Belgian electric touring car championship Rd1 – Report

The opening round of the 2014 Belgian electric touring car championship was held at the city of Héron, a small town near to Namen. 50 entries battled on the very technical track. The Efra class drivers were ready to try and challenge the 5-times champion Olivier Bultynck but after some very exciting qualification runs, it was again last year’s champion, Olivier Bultynck, who took TQ. A fast Manuel Henriet took the second spot on the grid while last year’s runner-up Nick Joosens put his car third on the grid in front of homeboy Nicolas Delisé.

From the start of the first final Olivier went away and never looked back. After six laps he already opened a gap of more than 3 seconds on Manuel and Ollie would control the race. Nick Joosens was pushing hard and tried to attack Manuel Henriet but the latter found some speed and pulled away from Nick. Ollie then took the win with Manuel in 2nd after a late mistake in the last lap. Nick had to be satisfied with 3rd place.

Also in the second final it was Ollie who pulled away from Manuel. Manuel did everything he could but Ollie was to fast for the remainder of the field. In 2nd place Manuel also was in a league of his own. Ollie took the win and with him the overall victory of the race. Manuel in 2nd was a little disappointed as he came with the intention to challenge Oliver. Nick again took the 3rd place.

The third final was an open race because Ollie did not start. It was a clean fight from the start between Manuel and Nick. Only at the end of the final Manuel could take some distance, eventually taking the win in front of Nick and Nicolas Delisé. The overall result top 3 of the Efra class saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC) in 1st place with Manuel Henriet (Awesomatix) 2nd and Nick Joosens (Yokomo) in 3rd.

The Stock class saw quite a make over for 2014 as now Muchmore Euro speed controllers, 10.5T fixed endbell motors and a fixed gear ratio are used and at the end everybody agreed that the cars have a good speed and that the class will make for close racing. In the wake of the season start many drivers saw reigning champion Geoffrey Vekemans as the man to beat but Dylan Senaeve did not agree and took TQ in front of Geoffrey. Cedric Gils took the 3rd place on the grid and Olivier Riffon placed himself in 4th.

Dylan Senaeve took a bullet start in the first final and Geoffrey had some difficulties but Geoffrey was fighting back and tried to come back on Dylan. On the technical track Dylan made no mistakes and was unbeatable in this first final. Dylan came in 1st in front of Geoffrey. Christophe Charlier was a happy 3rd and Olivier Riffon 4th.

The second final was totally different. Geoffrey immediately put some pressure on Dylan and he needed to use all his experience to overtake Dylan. But this was not over as Dylan was fighting back. At the end Geoffrey managed to take the win in front of Dylan. Olivier Riffon took 3rd place just in front of Nathan Cortvriendt.

The third final then would decide the overall win and in lap three Dylan made a mistake and Geoffrey could take the lead. Cedric Gils was in 2nd place and tried to follow the leader. Geoffrey kept the lead and took the win. This was not as easy as he had expected. Cedric Gils came in as 2nd and Athan De Witte, 7th on the grid, took 3rd place. Dylan came back from behind and came in in 4th place. The overall results then saw Geoffrey Vekemans (ARC) taking the win, Dylan Senaeve (Xray) finished in 2nd place and Olivier Riffon (VBC) completed the podium.

A totally new class for this year is Formula 1. The class is popular but no one knew what to expect. Also TC driver Olivier Bultynck opted to start with his VBC car but it was Krist Bultynck who took TQ in front of Olivier and Steve Deblaere. Bad luck stroke for Olivier because he broke a part on his car he was not able to repair.

In the first final the spectators saw three cars close together. Krist made a little mistake and Steve and Stephane Delisé could overtake. Steve now was under pressure from Stephane and rolled over handing Stephane the lead with Krist right on his tail. Just in front of the second chicane Krist took the inside and slipped by. Stephane now was pushing even harder and went off the track. Krist was out in front to take the win, meanwhile Steve was back in 2nd place and Ally Coursier took the 3rd place.

The second final was more easy for Krist. He took a splendid start and quickly pulled away from the rest. Steve tried to follow but was happy sitting in 2nd spot. Ally was in a fight with Stephane Delisé for 3rd place. Krist then took the leg and with it the overall win. Steve was the best of the rest and Ally a little bit disappointed with the 3rd place.

The third final was even faster than the second one as Krist went away from the start. Steve made a mistake in lap one and was gone. Ally did everything to follow. Stephane and Maxim Naegels were on a fight for third place while Krist took his third win of the day. Ally came in 2nd place and Maxim overtook Stephane handing him the 3rd place. In the overall result Krist Bultynck (VBC) took the win from Steve Deblaere (VBC) and Ally Coursier (Tamiya).

Thanks to Krist Bultynck for sending the report.