PROSPEED PORSCHE 997 GT3 CUP FINISHES SECOND IN CLASS IN SPA MONSOON

Kelders And Kerkhove On Podium Again; Joined by Greisch And Lefort

The 59th running of Spa 24 Hours – round 6 of the FIA GT Championship – lived up to its reputation of being a very difficult race where the weather is often the biggest adversary. This year wasn’t different as at 6.00am precisely the heavens opened and torrential rain turned the race into a balancing act, requiring the drivers to spend several hours behind the safety cars to limit the dangers.

ProSpeed Competition’s remaining Porsche team of Christian Kelders, Christophe Kerkhove, Philippe Greisch and Christian Lefort mastered these conditions with apparent ease in their 2007-spec 997 GT3 Cup and made it to second place in the G3 class. It was ProSpeed Competition’s second consecutive podium finish in the Spa 24 Hours. The only hiccup in the car’s progress came during a mid-race pitstop when the air jack top seal let go. Instead of the jack shooting down to lift the car, the seal shot upwards with such force it dented the roof and took out the throttle cable adjuster. Twenty-eight minutes were lost replacing the adjuster, dropping the #160 car from third in class to fifth; 11 laps behind the then class-leading Ferrari.

But the race proved to be as difficult as it has ever been when heavy rain hit the track. The #160 crew rose to the occasion and moved back up the order by using their heads and not falling off the road. A top 20 overall finish and a second consecutive second place in G3 was their just reward.

Christian Kelders, who finished in second here last year with Christophe Kerkhove and the ProSpeed Competition Porsche, started the race and finished it. “It’s always nice to finish on the podium, but it is especially nice to do it twice in row with the same team. I’m particularly happy with the fact that none of us made a mistake, despite the weather conditions being as bad as they have probably ever been. When you see some great professionals going off in the rain, I think we can be happy not to have had any accidents. It was tiring, but the reward was well worth it.”

“It was hell out there,” Christophe Kerkhove said. “My first two stints went very smooth, just staying out of trouble and keeping my eyes peeled. But then this morning, I was 40 minutes into my stint when it started pouring, so the team brought me in for rain tyres and a top-up. It was very dangerous out there, the same treacherous conditions as this afternoon but without the benefit of a safety car. At the bottom of Eau Rouge you literally had a river running over the track… But here we are, for the second year on the podium. Last year we had the luxury of having François Duval with us, but this year we did it on our own, without professional help. I’m really very happy for myself and the team.”

“It was a great race,” Christian Lefort concurred. “We had just one a little problem with the air jack but apart from that it was just great! The car could have done with a bit more fine-tuning, but we never quite got round to that in the practice sessions, so we improved the car as we got along. In the rain it was quite fun, because I like driving in the rain. It was a bit hairy at times, but our times were consistent throughout. I think we were among the three fastest Cups in the race when it rained.”

Equally happy with his debut in the Spa 24 Hours was Philippe Greisch, who incidentally is also the architect of the new F1 pitlane facilities. “It was a great experience,” he said, “The team was really great with us. It was very hard in the rain, but we quickly found out that the professional drivers were very fair and careful when they overtook us, gentleman-drivers. A great first 24 hours, and I’m sure to be back for more.”

The team’s lead car, the GT2-class 997 GT3 RSR of Rudi Penders, Franz Lamot, Bart Couwberghs and François Duval, retired early on Saturday evening, after barely three hours of racing. The car ran in 13th position overall and third in the GT2 class after 90 minutes of racing, but a big blob of rubber got caught in the left front fender and destroyed the carbon fibre inner fender as well as the wiring to the wheel speed sensor.

ProSpeed Competition’s next international race is the Spa 1000kms Le Mans Series race on August 19th.

SPA 24 HOURS – FINAL RESULTS

1. Deletraz/Hezemans/Gollin/Fässler Corvette C6.R 532 laps (Ave: 170.210kph)2. Van de Poele/Bartels/Biagi/Lamy Maserati MC12 + 1m17s7563. Kumpen/Longin/Mollekens/Bouvy Corvette C5-R + 3 laps4. Lemeret/Ramos/Montanari/Bobbi Maserati MC12 + 3 laps5. Bertolini/Piccini/De Simone/Pier Guidi Maserati MC12 + 5 laps6. Vosse/Franchi/Beretta/Gavin Corvette C6.R + 11 laps7. Macari/Aucott/Peter/Franchitti Maserati MC12 + 17 laps8. Collard/Malucelli/Lieb Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (1st GT2) + 21 laps9. Lietz/Long/Narac Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (2nd GT2) + 25 laps10. Machitski/Edwards/Maassen Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (3rd GT2) + 31 laps15. Van Splunteren/Khan/Frederiks/Gosse Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (1st G3) + 57 laps18. Kelders/Kerkhove/Greisch/Lefort Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (2nd G3) + 73 laps20. Rautureau/Lemonnier/Herbert/Lahaye Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (3rd G3) + 79 lapsDNF Penders/Lamot/Couwberghs/Duval Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Speed sensor (57 laps)

2007 PROSPEED COMPETITION INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE

January 12th-13th Dubai 24 Hours (UAE), non-championshipJune 24th Monza (I), FIA GT Round 4July 28th-29th Spa 24 Hours (B), FIA GT Round 6August 19th Spa 1000Kms (B), LMS Round 4October 6th Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta (USA), ALMS Round 11October 21st Zolder (B), FIA GT Round 10 (To be confirmed)