Despite a tough weekend, De Doncker retains the Championship lead
Following on from a highly positive Monza, where Eric De Doncker won no less than two races of the GT4 European Cup at the wheel of the Ford Mustang FR500C Insulco Motorsport 98, he was back on track this weekend at the German Oschersleben circuit. The Belgian driver was fully determined to defend his leader’s position in this European competition, even though the technical character of the German track was not necessarily to the American car’s entire liking.
During qualifying the difference in lap times between the best drivers was very tight, with Eric clocking up the 5th and 6th best times, enough for him to be able to do battle up front; something he has been used since the creation in 2007 of this GT4 European Cup. And right from the start of the first of the three races scheduled on German tarmac, De Doncker was soon working his way up the ranks, not without Jurgen Van Hover pushing him against the wall! Having climbed up into 2nd place, he finally finished 3rd behind an Aston Martin and a Nissan, not without having been hit. But at least some valuable points were gained.
This Sunday morning Eric De Doncker once again brought his Ford Mustang FR500C Insulco Motorsport 98 to the fore, clinching 2nd spot…and then retiring with a right front broken suspension socket! "This is my first retirement with the Mustang since the creation of the championship ", the Belgian driver sadly commented.”The day before a driver rammed me, and this broken ball and socket is most probably the consequence of this incident. The geometry was damaged and undoubtedly the suspension took a blow. Once again the mechanics of the Insulco Motorsport 98 team produced some great work, allowing me to take the start of the third race of the weekend. In fact they replaced the suspension, and with 5 minutes from the pre-grid I was out on to the track! I take my hat off to them!”
And it was an exceptionally motivated Eric De Doncker at the start, swiftly moving up into 2nd spot and holding Jurgen Van Hover at bay right through to the finish. "The car was difficult to drive, but nothing abnormal as the result of our problems in the second race..." In the meanwhile these two German podium places allow Eric to retain the leadership of the GT4 European Cup, some 3 points ahead of the Austrian Klaus Engelhorn. "I wanted to keep my first place in this championship, and mission accomplished ", De Doncker continued.”I was fully aware that it would be difficult to claim a victory here, a far too technical track for the Mustang. On the other hand it was of major importance to gather up a maximum number of points. The following races will be held at Francorchamps, as a curtain raiser for the FIA GT 24 Hours, and there the situation should be quite different..."
We must also mention that Eric De Doncker competed in one of the European FIA GT3 races over this same weekend, at the wheel of the Mustang FR500GT3 entered by the Swiss Matech Racing team. Having experienced mechanical problems during practice, the power beast had to miss the first race, before producing an interesting climb up through the ranks during the second race, having started from the pitlane in last position.