Belgian Electric Touring Car Nationals Rd1 – Report

The opening round of the Belgian Electric Touring Nationals was held at GTM in Vosselaar on a small and technical indoor track, attracting 52 entries. In the Efra class it was 6-times champion Olivier Bultynck who took TQ after the qualifiers. Behind him the race was on between Nick Joosens, Nicolas Delisé, Thomas Stockman and Mitchell Van Es with Mitchell eventually taking the 2nd spot in front of Thomas.

The first final was a walk in the park for Olivier Bultynck who went away right from the start and he took the win almost 7 seconds ahead of the 2nd place which was highly contested by Nicolas Delisé, Nick Joosens, Thomas Stockman and Mitchell Van Es. Many position swaps happened but in the last lap Nicolas made a mistake, allowing Mitchell to finish in 2nd in front of Thomas and Nick.

The second final was almost a copy of the first. Ollie took the lead with Mitchell following. Ollie controlled his lead and took the win while Mitchell had a lot of opposition from Nicolas but managed to keep his 2nd place. Nicolas finished just behind in 3rd.

Ollie opted to sit out the third leg, allowing Mitchell to take the lead right from the start. Mitchell again showed his speed and he will be a driver to watch this season. Behind him Nicolas was in 2nd spot but he made a mistake, allowing Rico Claeys to finish in front of Nicolas to grab the 2nd place. Up front Mitchell took the win which gave the overall result of Olivier Bultynck (VBC Racing) taking the win from Mitchell Van Es (Yokomo) and Nicolas Delisé (VBC Racing) who rounded out the podium in 3rd.

In the Stock class it was Dylan Senaeve who took the pole position for the finals. Local Dirk De Ceulaerde was 2nd on the grid and Pasquinel Neys came in 3rd. A brave Athan De Witte placed 4th on the grid despite a damaged finger after crushing it in the car door.

In the opening A-main Dylan made a mistake in lap 2 and he had to let everyone by but he was able to fight back and to finish in 4th place. Meanwhile Dirk De Ceulaerde was in the lead followed by Athan and Nathan Cortvriendt but also Athan made a mistake and had to come back. Nathan tried everything but could not pass Dirk while Athan was driving faster and faster and he eventually overtook Nathan. A few seconds before the end of this final Athan managed to pass Dirk for the win. Dirk was a little disappointed with his 2nd place and Nathan came in as 3rd.

The second final was a disaster for the spectators. A lot of pushing and unfair driving was going on on the track and it was Dylan Senaeve in the lead in a fight with Dirk De Ceulaerde, Pasquinel Neys, Athan De Witte and Nathan Cortvriendt. The destruction derby ended with Dylan in 1st spot, Nathan came in 2nd while Dirk managed to finish 3rd.

As a relief for all the third final was a beauty to watch with a fair fight between all drivers and a battle for the lead till the end. The race for the 1st place was on between Dylan and Athan and for 3rd place Dirk and Nathan battled it out. The freight train of Dylan and Athan scored lap after lap and it was Athan who tried to pass Dylan in the last corner but Dylan kept his cool and took the win. Dylan came in 2nd in front of Dirk. The overall results saw Dylan Senaeve (Xray) taking the win from Athan De Witte (VBC Racing) and Dirk De Ceulaerde (Tamiya).

In the Formula class it was Olivier Bultynck who qualified fastest in front of Steve Deblaere and Nicolas Delisé. In the first corner of the opening final there was a collision between Olivier and Steve and Nicolas took the lead while Steve and Olivier had to come back from behind. Danny Naegels and Patrick Jespers were behind Nicolas but Olivier and Steve were on the move to the front. Olivier managed to come back at Nicolas and to take back the 1st spot. Steve also drove a fast race but he had not enough time to attack Nicolas. Up front Olivier took the win from Nicolas and Steve.

In the second final Olivier took the lead but in lap 12 he suffered from a broken wheel which ended his final. Nicolas was attacking Steve and could pass but Nicolas kept the lead and took the win in front of Steve and Michel Mahieu.

The third final would decide the overall result and it was Olivier Bultynck who took the lead closely followed by Steve Deblaere. Nicolas made a mistake in lap 3 and was out of the battle for the win. Steve tried everything but Olivier was on a strong pace. Olivier finished 1st just in front of Steve while Nicolas managed to come back to 3rd place. The overall results saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC Racing) taking the win from Nicolas Delisé (VBC Racing) and  Steve Deblaere (MD Racing).

Thanks to Krist Bultynck for the report.