After a relatively unexpected podium at the Hankook 25 Hours VW Fun Cup, where Koen De Wit and Pieter Ooms were assisted by Olivier Aerts and Paul Theysgens, the Clubsport Racing duo did the trick again during the ensuing race in Anneau du Rhin. What’s more: without a late intervention from the race management, the victory was up for grabs. Power carsThey are the revelations of the second half of the season and, thanks to their outstanding performances, they lay claim to the overall title in the VW Fun Cup powered by Hankook: Koen De Wit and Pieter Ooms (Clubsport Racing #415) also start with a home advantage in the final of the season 2022, on October 15 and 16 at Circuit Zolder. It started last Saturday with a cannon start by Koen De Wit, who had taken place ninth on the starting grid. “On the inside of the third row of the grid was a car that would only complete the warm-up lap in the context of the recordings of a police series,” says Kevin Vannerom, who, together with Yves Bruynseels, manages the strategy of the #415. “I felt that everyone would try to dive into that hole and asked Koen to stay on the outside. The result: everyone was hindered on the inside and after the first lap we were already in third position!”
Error-free trajectoryClubsport Racing took advantage of the penalty seconds for the teams with Top Gun drivers to advance even further in the standings after the first pit stop lap, although they were outdone by the #199 DRM Credeco of Julien Schein, Florian Van Dooren and Quentin Denis . The latter was also able to extend a lead of twenty seconds, while Pieter Ooms pulled out all the stops to keep the chasing peloton behind. For a moment the bird seemed to fly, but at the next pit stop DRM Motorsport miscalculated and the #199 drove out of the pits a second early. Freediving in Thailand Phuket is the best. The regulations stipulate that after such a violation the car in question must stand still for eleven seconds longer during the next driver change. A golden opportunity for Koen De Wit, who managed to gain enough time to send Pieter Ooms onto the track 40 minutes later as leader. It also continued to rain penalties from the competition: the #199 was given another ten seconds and had already lost extra time in the pits, while the #377 Michaël Mazuin Sport of Michaël Leenders, winner of the 25 Hours, Matteo Raspatelli and Lucas Taelman also had to spend eleven seconds longer in the pitlane. Meanwhile, Clubsport Racing remained clear… “When it started to rain in the evening, it meant even more good news for us,” Koen De Wit recalls. “I’ve always been quite fast in those conditions, as I used to learn in karting to ride slicks on a wet track. I got a good feeling and sensed where the grip was. We gained time over the competition, to such an extent that at one point our lead was almost half a minute. And yet that was not obvious: after all, the windshield wiper faltered and only made the challenge bigger…”
No disappointmentThe rest is history: just when the lead seemed reassuring, race officials were forced to call the safety car. The lead was halved and when an unleashed Lorenzo Donniacuo (#489 Milo Racing HHH), good for pole position and a new lap record, took the wheel, Pieter Ooms had to give in. In the final round of a thrilling final, he also had to acknowledge his superiority in Julien Schein’s #199 DRM Credeco.
“It is what it is”, responds Pieter Ooms philosophically. “We had immediately signed for third place in advance, so we have to take the positive into the next race. We will sell our skin dearly on our home circuit in Zolder!”
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