On Saturday November 13th the last race of the Belcar Endurance Championship was organized on Circuit-Zolder. Despite the terrible rain, Nico Verdonck and Level Racing Team realized an excellent result: 2nd in their GT Open class and 7th over all, ending finally 2nd in their class.
Nico was asked by Level Racing Team to strengthen Redant/Mattheus in their Porsche 997 SuperCup #21, on P4 in the standings before the race. With a little help from the young driver of Brussels they hoped to end on the podium!
During qualifying Nico already showed his talent: he ended on P2 in the GT Open and on P7 over all, just behind the GT3 cars, much faster of course. “It was important to have a good position on the starting grid, to avoid accidents under these dangerous conditions”, Nico explained.
Due to the intervention of the fire brigade (to get rid of lots of water on the track) the race started 30′ later with a small catastrophe for Level Racing: Michelin being unable to deliver rain tyres in time, the team had to start from the pit lane…
After a 3h stint Nico realized a great performance and handed the wheel to his team mate on P5 over all and on P1 in their class! The heavy rain kept falling down and at the finish the #21 car ended 7th overall and 2nd in GT Open, also taking the 2nd place in the GT Open Championship. “What a great result”, team leader Olivier Muytjens smiles.
“The conditions were awful and hectic, but I enjoyed very much: realizing times close behind the GT3′s, I’m very pleased with the result, especially helping the team getting the 2nd place in this 2010 competition. I like to thank all of the Level Racing Team as well as my partners and fans who defied the terrible weather conditions”, Nico concludes.
Results of the Zolder 10h:
1. Verbist/Longin – #72 Audi R8 LMS 270 laps
2. Ide/Maes/Lieb – #61 Porsche 911 GT3-R + 2
3. Kumpen/Franchi/Fässler – #73 Audi R8 LMS +4
4. Goossens/Soulet/Westbrook – #60 Porsche 911 GT3-R +10
5. Habets/Knap – #24 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup +12
6. Wauters/Van Hoodonck/Vanthoor – #4 Viper
7. Verdonck/Van Oost/Redant/Mattheus – #21 Porsche 997
On November 22nd (6.15 PM) Nico is invited by TV Brussel to talk about the great 2010 season. The interview is repeated every 30′ and can also be followed on Telenet Digital TV and on www.tvbrussel.be
Nico Verdonck is still in the running for a seat in the 2 last races of the FIA GT1 with Triple H & Maserati, taking place in Argentina and Brazil (end November and early December)
Source : Nico Verdonck