GT World Challenge Europe Sprint
Zolder: Marc VDS race report
Retirement in Zolder for the Marc VDS Racing Team The last round of the FIA-GT championship, this Sunday on the Belgian track of Zolder, ended in retirement for the Marc VDS Racing Team. Just after an hour's racing Bas Leinders and Renaud ...
Edited: Oct 29, 2009, 1:26 AM
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Retirement in Zolder for the Marc VDS Racing Team
The last round of the FIA-GT championship, this Sunday on the Belgian track of Zolder, ended in retirement for the Marc VDS Racing Team. Just after an hour's racing Bas Leinders and Renaud Kuppens had to park their Ford GT, due to a bizarre malfunction of the fuel gauge.
Clearly no luck for the Marc VDS Racing Team during the last round of the FIA-GT championship in Zolder, since their only retirement of the season came in front of their home crowd. `The race had started well. The brake problems we suffered during practice in qualifying, the reason why we could not get higher than ninth on the grid, were solved by Saturday evening", Bas Leinders states. "During the warm up on Sunday morning I felt that the team had given me a perfect car. I had a good start and could follow the Nissan the only other car built according to the new 2010 rules closely. I even think I was a bit quicker, but the Nissan had a higher straight line speed, so it was impossible for me to overtake them."
The Belgian had to come back to the pits earlier than expected, when fallen leaves covered the air intakes and the engine overheated. Renaud Kuppens took over behind the wheel of the Ford GT and could even pass the Nissan after their first stop. And then...
"It all went wrong. Everything seemed perfect and I am convinced that Bas would have stayed in front of our main competitor during his last stint", Renaud Kuppens said. "Unfortunately I ran out of fuel during the last lap of my stint. I was completely flabbergasted since the warning light never came on and the dashboard indicated that I still had 11 litres on board!! A bad communication between the Bosh ECU (Engine) and the Motec system (Dash) seems to be the cause; we are trying to understand why there was a default in the communication or calculation. I only needed 1 litre to get to the pits."
An unfortunate end to the race, but it will not cast a shadow over the great season the Marc VDS Racing Team had with the brand new Ford GT. Now on to 2010!
-credit: marc vds
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