Steveny and De Radigues win opening race for Kia
Phillipe Steveny and Didier De Radigues won the first race of attrition in the Belgian Touring Car Series, sailing past the Delahaye Racing Renault for victory.
Starting from pole position, Eric van de Poele kept the Volvo S60 ahead of Frederic Bouvy’s Renault into the first corner, but could not hold off the Delahaye Racing driver for long, with Bouvy assuming the lead at the end of the lap.
Unfortunately the Volvo’s race was a short one, with van de Poele pulling over on lap 11 into retirement.
After ten laps, the Chad Racing Kia Pro_Cee’d started to progress up the order, first passing the fourth placed Delahaye Racing Renault of Edouard Mondron, and then Jérome Thiry on lap 13 for what had now become second place after van de Poele’s retirement. Mondron had also managed to pass the Jaguar when it was caught in traffic, but Thiry fought back, eventually reclaiming third before he also retired, pulling into the pits after 24 laps.
The Kia was one of the first to pit, with Steveny handing over to new team-mate Didier De Radigues, with the gap down to six seconds on race leader Bouvy.
Bouvy stayed out for another six laps, eventually handing over to co-driver Christian Kelders on lap 33. Although Bouvy had extended his lead whilst staying out, the Kia of De Radigues quickly closed down on the leading Renault, taking the lead on lap 39. The Monogasque-driver went on to build a lead of 37 seconds, winning the opening race of the season for the British-based team.
In the final stages, Kelders looked under-threat from his own team-mate, with Stéphane Lemeret now in the No.2 Mégane closing fast, but the car pulled to a stop with five laps to go, ensuring P2 for Kelders and Bouvy with no one else behind them in the class.
The battle for T3 was always a two car affair, with Koen Wauter’s W Racing Team Scirocco clinging on to the lead for six laps before Eric Qvick’s BMW 320si passed the Volkswagen into the first corner and never looked back.
There was a strong charge from Van Herck Racing’s Mazda3 on its debut, despite being forced into a spin at the start, the Mazda recovered to third before retiring in the pits on lap 23.
The T3 class SEAT Leon of Pierre Piron suffered the most dramatic accident in the race, losing control when passing a slower Supercopa class car and careered off the circuit backwards into the tyre barrier. The car was recovered under double-waived yellows, but the Astur Car team have an arduous task ahead of them to repair the car for Sunday’s race.
