2010 Menzo Sports 24 hours of Zolder 21/22-8

GTfour · 14 Aug 2010, 13:05 (Ref:2744513)

Probably the most obscure of all 24 hour races,the Zolder 24 is only one week away from us.
Experienced as a very warm tucked away event by us(a group of english and dutch),it's obscureness reëstablishes itself by having a very hard to find entrylist...

Can anyone help us out here?

Speed-King · 14 Aug 2010, 13:11 (Ref:2744514)

Nope, no entrylist out yet from what I know, and lots of speculations about appallingly low grid figures. I had high hopes for this year, but somehow...

Makes not going this year almost bearable.

I just wish it was a little less obscure. Getting it back to where it was 5 years ago would be really nice. That said, I had a blast there last year - have fun!!

GTfour · 14 Aug 2010, 23:27 (Ref:2744652)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Nope, no entrylist out yet from what I know, and lots of speculations about appallingly low grid figures. I had high hopes for this year, but somehow...

Makes not going this year almost bearable.

I just wish it was a little less obscure. Getting it back to where it was 5 years ago would be really nice. That said, I had a blast there last year - have fun!!

I second that. It allmost seems as like they're afraid to publish their entrylist...
Anyhows,we will have a good time there,good friends,nice food and drink and racingcars in the night.

topcats racing paul. · 15 Aug 2010, 09:55 (Ref:2744722)

Hi all,

We will be there again with our Mosler.
Come and say hello
there is a Face book page set up
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146798572000345

Paul.

Kessen · 15 Aug 2010, 11:58 (Ref:2744761)

For the first time since 2002 the 24 Hours of Zolder will not be featuring live-coverage either. The promotors set up their own website - www.24hoursofzolder.com - so no www.24u.be this year.

3 days before the start of the event, some 15 cars are confirmed. The past week there has been no communication whatsoever about the number of entries, new entries, etc. Also hardly any team press releases in my mailbox. I expect some 25 cars to take the start. But it's no better than in 2007-2008-2009 - when SRO Belgium was blamed for the low number of entries...

Maybe the gigs in the paddoc are more important than the race itself.

GTfour · 15 Aug 2010, 12:48 (Ref:2744769)

Quote:

Originally Posted by topcats racing paul.

Hi all,

We will be there again with our Mosler.
Come and say hello
there is a Face book page set up
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146798572000345

Paul.

Nice one Paul. What went wrong last year?

GTfour · 15 Aug 2010, 12:56 (Ref:2744772)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kessen

3 days before the start of the event, some 15 cars are confirmed. The past week there has been no communication whatsoever about the number of entries, new entries, etc. Also hardly any team press releases in my mailbox. I expect some 25 cars to take the start. But it's no better than in 2007-2008-2009 - when SRO Belgium was blamed for the low number of entries...

Maybe the gigs in the paddoc are more important than the race itself.

Thanks for these links mate

.

About the organisers attention for the race and the cars as opposed to the whole off track mumbo jumbo,I believe you're right.
What frustrated me most in the last few years,is the full lenght closure of one the tracks finest viewing area's around the backstraight chicane('Kleine chicane'). This area is being claimed by sponsors and their tents,blocking out the view for all other spectators.
Not only is this very antisocial,most of these tents only contain snobs who's interest in the race and the cars is next to non existend!
During night hours,one can see some folk spectating,but then these tents are mostly empty...

Kessen · 15 Aug 2010, 16:46 (Ref:2744829)

Last update on the official website was 13/08 - with 6 teams announcing that they are still looking for drivers - but if my cellphone is correct, there are more teams still on the look out. The last official flash news is dated 08/08 on the Dutch website. The English website is basically empty.

Communication about the entries is scarce, whilst local newspapers are nicely filled with information about the DJ line-ups.

I somewhat agree on the vip-stuff, but if they're not there to raise the cash, we'd see 5 cars in stead of +/- 25

.

Goodluck with the race Paul, we very much enjoyed the presence of the Topcats Mosler last year. The opening stints were very strong! If I recall correctly the car had some engine woes?

Kessen · 15 Aug 2010, 17:03 (Ref:2744834)

And to help you out - here's a summary of the entries that are known to me.

First Motorsport - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S
First Motorsport - Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
Topcats Racing - Mosler MT900
Moore Racing International - BMW M3
Russell Racing / Scuderia Monza - Porsche 996 GT3 RS(R? - with 997 look)
Viage KRK Racing - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé
NGT Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 R
NGT Racing - Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
ProSpeed Competition - Porsche 911 GT3 R (x2?)
Racing Forze - Lotus Elise GT4
Speedlover - Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Speedlover - Porsche 997 GT4
Recy Racing Team - BMW
MI - BMW
EMG Motorsport - BMW
KS Motorsport - BMW M3 Silhouette (x2?)
Chad Racing - KIA Pro_C'eed Silhouette
Delahaye Racing - Renault Megane Silhouette and/or Ferrari F430 GT3
Level Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (x2?)
AD Sport - Porsche (??)
Gabriel Racing - Renault Clio III
?? - Seat (Leon?)

Hope this helps!

topcats racing paul. · 15 Aug 2010, 17:53 (Ref:2744850)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTfour

Nice one Paul. What went wrong last year?

Hi,
We had an internal oil pump fail inside the gearbox.

we are going for the win this year!

Paul.

Zandbak · 15 Aug 2010, 20:10 (Ref:2744907)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kessen

The promotors set up their own website - www.24hoursofzolder.com

If this new website is an indicator for the race than this race is in deep trouble for this year and the years to come.

Try to find that website in Google

About this race, it is a non-championship race. How can you attract (foreign) competitors? Big prize money?

Marcel ten Caat · 15 Aug 2010, 20:47 (Ref:2744928)

Looking at the latest press release we can scratch the EMG BMW and one of the First Motorsport Porsches and replace those with a "Limburgs Racing Team" Porsche.

rich07 · 15 Aug 2010, 22:22 (Ref:2744961)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kessen

Maybe the gigs in the paddoc are more important than the race itself.

Whats the go with that? Can anyone explain why, over the last few years that I've heard more about the off track happenings then the race itself? The two can co-exist but one would be thinking that the race is somehow more important.

Kessen · 16 Aug 2010, 08:33 (Ref:2745078)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stranger

Looking at the latest press release we can scratch the EMG BMW and one of the First Motorsport Porsches and replace those with a "Limburgs Racing Team" Porsche.

Was Derdaele aiming to drive the First Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 Cup? I thought he wanted to give it a go with his own 997 GT3 Cup. The Limburgs Racing Team is entering the race with a Porsche 997 GT3 Supercup 2009 spec. The spec of the AD Sport Porsche is now also known - apparently a GT2 chassis with a Cup S engine + paddle shift - serviced by Argo Racing (also in FIA GT3 with a Lamborghini Gallardo).

Subaru_WRX_STi · 16 Aug 2010, 12:47 (Ref:2745195)

FIA S2000 cars are allowed at Zolder 24 ?

Speed-King · 16 Aug 2010, 12:50 (Ref:2745197)

Everything is allowed. I think this year they'd let you run if you entered a doubledecker bus...

Kessen · 16 Aug 2010, 20:15 (Ref:2745438)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zandbak

If this new website is an indicator for the race than this race is in deep trouble for this year and the years to come.

Try to find that website in Google

It's a brand new website, so it still needs a lot of cross references to climb in the Google ladder, I presume. The other sites on the first page, 24u.be, autosport.be, racingworld.be, btcseries.be, belcar.com, have been around for a couple of years and are all fairly popular amongst the limited crowd of motorsport aficionados.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zandbak

About this race, it is a non-championship race. How can you attract (foreign) competitors? Big prize money?

It's the most expensive meeting of the Belgian season, apart from the Spa 24 Hours, and it's a non-championship race. What is the added value as a (national) competitor? What is the emotional benefit for you and your sponsors? When I analyse the key success factors of this race in the recent past, let's say in between 2003-2006, I see:
- a healthy Belcar / double points;
- acceptable costs for the cars in between p10 and p40 ("home made" cars, Porsche 996 Cup, ...);
- the home made cars were easier to identify with for the spectators (e.g. a bunch of Beemer E36 - "I drive that too" syndrome);
- the lack of a pyramid for your competitors, drivers, etc. to emerge;
- less interference by national sporting authority (?) (better homologation);
- ...

An exact answer on your question regarding the absence of the international teams; nobody can formulate. My hypothesis? Again: "what's in it for me"? If they have drivers that pay the bill, for sure they'll come over and have fun. But a foreign professional outfit can only lose face in Zolder; since it's a hard race (mechanically).

If you could choose: Zolder or Dubai, with equal costs/revenues, what would be your pick? I think that motorsports in 2010 has evolved into being a more compact world (fewer teams, cars, drivers) than in 2003-2006, with more opportunities to race your machinery (new championships, races).

Zolder lost momentum, whereas other venues quickly became popular (e.g. Dubai). Even if Zolder would be status quo now, compared to 2006, they still had to give in to other events that grew quite quickly - so relatively speaking, they fell back (quite hard).

tatounet · 17 Aug 2010, 15:19 (Ref:2745995)

http://www.24hoursofzolder.com/docum...63c693c0cd3c09

Dramatic !

Speed-King · 17 Aug 2010, 15:22 (Ref:2745997)

I really hope this isn't the last 24 hours of Zolder...

minimangler · 17 Aug 2010, 15:33 (Ref:2746005)

Ouch. Hopefully the Britcar 24 fares better!

Speed-King · 17 Aug 2010, 15:38 (Ref:2746010)

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimangler

Ouch. Hopefully the Britcar 24 fares better!

They will. IIRC they already had 50+ enries a few months ago...

rich07 · 17 Aug 2010, 22:38 (Ref:2746290)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tatounet

http://www.24hoursofzolder.com/docum...63c693c0cd3c09

Dramatic !

Ouch indeed.

cmk · 17 Aug 2010, 22:48 (Ref:2746295)

Looks like a fight between the lead First car and the Topcats Mosler on pace, since each has two quite rapid drivers. Not much depth though!

Kessen · 18 Aug 2010, 17:38 (Ref:2746667)

NGT Racing is basically ProSpeed Competition's support team during the FIA GT3 European Championship - so I think they have a fair chance at winning this event.

Oh, by the way, ... 20 cars on the grid.

That implies that the cars wont make too much noise, and spectators can enjoy the parties

!

tatounet · 19 Aug 2010, 19:52 (Ref:2747299)

Quote:

Originally Posted by topcats racing paul.

Hi,
We had an internal oil pump fail inside the gearbox.

we are going for the win this year!

Paul.

Congratulations for the pole position !

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