolder, for the five man line-up comprised out of Ronald Thienpont (B), Frédéric Sels (B), Geert Declerq (B), Maik Barten (NL) and Bert Van Gansen (B). The Saker RapX is powered by a wonderful 2-liter boxer engine and is a delight both to see and hear.
QSR: the BMW Clubsport Trophy reflects the true spirit of the 24 Hours of Zolder and the QSR team is a true representative of this competition. They are entering three cars, of which two crews are already known. The #57 is to be manned by Jimmy De Breucker, Mario Timmers, Stephan Geurts JR and Patrick Zeeuws. On the #58 Kris Elsen, Bas Van Elderen, Tim Costermans and Jeroen Van Reeth are still awaiting a fifth driver to reinforce their team.
Mazda: in this same spirit there is the participation of the undying Mazda MX-5 of the Mazda Endurance Challengers. For the second year in a row the Dutch drivers Eric Sliphorst, Carlo Izelaar, Berend Gesman and Dick van Rij will do everything in their power to complete the 24 hours.
Meet and greet: all those who come on down to the Otobar on Saturday at 12.00hrs will have the opportunity to meet all these men and ladies and receive more than an autograph.
A forth news in brief will follow during the course of next week, with further news regarding the teams and drivers!