Belgian
motor racing fans are really looking forward to the
next round of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati
Europa at Spa in a fortnights time as two national
heroes, Franky Boulat and Marc Goossens will be
teamed up in Toöra VIP car.
Franky Boulat is the very popular triple reigning Belgian-Flemish Vlaamse AutoSportliga
(VAS)
National Rally Champion (2003, 2004 and 2005).
Demonstrating his ability the three titles came at
the wheel of a GpA Opel Kadett 2.0Gsi, when he beat
several rivals piloting genuine four-wheel-drive WRC
machinery. This year Boulat is driving a new GpA Opel
Astra 2.0, and after suffering mechanical troubles in the
first two rounds he claimed victory on the third outing, beating
amongst others two Toyota Corolla WRC rally cars,
and all in the wet.
He also has
experience driving Italian machinery as he made his
circuit racing debut last year driving the Buga
Corse Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 in two rounds of the Zolder
Touring Car Cup. He also drove the Toöra VIP
Maserati GranSport in last year's Trofeo alongside
veteran English racer Tony Dron. The step up from a
240 bhp front wheel drive rally car to a 400 bhp rear
wheel drive racing
car with paddle-shift gears was a huge one, especially
as his only experience at the Spa circuit was at the wheel of an
Alfa Romeo roadcar in 2001 when piloting VIPs around the
circuit.
However his
qualifying in the Toöra car was abruptly cut short when he went off on his
first track lap having been sent out on slicks in
the wet. Maserati substituted the damaged car
allowing him to gain a few more laps of the
legendary Ardennes forest circuit, and despite his lack of track time he quickly
got up to speed in the race, lapping faster each
time round. He is also now an instructor at the ErAnracing school at
Zolder.
Alongside Boulat will be Marc Goossens, another big
local crowd favourite, and the reigning Belcar
Champion. And just like Boulat, Goossens comes from
Geel in Belgium, a noted "breeding ground" for top
racing drivers. A former Formula Ford Festival and
Championship winner, Goossens has been an Aston Martin Prodrive and Cadillac sportscar factory driver, with
a blistering pace to add to his vast experience
which includes all the most prestigious endurance
races:
the 24 hour races at Le Mans and Daytona, as well as
the 12 hours of Sebring and 6 hours of Watkins Glen.
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Franky Boulat is
the triple Vlaamse AutoSportliga
(VAS)
National Rally Champion (2003, 2004 and 2005). Amply
demonstrating his ability, all three championships
came driving a GpA Opel Kadett 2.0Gsi, beating off title
rivals at the wheel of genuine four-wheel-drive WRC
machinery. |
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Boulat made his circuit racing debut last year,
driving the Buga Corse Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 during two rounds of the Zolder
Touring Car Cup. |
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Franky Boulat drove the Toöra VIP Maserati GranSport in last
year's Trofeo alongside veteran English racer Tony Dron,
seen here in the "substitute" car used during the
race. |
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The vastly experienced Marc Goossens competed under
the "Racing for
Belgium" banner in a Ferrari 333SP sportscar
during the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours. |
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He
also has some experience at the wheel of Italian racing
metal having first driven the Buga Corse Alfa Romeo
GTV 6 2.5 back in 1995, and a year later under the "Racing for
Belgium" banner, piloting a Ferrari 333SP during the Le Mans 24 Hours. This year
he's driving a Marcos in the Belcar sportscar
championship, turning in giant-killing acts and taking the
fight to the
two much more powerful Corvette C5-Rs, run by GLPK, and
the car
he won last year's title in for SRT.
In a
career that spans many disciplines Goossens has
taken part in a Nascar-Bush race and is set to compete
in the Nextel-Nascar series later on this year. Together with Milka Duno he
also raced in the Xamax
Daytona Prototype and with the same Riley-Pontiac DP he
will take in further races later this year, again with
Milka, the duo set to be joined by former Ferrari F1
star Stefan Johansson.
The Maserati GranSport Trofeo
- which Boulat and Goossens will drive at the end of the
month at Spa - is based on the coupé version
of the standard GranSport. Modifications have been made to
reduce the car's weight and improve its safety features.
The aerodynamic efficiency of the racer has been markedly
improved thanks to the splitter and two flick-ups mounted on
the front, the redesigned undertray and the newly designed
rear wing that boasts a 40 percent greater surface area. The
braking unit has been improved and its cooling system
re-routed. The 8-cylinder V90° engine develops 425bhp at
7200 rpm thanks to the new layout and raising of the limiter
to 8000 revs.
The Maserati Trofeo, like the standard roadgoing version,
uses an F1-type gearbox with steering wheel mounted
commands. The system is known as Cambiocorsa. In Sport mode,
gearshifts are executed in 150 milliseconds. The oil pump
has been modified, as has the set up of the differential.
The work of the engineers also included changing the
geometry of the set up and lowering the car's centre of
gravity by approximately 50mm. All of these
developments have been carried out in collaboration with
Maserati's technical partners, in particular Pirelli,
Campana, Pakelo, PTC and Toöra.
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