Belgian touring car nationals Rd7 – Report

The seventh and final round of the Belgian touring car nationals took place at the outdoor track of the Mrcz in Zwevegem. The track itself was an improvised affair in the parking lot of the club, it proofed to be very technical but also fast. The grip was very low and everyone was searching for the right setup on Saturday’s practice. In the Efra class it was Olivier Bultynck who took TQ in front of Manuel Henriet, both split by only 0.3 sec. Those two were very fast and everyone was convinced that the win would be for one of them but everything is possible in the finals. Nick Joosens was third on the grid and Thomas Stockman was fourth on his hometrack.

In the first leg Olivier took the lead right from the start with Manuel on his tail. Nick was trying hard but could not follow and Thomas made a mistake on the first lap and had to come all the way from the back of the field. When Manuel hit a corner marker in lap 12 the suspense was gone and so was Olivier. He took the win with Manuel coming in second. Nick completed the top 3 for the moment. In the second final the domination of Olivier was even more apparent. He went away from the start and Manuel had trouble to find the right grip. After a mistake of Nick, Thomas took third place and Olivier crossed the finish line in first position with Manuel in tow. As he already secured the day’s win Olivier opted not to start in the final leg. This made way for Manuel who took the lead and steadily opened a gap on Nick and Thomas. But at the end of the final Nick and Thomas came back. Manuel stayed in the lead and took the win in front of Nick and Thomas. The overall result saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC) in first place with Manuel Henriet (Awesomatix) taking second and Nick Joosens (Yokomo) completing the podium.

In the Superstock class Maxim Naegels took TQ in front of Geoffrey Vekemans and local Gregory Werniers. From the start of the first A final Maxim went away profiting of a first corner carnage behind him. When the dust settled Gregory Werniers was in second spot with Geoffrey far behind. Geoffrey though came back and overtook Gregory but Maxim was to far ahead. At the end Gregory made a mistake and Cedric Gils took third place. Maxim took the win in leg 1 with Geoffrey taking second place. Leg 2 was almost identical to the first A final. Maxim took off and never looked back. Meanwhile Stefan Rommens came back from 8th on the grid taking the third place. Maxim controlled the race and took the win with Geoffrey in second place. The final leg again was a blueprint of the earlier proceedings. Maxim had a controlled start and left the chaos behind. Geoffrey again was the unlucky one and this time Christophe Charlier came in second place. After a lonesome race Maxim took the win. Geoffrey was fighting back and managed to take third place while Christophe Charlier was happy with his second place. The overall result had Maxim Naegels (Team Magic) taking the win followed by Geoffrey Vekemans (ARC) and Gregory Werniers (Team Associated).

The youngsters in the Stock class had an exciting race. Mathieu Gesquiere took TQ in front of Athan De Witte and Dylan Senaeve. The first final saw a battle between Mathieu and Athan with Mathieu being very fast and taking the win. Athan came in second and Dylan took third place. In the second final Mathieu went away after Athan made a mistake in lap 7. Now the battle was on between Athan and Dylan. Mathieu took an easy win and Athan managed to take second place in front of Dylan. Mathieu and Athan also had a nice fight in the third final. Athan overtook Mathieu but Dylan was in the mix too. Athan was in the lead but at the end he made a mistake and Dylan passed him. Now Athan was fighting back and on the straight Dylan forced him in the barriers so Athan was out of the game handing Dylan the win in front of Mathieu and Athan. The overall had Mathieu Gesquiere (Tamiya) taking the win in front of Athan De Witte (Serpent) and Dylan Senaeve (Xray) in third place.

Thanks to Krist Bultynck for sending the report.