Belgian SCT Cup finale – Report
The final round of the Belgian SCT Cup was held at the indoor astro turf track of the Black Country Arena. For 2017 the track has been completely revamped as the new owner not only redid the track layout, but also relocated the driver stand. The new track offers a moderate grip astro surface with “stop and go” hairpins, a high steep corner, a funny winding section on painted concrete and a wooden table jump. In Pro2 qualifying, Géry Ledocq (Kyosho) took the TQ, and made a step towards the Pro2 national title, by winning the first two heats in front of Nicolas Evens (TLR) with these two drivers being the only ones achieving 15 laps. Having secured the pole position, Gery decides not to run the last heat, which was topped by Nicolas in front of Tom Vercarre (TLR) and an impressive Guillaume Laffut (TeamC) who confirmed his good performance of the second heat, where he already finished 3rd. The second place of Tom in this heat allowed him to qualify 8th overall after two heats tainted with mechanical issues. His contender for the 3rd place in the championship, Stéphane Lecomte (Team Associated) would start from the 4th spot, having also experienced some problems of his own.
In the Pro4 class Nicolas Evens did not enter this round, as he had already secured the championship and in turn wanted to fully concentrate on his Pro2 championship title battle with Géry Ledocq. Sam Damman (TLR) secured the TQ after winning the first two qualifying heats, while Eric Clerix (Tekno) was showing a good consistency by finishing in 2nd in two heats. Fabio Cumps (TLR) performed really well in the last heat, winning it and taking the second spot on the starting grid right in front of Eric.
In the Pro2 A-finals, Géry took the win in the opening leg, “keeping it on the safe side”, as he was a little bit nervous not to make any mistakes. This paid off pretty well and he left Nicolas behind by six seconds. Young and talented Guillaume Laffut (TeamC) was the only one to achieve 14 laps behind the two championship contenders, securing a fine 3rd place in the first leg. The second A-main was a little bit tighter, but with a win by 4 seconds in front of Nicolas, Géry would be able to sit back and relax, having secured the national title. Behind them, newcomer Maxime de Gauquier TLR) left a very good impression by taking the 3rd place. Before the last heat, as Géry decides not to run, Stéphane and Tom still had the opportunity to settle the last battle for the 3rd place of the championship. Everything was still open and the fight was close, clean and fun between those two during this last race. Tom crossed the finish line 4th in front of Stéphane, securing a 3rd overall for the Belgian SCT Cup. In front of them, Nicolas brought home the win in front of Maxime and Edouard-Benoît Michez (Team Associated) only 1.8 seconds behind. The result handed Maxime the final spot on the podium.
In the Pro4 mains, as Nicolas Evens already wrapped up the title, the race was on between Sam Damman and Sam Puttevils for the remaining podium spots. In the first leg, Sam Damman is on a class of his own as he was the only driver to achieve 15 laps. In the meantime, unfortunately, Sam Puttevils experiences mechanical issues and has to retire. Fabio Cumps takes the second spot, followed by Eric Clerix. The second leg is no better for Sam Puttevils, and he has to retire again after having completed only one lap. Once again all alone in the 15 laps mark, Sam Damman took the win, followed by Kristof Desmet and Eric Clerix in this order, those two being separated by only one second. In the third and final run, Fabio Cumps makes a good move by winning it while Eric and Kristof had to retire. Sam Damman finished 2nd and Marteen Vander Mierde 3rd. At the end of the day, Sam Damman toped the overall A-main classification and took the vice-champion title, Fabio being 2nd and Eric 3rd.
Source: Belgian SCT Cup [belgiansctcup.be]
