Spa Francorchamps Proximus 05/08/2001   Thursday First Practice   © Janos Wimpffen Photographs by Bernard Lorquet www.spa-francorchamps.be link In The Land Of The Flemings And Walloons One has to love a country where Adolphe Sax and Rene Magritte are featured on the bank notes. I will henceforth lobby my Congressional delegates to place Charlie Parker and Jackson Pollock on US bills. Of course, the Parker $5 bill will have notes cascading throughout the paper, while no two people could ever agree on the denomination of Pollock money. Nevertheless, arts before politics always! To those less familiar with Belgium, it is always startling how one gets two countries for the price of one in such a small space. Flanders in the north is home to speakers of a unique dialect of Dutch. The urban centers are focused on the sea with old guild halls and architectural features dating to well before the Renaissance. The French speakers of the southern region of Wallonia are also distinctly different from their French neighbors. Although Belgium is considered one of the “Low Countries”, in reality Wallonia is hilly and verdant, similar to parts of southern England and also the Eifel area of Germany to the east. Political battles between the two linguistic groups have long charged the nation. Frequently signs written in the other language are sprayed over. Although legally and administratively bilingual, as one gets deeper into the opposing region, the “foreign” language becomes less welcome. Ironically this makes Belgians more amenable to speaking in the neutral tongue of English. Like their neighbors in the Netherlands, Belgians have enjoyed a long relationship with England ever since Napoleonic times. Ironically, as intra-European borders have disappeared the one between Flanders and Wallonia becomes more pronounced. Nowadays crossing from France to Germany all one sees are abandoned customs buildings and a small sign noting the country being entered. It is less noticeable than going from Minnesota to Iowa. On the other hand, the Inter-Belgian border is festooned with billboards and suddenly the language of road signs shift. All this makes the national capital, Brussels, both very cosmopolitan and schizophrenic. It is at once also the headquarters of the EU and NATO. It is a primarily French speaking center located deep within Flanders where English is an ever more important lingua franca. Belgium has been justifiably proud of their pivotal role in creating the new Europe and are basking in the attention of hosting the revolving EU presidency. Heading Towards Track Action It is uncharacteristically warm and muggy here in the Ardennes, with many Belgians finding solace further north on the beaches of Oostende. It has been in the mid-to-high 20s most of the week but it has been clouding up. There is a threat of showers on the weekend, so as not to disappoint those accustomed to the changeable weather for which this circuit is famous. Opening day of this year’s 24 Hours includes two afternoon free sessions and two night time official ones, ending on the stroke of midnight. A final qualifying period is to be held on Friday morning. Unlike the shorter FIA GT rounds, all three of the qualifying sessions will be open to all entrants and will count equally towards the makeup of the grid. As can be expected, there are several last minute entry list changes. Patricia Kiefer is hard at work collecting those and we report on them below. Two support races are on tap, New Procar and the Renault Sport Clios. Both are of the showroom stock variety classes and should provide ample thrills to supplement the big runners. The Procar race is a one-hour event on Friday afternoon with the Renaults going at it for 8 laps just prior to the 24 Hours. In the early shakeout Tony Burgess was the first atop the charts with the no. 79 Seikel GT3R, as the upper GT class had not yet gotten up to speed. He was soon eclipsed not by one the GT class entries, but rather by the “guest” Porsche Carrera of Land Motorsports from the Category 3 cars. Christophe Tinseau briefly held top spot (Freisinger GT3R) before Paul Belmondo finally broke through with the fast class, putting his Viper out front. But soon it was a guest of different sort, Eric van de Poele with the Rafanelli Ferrari, some four seconds clear of the others. Burgess remains quick and well clear of the other N-GTs. After 15 minutes, Vincent Vosse answers with the no. 12 Belmondo Viper and the chase is truly on. At the 25 of 90 minute mark, Derichebourg (no. 11 Belmondo Viper) sets the standard of 2:25.789 with Larbre team rival Duez three seconds down. Bourdais in the second Larbre Viper is up to fifth fastest. David Terrien has taken over top spot in N-GT with the JMB Ferrari. The Land Motorsport Porsche remains quickest of the Category 3 cars. The screen lists Chouvel as its driver but according to the latest entry list, he is now with the Rafanelli Ferrari (see below). Belgian Touring car start Sebastien Ugeux leads Category 2 with the Alfa Romeo powered Vertigo. In an instance of odd translation, the free sessions are referred to as “unqualifying practice.” Does this mean that times set now will be removed from their qualifying attempts? The second half hour starts with Riccitelli upping the ante in N-GT with a 2:33.310 in the RWS Porsche before coming in for attention to the front left corner. Terrien is a little less than a second down. Bourdais (Larbre #17) is in second place overall. Here are the latest entry list changes: #5, Rafanelli Ferrari, add Martial Chouvel #17, Larbre Viper, delete co-owner Jean-Luc Chereau and add the ageless Jürgen Barth. A note to Herr Barth, the shift pattern is different on these front engine beasts. #21, GL PK Viper, add Georg Severich of Germany. The Art Engineering Porsche is number 54, not 53 as per some lists. #55, Perspective Porsche, delete Nigel Smith. #60, Haberthur Porsche, Noel and Blom are gone; Masahiro Kimoto (Japan) and Jacques Marquet (Belgium) are in. #62, JMB Ferrari, add Batti Pregliasco (Italy) while the no. 63 Ferrari has been withdrawn. #66, Gammon Porsche, add Geoffrey Horion (Belgium) and Gunnar Jeannette (!) (USA) #77, RWS Porsche, add Norman Simon (Germany) #80, AD Sport (sponsored by Renstal Trommelke), Kris Wauters is out while Freddy van Roey (also of Belgium) is in. The other Wauters family member, Koen, is still aboard. #81, Cirtek Porsche, a complete change of lineup—it now reads; Ian Donaldson, Gregor Fisken, Peter Hardman, and Adam Jones, all from the island nation north of here. Among Category 2: #85, JMT Porsche Speedster; two more Belgian drivers added; Peter Van Delm and Rudolf Stevens. The no. 86 JMT Lambo has been withdrawn. #87 GPR Porsche 911 GT2, add Michel Duquesnoy (Belgium) Category 3: Also withdrawn, alas, is the no. 90 Honda, removing another marque. The old list showed no. 92 as being the Eric van de Vyver entered Porsche. This has been changed to no. 97, with Gahinet dropped and the following added: Sven van Laer, Willy Maljean (both of Belgium), and France’s veteran sports car driver, Gerard Tremblay. The no. 92 spot is taken by another Porsche Supercup car, that of “Segolen” This is a pseudonym that readers of “Time and Two Seats” will need to refer to. His co-drivers are Claude Olivier, Frederic Schmit, and Fabrice Letellier, all French. A new entry is the Lotus Elise of Renstal Excelsior with an all-Belgian lineup of Dirk de Sterck, Rene Marin, Jacky Delvaux, and Luc Meeussen. Belgium has an obvious shortage of vowels, given the supply of I C and X in the surnames. The report is that a planeload of excess vowels from west African nations is being flown in. While stammering that out, the practice session moves into its final half hour with multi Spa 24 H winner Thierry Tassin (Mike Hezemans?) placing the no. 3 Carsport Holland Viper at the top of the charts with a 2:24.462. Duez is also a little quicker than before with a 2:24.655. Derichebourg has improved marginally to 2:25.395. Kumpen was seventh in the #10 Belmondo Viper: "Well we weren't looking at all for a time. We have to do some work on the damper setup, and this evening we'll be pushing harder in qualifying, but not right now". Babini in the Art Engineering Porsche has risen to the top of N-GT with a 2:31.873. Riccitelli is second in class with a 2:32.341. Patrick Brisset has placed the no. 93 Lamborghini at the head of the Category 3 cars with a 2:35.184. Ugeux’ 2:36.741 is still quickest in Cat. 2 with Koen Wauters next at 2:37.468. As many teams have elected to prepare for the qualifying periods later today, the above times remain as the session ends. Bouchut: "We didn't come to the test day, and on a long and technical circuit like this one, we really need to work on a lot of things." Terrien: "We did just one fast lap each time we went out; the track was covered in oil and there was a lot of traffic." Dumez (first time in a Viper): "The engine has a lot of power and the chassis is very lively - I think you need a very good set-up. But it's great fun. Our main aim is to help the leading Larbre Competition Chereau Viper." Janos Ximpffen Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport