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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">06/08/2001</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Tough 24 Hours</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">For Belmondo</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/oursFor%20FIA.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">The three Belmondo Vipers qualified third, fourth and fifth for the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa...then the dramas really started.<BR> <BR> Didier Defourny in the #11 car soon had a big crash, leaving the GTS-R with no passenger door, rear wing or front right hand side of the bonnet and bumper. With the chassis damaged, the car was retired.<BR> <BR> In the pre-night gloom, Anthony Kumpen spun on Jean-Michel Martin’s oil, and collided with the other Belgian’s parked car. Damage was limited to the rear floor, upright and body of #10, Kumpen making it back to the pits for repairs. “We lost 40 minutes in the pits because of this. I didn't see the oil at all. I almost missed the parked car but my rear end caught it. Apart from that we were going OK.”<BR> <BR> #10 returned to the race in 38th place. “We decided to keep myself and Paul in the car for double or triple stints to make up the lost places.”<BR> <BR> Kumpen then worked the car back up to 12th by 23.30. During the night, a splitter had to be replaced, a task also required on the less troubled Vosse / Clerico / Helary #12. Kumpen drove a long 2am to 5 am shift, when, “I just set about doing consistent times and trying to be careful. The track seems OK in most places but off-line it's very slippery.”<BR> <BR> The demise of the Carsport Viper with two hours to go elevated Vosse / Clerico / Helary to fourth at the end, Kumpen / Belmondo / Gosselin to eighth.<BR> <BR> ”To be honest I never thought we would get back into the top 10. We seemed to be having so many problems while everyone else didn't,” said Anthony Kumpen. “That was the toughest race I have ever done. The weather was bad during the day but dry at night. We just didn't seem to have the pace to do anything about the lead cars, even before we hit problems. I am a little disappointed but I know I did all I could under the circumstances. The team did work well with what we had and I thank them for their efforts. It can't be nice for the mechanics to have to change tyres in the rain, and then fix a broken car at 4am! But they were great."<BR> <BR> Next stop for the young Belgian is the FIA GT event at the A1-Ring in Austria. "The same weekend I am racing at the Zolder 24hrs for GLPK - a race I won with Duez last year so it would be nice to repeat that."<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>