By Johan Laubscher
The Belgian Racing Car Championship saw the return of PK Carsport in 2013. PK's weapon of choice was the Audi R8 LMS and their drivers went on to win the 2013 BRCC Endurance title.
The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links throughout the review below:
Test Day: Zolder
The Belgian BRCC held an official test day at Zolder on Friday. Two
Audi R8 LMS cars took part. The PK Carsport R8 LMS is a full season BRCC
competitor, whereas the Belgian Racing Team (MOMO-Megatron-dF1) R8 LMS used the
test day to prepare for the upcoming ELMS season.
Round 1: Zolder
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) was a support event at
Zolder this weekend. The PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS debuted at the event. The team
performed well and won the ninety minute endurance race on Sunday.
Round 2: Dijon
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) held round two in France
this weekend. One Audi team was entered for the event at Dijon, that of PK
Carsport. The team was victorious in the endurance event at Zolder, round one
of the championship. The team performed very well this weekend and finished the
race in fourth place, third in class.
Round 3: Spa-Francorchamps
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) also held its third round at
Spa this weekend. The PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS qualified on the front row and
did very well during the race, finishing in third place.
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) was at Spa-Francorchamps
this weekend. They hosted round four of the series as a support event for the
Spa 24 Hours. PK Carsport was there and achieved very good results. The team
achieved pole position for the BRCC race at Spa, which was held on Friday
afternoon, before the Spa 24 Hours Superpole. They were over a second ahead of
the field during the wet qualifying session. The hour-long race itself saw the
PK Carsport squad converting pole into a solid finish. Third place overall and
yet another podium finish and good points for the season.
Round 5: Spa-Francorchamps
The Belgian Racing Car Championship headed to Spa-Francorchamps this
weekend, for the 600 km of Spa, round five of the season. PK Carsport was
entered with their #7 Audi R8 LMS, with drivers Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and
Maarten Makelberge. They qualified in third place and finished the endurance
event on the podium in third as well.
Round 6: Zolder
The finale of the Belgian Racing Car Championship was held at Zolder
this weekend. PK Carsport arrived with their drivers leading the championship.
PK Carsport has been an all-season competitor in the BRCC, fielding their #7
Audi R8 LMS driven Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Maarten Makelberge. The trio
had retaken the lead in the BRCC endurance championship standings following the
last round at the 600 km of Spa in September. They arrived at Zolder with a
mere five point lead in the driver’s standings. PK Carsport was also in the
hunt for the team’s title, as they were in third place, just three points
behind the leaders. They qualified third on the gird for the race at Zolder,
taking position three behind the two GPR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 cars. The
finale arrived on Sunday with high drama during the morning. News of possible
sabotage emerged from the PK Carsport pits. This came after the PK Carsport
engineers discovered that sticker seals, placed on the car the night before,
had been broken. This raised the suspicion that the car might have been
tampered with during the night, and with the title fight hanging in the
balance, the PK Carsport team worked hard on Sunday morning to thoroughly check
the car and replace many components. After the morning's drama the race got
underway on Sunday afternoon. PK Carsport finished the season by taking second
place overall by the end of the race, finishing behind the #100 GPR Aston
Martin. This result was enough to crown the PK Carsport driving trio as the
2013 BRCC Endurance champions.
