[JPMontoya]

Bucharest (ROM) - Belgian Racing shined this afternoon in the 3rd FIA GT race of the season. Renaud Kuppens and Bas Leinders finished in 11th place after a fantastic race in the rain.

Despite the rain the grandstands were filled up well for the first ever race in Romania, on the Bucharest-Ring. Renaud Kuppens took the start in the Gillet Vertigo, after having qualified the car yesterday on a 21st place on the grid. Due to the rain the race-director decided to start the race under the Safety car. With the race only 3 minutes underway, and still under the safety car regime, the #101 Belgian Racing Vertigo appeared already in the pit-lane for its first mandatory stop of the day, A strategic decision of team-manger Jean-Michel Delporte that paid off very well during the race.

Renaud Kuppens handed over the wheel to Bas Leinders who took the track for what turned out to be a fantastic relay in which Bas showed that he is among the best drivers in the FIA GT field. Bas re-joined the pack behind the safety car in last place. Two incidents, caused by the GT2 Ferrari of Janis and the F550 Ferrari of Kessel brought out the safety car out for a very long period. The safety car was almost 35 minutes on track during the first hour of the race.

That was a perfect scenario for Belgian Racing and the early-stop tactic now started to pay off. While all the cars in front had to go to the pit for fresh rain tyres and fuel the Gillet Vertigo stayed out and made an impressive climb in the standings. After 35 minutes Bas Leinders was already up in 16th place but that was just the beginning. Bas fought his way up to the top 10 and after 40 minutes he was leading the GT2/G2 field, An exceptional event for the team of founder and owner Tony Gillet.

The Green flag was waived with still 1h15 minutes on the clock and the rain started to ease a bit over Bucharest but that did not halt Bas Leinders his progress. Bas Leinders managed to hold off easily some GT1 and GT2 cars such as the PK Corvette of Bert Longin and the BMS Scuderia Porsche of Manu Collard. At half-race the Gillet Vertigo was holding firmly on to the 9th place. With 45 minutes on the clock Bas Leinders even knocked on the door of the Top-Five with a 6th place overall, two laps before the second mandatory pitstop. An impressive relay of Bas Leinders who climbed up from 27 to 6. Renaud Kuppens prepared himself in the pit for the last 40 minutes of the race. Belgian Racing decided not to change the rain-tyres on the Vertigo.

The Gillet Vertigo re-joined the race in 8th place on a soaking wet Bucharest-Ring. In the mean time it started to rain again harded which made it very difficult for all of the drivers to keep their cars out of the wall. Renaud Kuppens managed to hold on to 8th place for a long time but towards the end of the race Kuppens came under pressure of some faster GT1 and GT2 cars, who had fresh rain-tyres. Renaud was not able to hold off the Maserati MC 12 Vitaphone and the Porsche 997 of Marc Lieb. Kuppens brought the Vertigo home in 11th place. An excellent result for the small Gembloux-based outfit. Kuppens and Leinders were honoured on the podium for winning the G2 category.

Renaud Kuppens: I am really happy with this result. 11th for us is just outstanding. Throughout the entire race we were faster than most of the GT2 cars and even faster than some GT1's. I must thank the team who did a great job since the beginning of the season but due to some bad luck we had to wait for our first finish. Our strategy worked perfect today. Bas was outstandig in the wet. We decided not to put on a fresh set of tyres during our second stop so I was not able to keep the others behind me towards the end. It is true that the circumstances were a bit special but nevertheless this is a result to remember on a unique location.

Bas Leinders: Maybe this was my best rain race ever, I just love driving in difficult conditions, especially on a street course, it separates the men from the boys. I would like to thank Pirelli for an excellent service and tyres.

Tony Gillet: What Bas did today was really fantastic, he passed many GT2 cars but also many GT1 cars. The team did a very good job and also congratulations to them.

En enkele foto's van onze Fotograaf - Mr. Dallara





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