Kris and Koen Wauters won the first round of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Benelux 2022 at Circuit Zolder.
On Sunday, just after one o’clock in the afternoon, the 2022 season started and the race over 125 minutes provided a nice spectacle, with the brothers Kris and Koen Wauters as the winners. Of course they do it in the colors of Belgium Racing and the Limburg team took over the entire podium, with Dylan Derdaele and Michael Cool in second place and Michiel Haverans in third position in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 911. The young man from Antwerp drove all alone and was perhaps the surprise of the weekend. Two more new names, namely the duo Peter-Gulicher (Tip Top rent by NGT Racing) took the victory in GTB in their Cayman GT4 on their debut.
The first weekend of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Benelux, the competition for the various Porsche racing cars, is of course part of the Belcar Endurace Championship and the appointment for the first race of 125 minutes was Circuit Zolder, where the 40th anniversary of the New Race Festival was celebrated. On Saturday, Jan Lauryssen put the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 in the colors of Q1 Trackracing on pole position, but the Limburg team did not enjoy that first place for long. Filip Teunkens, Lauryssen’s teammate, went off the track in the opening lap and unfortunately had to retire.
However, that did not diminish the spectacle, because at the front there was a battle between the various Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 during a race that was very tactical, especially in the first half due to the many racing incidents. Kris and Koen Wauters drove a clear race in those circumstances and the duo in the colors of Belgium Racing triumphed in the opener of the season.
Koen Wauters: “We drove one hell of a race, not only for both drivers, but also for the team as a whole. The Porsche didn’t flinch either, we did excellent tire management and the rest is history. It is very nice to win again and my thanks to Belgium Racing for a very nice motorsport weekend.”
The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 991 is still a great car for longer races, as RUSH Competition by Speedlover with Toon Hungenaert and Dries Geladé proves, but also MM Racing with Mick, Steve and Tom Meurrens and Belgium Racing that appeals to Michiel Haverans and Jerry De Weerdt do.
Last but not least, in the GTB class we see Tip Top Rent (Arthur Peters), BE Motorsport (Stephan Beyens/Didier Beyens) and Q1 Trackracing with a Porsche Cayman GT4.
Free practice sessions are scheduled for Saturday at 9.10am for one hour, while qualifying starts at 1.45pm. The race itself will be given the green light, Sunday at 1.05 pm.
Belgium Racing thus took over the entire podium and the achievement of the young Michiel Haverans must be underlined. In true marathon style in temperatures that flirted with 30 degrees, he drove alone to third place in a previous generation car, proving that the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 991 is still perfectly suited for the longer work.
Behind the top 3, Russell Racing by NGT (Corten-Thiers-Van Hooydonk) and Speedlover (Renmans-Meulders) completed the top 5, both also with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992. MM Racing and RU SH Competition by Speedlover completed the podium at the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 991.
GTB Tip Top Rent and BE Motorsport (Stephan Beyens/Didier Beyens) shared the podium places in the classification for the Porsche Cayman GT4.
The next appointment is on June 6 in the French Magny-Cours.