FIA GT Championship

ProSpeed Competition Spa 24 Hours preview

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

The biggest GT race in the world kicks off next Wednesday with a parade from Spa to Francorchamps. The 24 Hours of Spa is now in its eighth edition under the umbrella of the FIA GT, and it goes without saying that this event is the highlight of the season for drivers, teams and spectators alike.

For ProSpeed Competition this happens to be a home race, as the Belgian top team’s workshops are but half an hour’s drive from this legendary circuit. The team pencilled in this meeting in red in their diary, as proven by entering both Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. For the occasion ProSpeed Competition are also entering an additional Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S , aiming at clinching victory in G3, the class reserved for GT3 cars. This will also be the opportunity to celebrate Porsche’s 60th anniversary with this edition of the 24 Hours of Spa.

In the Porsche bearing start number #61, in addition to the title holders Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard, we find the German works driver Marc Lieb. Lieb won the 24 Hours of Spa in 2003, the year in which Porsche surprised friend and foe by
beating all the GT1s with a GT2-car. “I don’t believe such a stunt would still be feasible today”, Rudi Penders reminisces, who in the past also claimed a victory and a second place in the national class at Spa. “But with our ‘#61’ we’re aiming at a strong final result and obviously victory in GT2, so that we keep our chances intact for the championship.”

In the Porsche with start number #60 we have Markus Palttala and Mikael Forsten, and they will be joined by another fast Porsche driver, namely Wolf Henzler. The 33-year old German is competing in the American Le Mans Series this year for the Flying Lizard team and earlier this season together with Marc Lieb and Jorg Bergmeister won the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The fourth driver, and adding a Belgian flavour to the team, is former Belgian Michelin Porsche Supercup driver Belgian Geoffroy Horion.

And lastly the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S (#160) to be driven by David Dermont, David Loix, Franz Lamot and Jan Heylen, who will be looking to claim the laurels in the G3-category. This will be Jan Heylen’s debut in the FIA GT and the 24 Hours of Spa. Jan Heylen: “This is in fact my debut in the 24 Hours of Spa as also the FIA GT championship. It’s important that I can do this with ProSpeed Competition, an official Porsche team. We’re going for a win in G3, that’s for sure.”

“This race is of vital importance for us”, team manager Rudi Penders emphasises. “The beginning of the season was difficult, notwithstanding the fact that we scored pretty convincingly in Monza in our second race. On the other hand we lost valuable points at Silverstone following a debatable decision by the FIA. As the result of an accident during the race the car no longer met the regulations regarding ride height, however the FIA’s rather inadequate measuring methods leaves this disqualification with food for thought. This was followed with a complaint made by a competitor in Monza, based on a small film, a complaint that luckily was brushed aside. And finally there’s still an appeal procedure running against the disqualification in Adria. All this came about as the result of a communication problem between the manufacturer and the FIA, which meant that for these last two seasons not a single Porsche was conform. All in all we have invested an incredible amount of energy and time in procedures and discussions which are entirely superfluous. But on the other hand this has made us stronger and more determined than ever to come out on top in Spa.”

The three ProSpeed Competition Porsche 911s will be boasting new livery next week. The team has invested substantially in marketing and two new major sponsors, namely Deutsche Bank and International Diamond Laboratories are the fruits of their efforts. “Motor sport and more specifically the FIA GT, remain highly attractive for potential sponsors, although I prefer to call them partners,” Rudi Penders continues. Motor sport exudes high technology, blended with excitement and sensation, whilst a race such as the 24 Hours still remains a family event. The combination of all this, together with an immaculate manner in which the guests are received and so on, means that motor sport offers companies a highly interesting marketing tool, something they are wiling to invest in.”