DHG Racing performed excellently last weekend during the Spa Classic. During a weekend where rain and sunshine alternated, the team arrived with five cars and celebrated several victories in the Belgian Ardennes.
One of the highlights of the weekend was undoubtedly the race in the Sixties Endurance where Olivier Hart and Bram Bontrup defeated the conditions and a large field in the Shelby Cobra 289 on their way to victory in the 120-minute race. The opening phase of the race was for Bram, and after making a significant speed improvement between the free practice and qualifying, he did it again in the race. Throughout his entire stint on a challenging wet track, he joined the leading group, ensuring that after the pit stops, the team could build on that strong start. After a quick pit stop in the darkness, Olivier proved to be the fastest on the track, pulling away from the competition with more than 5 seconds per lap. Despite the lack of light and grip in the closing stages preventing Olivier from going full throttle, it wasn’t necessary. After two hours of racing, the duo finished with nearly a hundred seconds ahead of the rest. A dominant victory. With a gap of more the 100 seconds.
In the Heritage Touring Cup Qualifying, David and Olivier shared the 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, where, on very old tires, the DHG team managed only an eighth-place time in the immense and competitive field during qualifying. The first race was a remarkable feat where Olivier, who had to jump into the BMW shortly after the Sixties Endurance race, had to close a large gap of almost 2 minutes, in the dark, from a starting position at the back due to his late entry. What followed was an incredible performance where Olivier consistently went 8 to 10 seconds faster than the leaders. In the race of his life, he sliced through the field and, in the absolute finale of the race, caught up with the leaders and finished with more than fifteen seconds ahead to claim victory.
In the second race, held in daylight, David started eighth. After an excellent start and opening lap, David also sliced through the field and sped to third place before the mandatory pit stop. This stop went incredibly well, but the timing was unfortunate. As the competition came in, they were aided by a virtual safety car, allowing them to lose much less time and exit the pits with a significant lead. Olivier was able to close the gap partially and was more than five seconds faster than the race leader, but there wasn’t enough time to close the gap completely, leaving the team with a second-place finish.
In the Classic Endurance Racing series for Le Mans Prototypes from the sixties and seventies, David and Olivier started with the spectacular Ferrari 512 M. With the Italian thoroughbred, they competed against a field full of Lolas, Porsches, and Chevrons. In qualifying, the duo achieved pole position. David started the race and had a particularly strong opening phase, comfortably pulling away from the field until an electronic issue arose, forcing the race to be stopped prematurely.
In the Endurance Legends Series, David and Olivier started with the Pescarolo LMP1, competing against a wide array of Audis, Reynards, Dallaras, and other Le Mans prototypes from the 2000s. In the first qualifying session, Olivier set the second-fastest time, just behind former factory driver Emmanuel Collard in an identical Pescarolo. In the second qualifying session, in the darkness, Olivier was allowed to go all out with a new set of tires, and after already setting the fastest time of the weekend, he went for a great lap. Up until the last corner, he was on track for a 2:06.5, over one and a half seconds faster than anyone else, until a software issue caused gearbox problems. Thus, the lap and, more importantly, the weekend unfortunately came to an end for the French Prototype.
In the Classic Touring Car Challenge, Bram Bontrup drove the Ford Mustang, qualifying fifth in the rain. But the real fireworks came in the race where Bram drove strongly to a third position. The DHG Racing team was already pleased with this, but after the race officials issued several penalties, Bram’s name suddenly appeared at the top of the results list, allowing him to celebrate his second victory of the weekend.
This marked the end of a particularly eventful, spectacular, and successful weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, with the DHG Racing team returning home with a lot of silverware and motivation for the rest of the season.
