On Friday 6 and Saturday 7 May, the first two races of the new season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux will be held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. A field of 22 cars is expected at the start in the Ardennes, with the quality of the drivers, divided over three classes, being particularly high.
As the only Porsche Carrera Cup in the world, the fastest brand cup in the Benelux can even boast the presence of a world champion in the field of participants.
Dylan Derdaele and Belgium Racing defend their title
Well, Tom Boonen earned his world title on two wheels instead of four, but he has shown in recent years that he can also do well in motorsport. For example, Boonen, who drives for the #TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing, will undoubtedly be able to count on a lot of interest in his participation in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. The same applies to another well-known Fleming: Koen Wauters, who plays for the Belgium Racing Team. There he has defending champion Dylan Derdaele as a teammate, who this year will try to win the title in the Benelux-Porsche competition for the third time after 2016 and last year.
The same goes for Xavier Maassen, driving for #TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing. The Limburg driver previously became Porsche Benelux champion in 2014 and 2017 and this year wants revenge for a disappointing season in 2021, in which he had a lot of bad luck, largely through no fault of his own. Also at #TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing we find Sam Dejonghe, who has a lot of experience in the most diverse racing classes: from GTs and prototypes to silhouette cars and touring cars, but for the first time he will drive a full season with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. to race. Ad Geerts and Luc Vanderfeesten, the driving forces behind PGZ and thus the Porsche Centers in Eindhoven and Maastricht, will compete in the Am class under the banner of #TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing.
Three Dutch teams in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux
With Team GP Elite, PG Motorsport and JW Raceservice, three completely Dutch teams are active in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. For the former team, Ghislain Cordeel rides in the Pro class. PG Motorsport has two drivers in the Pro class, namely the German Sebastian Freymuth, who already finished on the podium once last year, and the young Dutchman Rik Koen, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on Thursday 5 May and will compete in Formula 4. switch to the Porsches. JW Raceservice is represented with Lucas van Eijndhoven, the younger brother of Huub van Eijndoven, who has since moved to the German Cup, in the Pro class and Sven van Laere in the Am division. Parker Revs Motorsport may also partly be regarded as a Dutch team, given its home base in Nuth, South Limburg. Here Brit Harry King, champion in the British Porsche Carrera Cup 2020 and last year third in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, in the Pro class and the Dutchman Jeroen Kreeft in the Am class are the two drivers.
The Speedlover team will enter cars for Didier Glorieux in the Pro-Am class and Wim Meulders in the Am category. NGT Racing has two Pro drivers, namely Glenn Van Parijs, second in the final standings last year, and Maxime Soulet, who already made his mark in international GT sport and drives under the banner of August Racing by NGT Racing. In addition, Stijn Lowette will compete in the Am class for NGT Racing. Single-rider teams are Q1 Trackracing, where Belgian Jan Lauryssen, after winning the Am title last year, now makes the switch to the Pro-Am class, DUWO from Luxembourg, for which Sebastien Lajoux competes in the Am class, and the Spanish team Baporo Motorsport, which uses an Am-class car for Andorran Joan Vinyes, a driver with more than a quarter century of motorsport experience in mountain climbing, rallies and track races.
Special attention to the four riders from the Talent Pool
On Thursday 5 May, the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux program will start at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with two free practice sessions of 40 minutes each, starting at 9.05am and 1.40pm. On Friday, May 6, the starting places will be determined during qualifying from 11.35 am to 12.10 pm, the first race starts at 4.25 pm. On Saturday, the second race will be held from 10:00 a.m. Both races can be seen via the live stream on the series website.
Successful start of the season Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux
The Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux, the entry-level class of the Porsche Motorsport pyramid, has already completed the start of the season. At CM.com Circuit Zandvoort there was a successful overture in excellent conditions with a total of 18 cars, divided over three classes. Roger Hodenius won the 992 class in both races, ahead of Niels Troost. Ronald Bezuiden and Stijn Lowette each finished third once. Jaxon Verhoeven and Michel Arfman each took a win and a second place in the 991 class. Sacha Noorden won both races in the GT4 division, followed in the first by Alexander Goddijn and Cedric Chassang, in the second ahead of Chassang and Lin Hodenius. The next round will also be held in Zandvoort, on 4 July.