FIA GT Championship

Hezemans Corvette for FIA GT — Car ready for Monza

A recent change in regulations, part of the harmonisation of the FIA and ACO rules, has meant that cars which are homologated for the former GTS class at Le Mans are now eligible for the GT1 class in the FIA GT Championship. This has opened the way for the Corvette cars – winners at Le Mans in the past two years – to race in the 2005 season of the FIA GT Championship.

One such car will be entered by a team made up of people who are no strangers to the Championship. A joint venture between Toine Hezemans of Carsport and Paul Kumpen of GLPK will enter a Corvette C5R 2004, the latest version of the car, in the full 2005 season of the FIA GT Championship, under the name GLPK-Carsport.

The car will have Siemens as a main sponsor. Furthermore, the project has the approval of Corvette Europe. As for the drivers, they are also familiar faces: Mike Hezemans from the Netherlands, son of Toine, will be joined by Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin, both from Belgium.

Mike has competed in every season of the Championship, and has driven a wide selection of cars over the years, from the Lotus in 1997, through the Bitter GT1, Porsche GT2, Marcos, Lister, Chrysler Viper and finally the Ferrari 575 M last year.

Anthony Kumpen last raced regularly in the Championship in 2003, giving the Chrysler Viper its final pole position at Monza that year. Last season, as well as winning the Belcar Championship with his team-mate Bert Longin, he drove in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa, as well as the Graham Nash Saleen at Brno.

Bert Longin has competed regularly in the Championship since 2002. In 2003, he shared a Freisinger Motorsport Porsche with Gabriele Gardel. In 2004, he moved up to the GT class, driving a JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello with a variety of team-mates, although his final results do not do justice to his fine performance.

“The main motivation to race this car is that it is a very reliable, fantastically fast race car,” Toine Hezemans commented. “It is probably able to beat the strongest oppostion ever seen in the FIA GT competition. Our other motivation is to try and beat the Maserati. We think that with the latest factory Corvette, we can square things out in 2005.” The team is now working to get the car ready for the first race in Monza.