Belgian 1-2 in fourth 12 hours of Hungary
Hungaroring (May 22nd , 2011) – The Belgian VDS Racing Adventures team of owner/driver Raphaël van der Straten had a very convincing win in this Sunday’s 4th edition of the 12 hours of Hungary. The Ford Mustang GT3 he shared with fellow Belgians Julien Schroyen and Benjamin Bailly crossed the finish line well in front of second placed Belgian Team Speedlover with James Emmet and Jean Michel Gerome in their Porsche 997. A surprising 3rd place overall went to the Spanish Monlau Competición Team of Javier Hernández Rosada, Jaime Manuel Hernández Rosada and Pepus Alonso Prieto in their Seat Leon Supercopa.
The fourth edition of the Hungary 12H for GT’s, touring cars and endurance specials was again organised by Dutch promoters Creventic and was run under excellent weather conditions (about 28° Celsius in the afternoon) partly due to a late date change from its original date in fall.
Team owner Raphaël van der Straten had decided to invite two young Belgian drivers to join him in the fast and heavy Ford Mustang for this years race. His choice turned out right as both drivers proved quick and consistent. Benjamin Bailly who celebrated his 21st birthday on race-day took the rolling start in the morning after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday. Right after the start he was able to pull away at a rate of about one second per lap and teammate Julien Schroyen was able to further extend that lead in the second stint. The VDS Racing Adventures team only briefly lost the lead to Andre van Hoof’s Speedlover Porsche when the Mustang spent four minutes in the pits for a precautionary repair of what might have become a fuel pick up problem. The race was decided when the Speedlover Porsche spent some 15 minutes on a brake-pad change, that the Mustang never needed. Raphaël van der Straten was a very happy man: “Racing with the two younsters turned out really well. I was very excited during my very last lap of the race, because all the marshals were cheering us on ”.
The Spanish Seat Leon Supercopa was a surprise third overall and first in the A3T category. Most of the race they were in close competition for class honours with the British Povey Motorsport BMW M3 with Guy Povey, Geoff Kimber Smith and Clint Bardwell. But despite a late repair to the Leon’s left rear suspension the Monlau team kept the class lead. Winners of the A2 class were the Danish Team Sally Racing with Martin Sally, Martin Gotche, Peter Obel and Andreas Schroder in their Renault Clio 3 RS.
Next events on Creventic’s racing calendar are the 24hours of Barcelona (September 23-25) and the 24h Dubai (January 12-14, 2012)
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