Round 9 at the Belgian Grand Prix

Huisman Brothers on podium - Patrick Huisman Takes Lead from Kelleners

Reigning champion Patrick Huisman is the "King of Spa" after winning the Belgian round of this year's Porsche Pirelli SuperCup for the third con- secutive year. "My start was fantastic, and after three laps I became very calm. Track conditions were really the only worry with oil and radiator fluid through Eau Rouge. It was important to win here. The final round on the Nurburgring is always extremely tough." With his third vic- tory of the season, Huisman takes over the lead from Ralf Kelleners who retired in the eighth lap with damage to the radiator. Huisman's team mate Stephane Ortelli made the weekend perfect for their Eschmann-Manthey racing team by finishing the ten lap sprint race second.

The round in Spa turned into a Huisman family celebration with younger Brother Duncan finishing third, having only driven the 911 GT3 Porsche three times. "Brilliant ! That was definitely not easy tough. I had to really fight my way up from fifth. At the moment I'm negotiating about contesting the whole series next year." VIP driver Uwe Alzen was equally as estatic, and with good reason. The STW ace and '94 SuperCup champion narrowly missed a podium finish with fourth. "I haven't enjoyed myself so much in years! What a fight. I'd love to be ivited back again for the last round on the Nurburgring."

A breathtaking battle for fifth had spectators on their feet, with reig- ning vice champion Oliver Mathai (D) coming out on top, ahead of ex-F3 pilot Sascha Maassen (D), and national Carrera Cup champ Bernd Maylander. Pedro Couceiro (P) kept his 911 as much out of the fray as possible to finish a respectable tenth, ahead of former BTCC champion Tim Harvey from Britain.

Results (top 10)

Pos     Driver/Nat              Team                            Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1      Patrick Huisman/D    Eschmann-Manthey-Racing       25:46.222
 2      Stephane Ortelli/F   Eschmann-Manthey-Racing         + 2.259
 3      Duncan Huisman/NL    Farnbacher Motorsport             6.095
 4      Uwe Alzen/D          Porsche AG                        6.258
 5      Oliver Mathai/D      Kadach Tuning                     9.309
 6      Sascha Maassen/D     Carex-Amag                        9.542
 7      Sascha Maassen/D     Porsche Centre Rhein-Oberberg    11.755
 8      Altfrid Heger/D      Porsche Centre Munich            12.196
 9      Joerg Bergmeister/D  Knuepfing Motorsport             14.815
10      Pedro Couceiro/P     Porsche Center Rhein-Oberberg    17.588

Standings:

Pos     Driver       Points
---------------------------
 1      Huisman         124
 2      Ortelli         118
 3      Kelleners       116
 4      Mathai          114
 5      Maassen         107
 6      Maylander        94
 7      Schmickler       71
 8      Couceiro         70
        Heger            70
10      Asch             68