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Na enkele rustigere autosportjaren nemen Jimmy Adriaenssens en Kris Van Kelst de wapens weer in handen en zullen zij dit seizoen vier wedstrijden betwisten in het BGDC kampioenschap met een Seat Leon Supercopa mk2. Driemaal zullen zij het Spork Racing Team verdedigen in eigen land en eenmaal in Zandvoort, Nederland.

Jimmy Adriaenssens “Voor mezelf heeft deze deelname aan het BGDC kampioenschap een nostalgisch tintje, daar ik mijn allereerste wedstrijd in 2005 verreed in het voormalige GDC kampioenschap te Croix-en-Ternois. Het waren mijn allereerste wedstrijd kilometers met een ex Procar VW Golf 4 2.0 ter voorbereiding van een deelname aan de toenmalige BelgianTouringCarSeries en we scoorden al meteen een vierde plaats overall. Daar we nu 12 jaar later opnieuw aantreden in dit kampioenschap hoop ik met Kris en het team minstens even goed te scoren in Zolder komend weekend als een decennium geleden!”

Kris Van Kelst: “Na een sabbatjaar te hebben genomen kijk ik er alsook hard naar uit om de gordels strak te trekken en hoog te scoren op het thuiscircuit te Zolder. We hebben getracht een gevarieerde kalender samen te stellen om zo het maximale te halen uit onze deelnames. Tweemaal het korte hevige Zolder, het lange maar uiterst snelle Spa en vooral het glooiende circuit van Zandvoort beloven ons een uitdagend jaar te brengen. Let the games begin!”

Download persbericht als PDF-bestand

Last weekend the Supercar Challenge travelled to the legendary British ex F1 Brands Hatch GP circuit for two races of both one hour. The Spork Racing Team joined the championship again with its white-red Seat Leon Supercopa. Without any knowledge or data of the track it would become a difficult but rather interesting job for the team to put down a competitive car. Drivers Jimmy Adriaenssens and Wim Meulders knew how to dot the ‘i’s regarding the setup of the car and the weekend proved to be promising.

“During the free practice I noticed that the track presented itself as quite a challenge. Not really the corners or braking zones, but mainly the acceleration points had my attention. Due to lots of bumpy exits in certain corners, it was rather difficult to get the power down with the front wheel driven Seat. The car often spins, resulting in time loss. In certain corners it really was a matter of trying to adjust your line and apex to get the power down through the bumpy exit.” Jimmy Adriaenssens. Wim Meulders “The qualifying went smoothly until I felt a  certain unbalance in the front axle of the car. I waved the car a bit in a straight and everything seemed normal until I had a tire puncture in the braking zone of Paddock Hill Bend. The car couldn’t be stopped and I went into the gravel sideways. I felt the side of the car digging deep and lifting the car twice. Luckily I kept the car on its four wheels, preventing much damage. That was a rather tricky moment, I can assure you!”

Because of Jimmy’s experience with the Supercopa, he took the start of both races. “I enjoyed the bustle in the first laps. I launched myself rather well but through the tidy first corners it was hard to gain places. After a few laps the field neutralized itself and mainly in the second race I could exploit myself. During my entire stint I joined Ronald Van Loon’s BMW M3 WTCC but I couldn’t get aside of him. The battle was typical, the Seat gained ground in braking zones and fast corners but had to give in in the straights and slow corners. It was a spectacular cat-and-mouse game in which we pushed each other to the limit! Very very enjoyable racing!”

Also Wim exploited himself in the Spanish car. “Throughout the whole weekend I had to gain confidence in the car, seen 99% of my career exists in racing rear wheel driven cars, but I have to admit that the car behaved perfectly. Very reliable, stable and if you wish you can throw the car into the corner without having the slightest feeling of losing control. Great fun! I did the last stint twice and Paddock Hill Bend excluded I found my way through all corners. The incident in qualifying kind of got in my head at first, but when the weekend evolved, the confidence grew and also Paddock Hill Bend became familiar. It was a successful weekend!”

The duo Adriaenssens-Meulders ranked P11 and P12 in both races in the very competitive Supersport division.

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Press release (ENG) – SCC Brands Hatch GP Review: Adriaenssens-Meulders on speed in Brands Hatch.pdf

Persbericht (NL) – SCC Brands Hatch GP Review: Adriaenssens-Meulders op snelheid in Brands Hatch.pdf

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SupercarChallenge.nl – Adriaenssens-Meulders op snelheid in Brands Hatch

During the Supercar Challenge event on the Brands Hatch GP track, September 11, 12 and 13th, the Spork Racing Team and its drivers Wim Meulders – Jimmy Adriaenssens will sign present. The legendary Formule 1 racetrack that opens fully for only a few times a year, has been on their ToDo list for quite a while.

“As well for Jimmy as for me, this year is filled with changes at the home front and we had to temper racing a bit this season. Anyway it itches to get back in the car and I’m glad we can go out to sharpen our sences in September.” Wim Meulders, who isn’t a stranger to the SCC. In 2013 he drove in the SCC with Bert Longin in a Saker RapX, to also sign into the Blancpain GT Series later on.

Jimmy Adriaenssens “Wim and I first met in 2008 when he was competing in the 12h of Spa with the Spork Racing Team. Back then I was still racing a Volkswagen Golf 4 2000cc (an SCC Sports division car), while he drove a Seat Supercopa Mk2. You can clearly see that Wim has the same drive for results as me and that’s why I’m very much looking forward to travel to Kent, UK with him. I’m also very glad to be part of this great championship again and we’re aiming for good results!” Wim Meulders and Jimmy Adriaenssens have already been racing together in 2009 in the Belgian Touring Car Series.

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Press release (ENG) – SCC Brands Hatch GP preview (Spork Racing goes Brands Hatch UK)

Persbericht (NL) – SCC Brands Hatch GP preview (Spork Racing goes Brands Hatch UK)

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SupercarChallenge.nl – Spork Racing goes Brands Hatch UK

After an eleven month lasting absence in the European car racing world, Jimmy Adriaenssens will join the Supercar Challenge in Spa-Francorchamps. Due to his unfortunate accident end of 2013, the young Spork Racing driver couldn’t start the championship in the beginning of the season. October 3rd to 5th, he will be guiding the new Seat Super’SPORK’copa over the beautiful Belgian GP track to regain his glory. Nobody else than Philippe Van Riel will split the car with Jimmy. Philippe and Jimmy go a while back, in 2005 they both started their racing career in Belgian car racing with a VW Golf 4 2.0 Procar. In 2009 they switched to a Seat Leon Supercopa and up till then they have been stacking podiums in their five year lasting cooperation.

Philippe Van Riel “Between 2010 and now I’ve been focusing on my business and car racing sort of drifted off a bit. A few weeks ago I had some conversations around participating in the 24h of Zolder 2015 with Spork Racing and it was then that the Supercar Challenge Racing Festival of Spa came up. Seen I’ve always been bitten by the car racing virus I’ll already join Jimmy and Spork for the race in Spa. It will be great to take place behind the wheel again and to fully surrender to this nostalgia!”

Jimmy Adriaenssens “I’m thrilled to become part again of this great championship. Despite the fact that our team only ran two race weekends this year, we didn’t let anything to chance. The new Supercopa is up and running and the livery looks, in our own modest opinion, super great. It won’t be an easy assignment in Spa to measure ourselves with the competition again, seen we have few reference of the speed of the other competitors and we don’t have any experience with the new Pirelli tyres. But challenge accepted for sure!” Now Jimmy has totally cured, he’s focusing on his passion for 110% again. 2014 is his tenth year in car racing, what makes his come-back even more special!

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Presss release ENG – Supercar Challenge Racing Festival Spa (Adriaenssens-Van Riel reunited in Spa)

Persbericht NL – Supercar Challenge Racing Festival Spa (Adriaenssens-Van Riel herenigd in Spa)

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SupercarChallenge.nl – Jimmy Adriaenssens tekent aanwezig in Spa-Francorchamps

October 19th – 20th, the final raceweekend of the Supercar Challenge 2013. With a clear advance on the third Supercopa in the Seat championship, Jimmy Adriaenssens and David Nye joined their forces for the last raceweekend of 2013. Spork Racing, represented by their white and red Seat Leon Supercopa # 423 was looking forward to the last meeting.

Saturday morning, 10.30 am, all the Supersport cars commenced their qualifying session. Jimmy Adriaenssens would fulfill the first fifteen minutes, were it not that destiny strook. Earlier this year on the TT circuit of Assen, Jimmy already had to receive a twenty kilo
driveshaft through his windscreen, but that clearly wasn’t enough for Murphy… “It was a cold morning, so we had to make sure warming up the car over at least two laps. After my third wall pass the car felt great and I went for my first fast lap. Everything went smoothly until I arrived at the Ruskenhoek-corner, the back of the car oversteered sudden and aggressively and at 150 kph, the front axle couldn’t deliver enough power to get the nose of the car back in the right direction. The car gripped on the wrong moment and launched itself towards the guard rails. A serious impact followed and the car was unrepairably damaged for the weekend.” mentioned a defeated Jimmy Adriaenssens. Immediately after the impact Jimmy complained about pain in the lower back and
stomach. He was transported to the hospital where they determined three spinal fractures. It wasn’t before Tuesday afternoon when Jimmy could leave the hospital with a corset to stabilize his back.

“After having raced for nine years in European car racing, this is by far the worst crash I’ve ever experienced or even seen. I can almost count all the serious incidents I’ve been part of in these nine years on one hand. Therefore this doesn’t demotivate me to rejoin the sport in 2014. Car racing is a part of my life and you just can’t put that aside. The satisfaction I’ve had in this magnificent sport is just unexplainable. Also the various ‘get wel soon’s from my fans, friends, family, colleague drivers / -teams,… are such a great motivation to get back on the horse in 2014!” Jimmy Adriaenssens.

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Press release ENG – Final Races Assen (Adriaenssens-Nye again vice-champion in Seat after horrifying weekend)

Persbericht NL – Finale Races Assen (Adriaenssens-Nye opnieuw vice-kampioen in Seat na horrorweekend)

More press:

SupercarChallenge.nl – Jimmy Adriaenssens terug op circuit na zware crash in oktober

Carmag.co.za – One rather large Supercar Challenge accident

Autojunk.nl – Video: Seat Leon Supercopa kust vangrail

RaceXpress.nl – Zware crash Jimmy Adriaenssens op TT Circuit Assen

Autoblog.nl – Video: zware crash met Seat in Supercar Challenge

Autosport.be – Video: Finale Races: On board bij de crash van Jimmy Adriaenssens

SupercarChallenge.nl – Update toestand Jimmy Adriaenssens (+ beelden crash)

Startgrid.be – Jimmy Adriaenssens breekt rug bij zware crash

During the weekend of September 28th-29th, the Supercar Challenge drove its one to last race meeting on Belgian soil. Jimmy Adriaenssens signed up at the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps with his white and red Seat Super’SPORK’copa, #423. Motivated as always, he was very much looking forward to the sessions and was keen on scoring good points in his homeland.

Jimmy Adriaenssens “Around 12.45h the light turned green for qualifying, shod on new rubber, I joined the track to attempt achieving pole position like the previous race in Spa. My first fast lap immediately put my car on pole. Starting the second lap, an obviously exhausted part in my driveshaft left front, gave up. I had to return to the pits on only one driveshaft without having set a good laptime for the second race. The mechanics immediately started the repair and on only a few inches from a 300°C brake disc they changed the driveshaft. Unfortunately they only had about ten minutes to get the car running again, and seen six bolts of the driveshaft were very difficult to reach, the car was ready when qualifying ended. The mechanics worked extremely fast but the qualifying session was just too short.” Eventually we had pole position for the first race and starting from P5 in the second.

The first race was a feast for the eyes. The white and red Spanish bull got off the line quickly and immediately ran top 3 in the general touring car classification. “I, indeed, got off the line quickly and could improve one or two positions in the first lap. Running as second touring car, I felt the other Supersport cars breathing down my neck. Only Bas Schouten (BMW 1 serie M) and Ferry Monster (Seat Supercopa) got past, but didn’t quite get away. I followed them closely throughout the whole first stint. During the mandatory pitstop I could profit Bas’ penalty seconds and rejoined the track in second position right behind Robin Monster. I tried a few attacks to get closer and aside but seen both of our Supercopa’s are quite similar at Spa, I couldn’t get past. When I asked the team about the status of P3, P4 and so on behind me, the team informed me that they all were a second or more slower, so me and Robin could smoothly take off. A great privilege of course and so I finished second in Supersport and also second in Seat Supercopa!”

Starting from P5 amongst the Seats and around tenth in Supersport, Adriaenssens was looking forward to the second race. Already in the first lap he reserved himself a spot in the top 5. Ranked fourth in Supersport and second Seat Supercopa, he passed start-finish after the first lap. At least six cars, dropped back one place in the rankings in the first lap. “What a great feeling to overtake that much cars in the first lap. Even Porsches GT3 had to accept looking to the trunk of my front wheel driven touring car. In fourth position I entered the pitlane for the mandatory pitstop, and while we were at it, some slick tyres…” Seen the wet starting conditions, most of the cars were shod on rain tyres but after having driven half an hour, the track had dried up. Without even having lost only one second in the mandatory seventy pitstop seconds, the Supercopa rejoined the Belgian track in fourth position. “Suddenly the team passed me the message that the leading Seat had to make an additional pitstop for a flat tyre. An incident of which I had to make my profit. It was a very intense end of the second race, because the other Seat exited the pits not far behind me. I pushed my luck and won the race with a six second advance on the other Seat with an additional third place in Supersport! Each team member congratulated me over the radio, but one thing is for sure: I couldn’t have done it without them. So hereby a big round of applause for this great team: THANK YOU!!!!”

With these results the Spork Racing Team was the fastest Belgian team in the whole Supercar Challenge in race 1. In the second race, they were the fastest Belgian team in Supersport. A memorable weekend it was… The Spork Racing Team is keen on giving this weekend a successful sequel in Assen, three weeks from now. The Final Races at TT Assen will be the last race meeting of the Supercar Challenge 2013.

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Persbericht (NL) – Racing Festival Spa-Francorchamps (Adriaenssens, snelste belg, beleeft topweekend op eigen bodem)

Press release (ENG) – Racing Festival Spa-Francorchamps (Adriaenssens, fastest Belgian in Spa, has his best weekend in Supercar Challenge history)

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SupercarChallenge.nl – Adriaenssens beleeft topweekend op eigen bodem

After several foreign raceweekends, the Spork Racing Team travelled to the UK. During the Britcar Silverstone 1000k, they competed with their well-known golden Seat Supercopa ‘Goldie’ in the six hours race. Team Cullum, existing in Rob and Jon Cullum, would guide the car to the finish, assisted by Jimmy Adriaenssens, who didn’t say no to a stint on this beautiful English Grand Prix circuit.

Rob Cullum “The Britcar Silverstone 1000k 2013 was the first race event that me and my brother would compete in. Obviously every second of tracktime was welcome and with several practice sessions, warm-ups and qualifyings on Saturday and Sunday, we found our rhythm again. The car felt great, although I had to get used to the oversteered nature of the car. It wasn’t slower, but it had to be driven in a way I wasn’t quite used to.” One moment Rob risked to lose his confidence when he had to drift through Copse in opposite-lock but after the warm-up Sunday morning he was clearly ready to start the race.

Jimmy Adriaenssens would only do one stint out of five, but was very much looking forward to his ‘Moment of Glory’ on this new track. “After the brothers Cullum both had done their stint, I took my place in the rather striking Supercopa of the Spork Racing Team. Although the track was completely new to me, a few virtual training sessions and some tracktime the day before were enough to get me going. We had worked on the setup of the car on Saturday, so we all had a good feeling in the race. Unfortunately after about twenty minutes of racing, I had to return to the pits because a bolt of the suspension on the rear left side got loose. Luckily the repair didn’t take long but in the interest of the team we decided to have Rob taking over although my stint wasn’t finished. This way we wouldn’t have to do an additional pitstop and still make a chance to end up on the podium. Pity for me, but sometimes you need to take a bullet for the team.” The car got refueled and rejoined the track, driven by Rob Cullum.

About ninety minutes before the end, Jon Cullum took over from his brother. He was looking forward to his prolonged stint and with some quick tips and tricks from BTCC driver David Nye, Jon joined track. “David suggested me to try and drive the car more by the throttle and the brake. I had to benefit its oversteered nature to corner smooth, but fast. Initially a difficult task, especially if it’s your first actual race weekend in a year, but lap by lap I improved. The most important thing to know is how the car reacts, if you only miss once, you could end up hitting a wall and of course that… we wanted to avoid!”

After the six hours attrition, the English-Belgian team got classified fourth in class 2. A result that motivated them to compete in the UK more often. Meanwhile the Spork Racing Team is busy preparing their other Seat Supercopa for the upcoming Supercar Challenge event. September 28th and 29th the one to last race weekend of the European championship is held at Spa-Francorchamps. Free entrance, so be there!

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Persbericht (NL) – Britcar Silverstone 1000k Review (Cullum-Adriaenssens landen nipt naast het podium in Silverstone)

Press release (ENG) – Britcar Silverstone 1000k Review (Cullum-Cullum-Adriaenssens just miss the podium in Silverstone)

September is being a busy month for Adriaenssens and the Spork Racing Team. No less than three racemeetings will be run. Two in the European Supercar Challenge and one in the UK Britcar Championship. Adriaenssens will reinforce Team Cullum, existing in Rob Cullum and Jon Cullum who’ll race the golden Seat Supercopa, aka. #Goldie to the finish at Silverstone September 21-22nd.

Last year Rob and Jon Cullum competed in Snetterton during a Britcar Production Cup event with the Spork racing Team. They achieved a podium, so the motivation to recompete in 2013 was huge. The race will be a six hour race or 1000km, which ever is reached first by the fastest car. It will be #Goldie’s first race event after numerous tests and trackdays. The car has been purchased in Germany, refreshed and modified to fit the Britcar regulations and of course updated for being competitive in the championship. As well the team as the drivers are very much looking forward to the event and are keen achieving great results on the island of motorsport!

Round eleven and twelve of the European Supercar Challenge took place on the Dutch racetrack of Zandvoort. The Trophy of the Dunes promised to be another spectacular event in which the Supercar Challenge took place. Spork, racing this track for the second time in Supercar, were very much looking forward to the weekend. Represented by Jimmy Adriaenssens and Britisch Touring Car driver David Nye, the team was keen on creating a gap between themselves and the other competitors in the championship standings. 

Due to the success of the Supercar Challenge, the entry list of the SuperGT, GT, GTB and Supersport divisions was well crowded. No less than 35 competitors took part in these four divisions, so it would become quite a difficult task to qualify for the races on this rather narrow track. Having qualified second and third in Supercopa, the team was living towards the first race at ease.

Jimmy Adriaenssens: “David and I decided that I’d take the start of the first race. Due to the well filled grid, it was a matter of getting on the throttle early in the rolling start. My pursuers didn’t seem quite awake and they lost about hundred meters in the first straight. Unfortunately a crash in the leading group justified their mistake of starting bad and they could reconnect to the pack. Bits and pieces flying through the air, but luckily not one flying driveshaft.” Once through the first lap, the speed finally got into the cars because in the first lap lots of Supersport cars had to queue behind the GT cars. A comical view that indicates the competiveness of the Touring Cars nowadays.“After a tight stint of Jimmy, I took the wheel and launched myself for the second part of the race. In my mirror, the Supercopa of Jonas DK appeared and I thought: ‘Great! Always in for a battle!’ About four laps, the white and blue Seat tried to pass me and even tapped me in the back. Not intentionally and without further damage. It seemed that the attack was to aggressive and had ruined his tires, meaning that I could take off at ease without having to take any risks.” David Nye. David easily continued his race and enlarged his advance by even complete seconds each lap. Adriaenssens-Nye became second in Supercopa and scored good points for the championship!

David, who was clearly looking forward to the start of the second race, also had a great start and was about to prepare the Supercopa in front of him until he sensed something strange on the car. “After half a lap I sensed serious vibrations on a rear wheel. We decided to do another lap, hoping it was just a rather large amount of pick-up hanging on the surface of the tire but when I entered a fast straight, the car almost shook to pieces. Never have I experienced such vibrations in a car. I decided to loosen my pace a bit, not to damage anything and postpone my attack on the Supercopa of Jonas.” As David reduced his pace, a BMW M3 WTCC came aside in the braking zone before the Nissan-corner. The BMW overtook him and was about to overtake Jonas DK, but he didn’t grant him one inch of space and unfortunately contact was unavoidable. Both the Seat as the BMW were damaged and couldn’t fulfill their race. “While the team and I were waiting for the first wall pass, we didn’t know anything about the horror that had passed David’s eyes. Almost immediately we were approached quite aggressively by the Seat driver, being shouted at that it wasn’t sportsmanlike that David crashed into the other Supercopa. We were very surprised, especially because David didn’t mention anything about the incident over the radio. We tried to get in touch with David over the radio, but he was clearly having a hard time coping with the vibrations in his car. During his pitstop he explained what had really happened and we were relieved not to have taken part in the accident. Spork is a very sportmanslike, optimistic team with a lot of respect for each competitor, so of course we were surprised to be accused of such facts!” After a shot but decisive pitstop David rejoined the track. Eventually the vibrations were caused by dirt and pick-up inside the rim, one chance out of one hundred to suffer such simple problem but unfortunately we had it. David rejoined the track with a ‘vibration-free’ car and finished his stint. After about half an hour, Jimmy and David switched places and Adriaenssens got out. “The car felt great and I could push immediately. There still was a slight chance on a podium, so I grabbed it. Seen that the SuperGT’s and Supersport cars share sessions, it always is a matter of being passed without losing too much time. To avoid any problems during such a pass, I went off my line and the car drifted into the sand with two wheels at 210 kph in a braking zone. Meanwhile the Ferrari lined up next to me and I was out of options, result: sideways into the dirt. In opposite-lock I tried to get my nose back into the right direction and luckily I didn’t get stuck in the dirt. A pitstop after such an ‘exit’ is mandatory for cleaning the car, so again our chances on winning went out of reach.” Eventually two other Seats also got into trouble, which made Adriaenssens-Nye become third in Supercopa in race two.

Seen that the race on Sunday was spectacular in each aspect, the Spork Racing Team hopes to have a more regular course of events during the last four rounds of the Supercar Challenge. Adriaenssens-Nye are now 21 points in front of the third Seat and get a little bit of space. Nevertheless with still two races at Spa and two races at Assen, they’ll fight hard for the championship! Meanwhile the team is concentrating on the Britcar Silverstone 1000km, 20-22^ndof September, before they arrive in Spa only one week after. September is pretty busy month for the team, seen they compete in three raceweekends.

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Persbericht NL – Trophy of the Dunes Zandvoort (Adriaenssens-Nye bouwen voorsprong uit aan de Nederlandse kust)

Press release ENG – Trophy of the Dunes Zandvoort (Adriaenssens-Nye enlarge their advance at the Dutch coast)

More press:

SupercarChallenge.nl – Adriaenssens-Nye bouwen voorsprong uit aan de Nederlandse kust

Gamma Racing Day TT Assen 2013, a wordy motorsport event that guarantees action for everyone! Roaring GT’s and Touring Cars, Superbikes, Sidecars, Superkarts,… are all part of the action, so the 80.000 spectators were right to join this event from the first moment on and didn’t regret their presence just once during the entire weekend! The Spork Racing Team, respresented by Seat Supercopa #423 would defend its colors with Jimmy Adriaenssens and Jeroen Dik.

The qualifying was about to be something special. Due to a broken driveshaft in the first free practice, Jimmy needed to qualify without even having done one lap in Assen since 2012. Thanks to the fast and thorough repair by the team, the car was ready to concur the Dutch track again. Because Jimmy’s first laps on the track would immediately be in qualifying, he couldn’t adjust the car to the track and had to copy the exact settings of the last race in Assen 2012. Not ideal, but doable. “From the first moment on, the car felt very oversteered. The slightest movement of the steering wheel loosened the back of the car. I have to say that I love driving an oversteered setup, but after having taken 70% of the Ruskenhoek corner in opposite-lock with one wheel off the track, I knew it would become difficult to clock tight laptimes.” mentioned Adriaenssens who was quite frankly impressed by the aggressive character of the car. After about two laps, Supercopa #423 clocked P2 amongst the Seats for the first race and pole position for the second. After the qualifying session it appeared that all the drivers had to cope with massive oversteer which eventually was caused by the protective white sand on the track. The white sand was in fact a souvenir from the Truck GP several days ago. Then, the sand was spread to protect the tracksurface from being wrecked by the trucks.

 To summarize the first race in one word? ‘Terrifying’! “The race was almost halfway when I spotted a broken driveshaft on the ideal line, about hundred meters before the Ramshoek-corner. In that moment I was being overtaken by a Porsche BiTurbo, who’d clearly didn’t see the shaft and ran right over it. One chance in a hundred that the shaft would be thrown up in my direction but I had it! At 220 kilometers per hour, the shaft launched itself into my headlight, punctured the bottom of my windscreen and my dashboard to finally hit a third time into the top of the windscreen. I was considered very lucky, because if the driveshaft would have been thrown in the air staticly it would have completely penetrated the car with a more tragic end…” told a bewildered Jimmy Adriaenssens. Soon after the incident Jimmy realized there was nothing the team could do to help him, so he closed his visor to protect his eyes from the glass and dust and continued the race. Unfortunately a manufacturing defect caused one of his driveshafts to fail too and kept Adriaenssens from winning.

After the accumulation of emotions and quite special events, the team didn’t lose its faith! Team manager Herman and chief mechanic Ronny returned to Belgium to the Spork Racing workshop Saturday night and collected a new windscreen and driveshaft. Around 5 am in the morning they arrived in Assen again, took some sort of powernap and started working on the car. Sunday late afternoon, the white red Supercopa appeared on the grid, ready for the second race. After an almost incident free race Spork finished second amongst the Supercopas and seventh in Supersport with only two thousands of a second before P8. A so called photo finish, which actually required a photo to determine the positions.

“I’d like to thank the Spork Racing Team for their great efforts this weekend, faith kept me from collecting my hundredth podium twice so this Sunday at Assen will be memorable forever! I’d like to thank the other drivers as well for their compassion after the horrific driveshaft-incident in the first race. The solidarity amongst the Supercar Challenge drivers can be close, so as I’m saying: thanks to everyone!!”

See enclosed PDF-files for the downloadable (Dutch) race reviews.

Persbericht NL – Gamma Racing Day Assen Review (Adriaenssens haalt honderdste podium tijdens spectaculair weekend)

Press release ENG – Gamma Racing Day Assen (Adriaenssens scores hundredth podium during spectacular weekend)

More press:

GPUpdate.net – Coureur krijgt schrik van zijn leven

RaceXpress.nl – Coureur krijgt aandrijfas vol door de voorruit in Assen

SupercarChallenge.nl – Adriaenssens haalt honderdste podium tijdens spectaculair weekend