Third place in GT class for Christoff Corten in 24 Hours of Zolder

Once again Christoff Corten has confirmed his strong reputation in endurance racing. The 24-year-old driver, native of Flemish Brabant, took the 3rd place in Belcar 1, the GT class in the Belcar championship, in a very demanding 39th edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder. He shared the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from Belgium Racing together with Hans and Frank Thiers, Danny De Laet and Pedro Bonnet. After some problems occurred in the first part of the race, Christoff and his teammates managed to claim 4th place in the overall ranking.

The event of the 24 Hours of Zolder usually kicks off on Thursday with free practices and mandatory qualifying laps. Not only the opportunity to claim a good position for the race on the starting grid, but also to find the right settings for the cars. “The most important aspect was to prepare the race. No need to start in the very front of the field for such a long distance race”, Corten explains. “A competitor’s car probably lost oil on the track during Super Pole and we decided not to take part in this session. We were satisfied with our 9th place on the grid to take on the challenge of the 24 Hours of Zolder.”

The spectators found their way to the racetrack on Saturday to attend the start of the race at 16.30hrs. “We took a safe start and managed to stay in the front of the field, despite two ‘drive through’ penalties, and a puncture when it started to rain in the early evening”, Corten continues. “During the night a problem occurred with the alternator. From this point on it became difficult to claim a podium in the overall ranking.”

The Porsche number 2 from Belgium Racing climbed up in 5th position at daybreak and when a prototype car encountered issues during the last hours of the race Corten claimed the 4th position. “We were looking forward to finish on the overall podium, especially when the remaining prototype started to lose precious time. The gap at the chequered flag was only about 10 minutes. I’m a bit disappointed, though we finished in 3rd place in our class. Without the problems during the night we could have finished in 2nd position, right behind the sister car, winning the 24 Hours of Zolder for the 4th time in a row.”

Christoff Corten realises he was in an excellent team structure to race the 24 Hours. “The team did an excellent job, and thanks to a brilliant strategy I was able to celebrate a podium for a 2nd time consecutively, following my Clubsport Trophy victory in 2015. I would like to congratulate the entire team for its 4th win in a row, a unique performance in the history of this race. I’ll now take the time to relax, but I’m looking forward to race soon again!”

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