Belgian company Gillet, which has successfully raced the Gillet Vertigo (above, the new 2008 Vertigo .5) in the G2 category of the FIA GT Championship for a number of years, is planning a Sports Light version of the car, to race in the GT4 European Cup. The new FIA G2 class Gillet Vertigo .5 which is now powered by a 4.7-litre Maserati V8 engine for 2008 was forced to retire from the opening round of the FIA GT championship, held at Silverstone (above) last month, with technical problems

Belgian company Gillet, which has successfully raced the Gillet Vertigo in the G2 category of the FIA GT Championship for a number of years, is planning a Sports Light version of the car, to race in the GT4 European Cup. The car will be powered by a 3.0-litre V6 Alfa Romeo engine, and could be ready in time for the Monza rounds.

Meanwhile the new FIA G2 class Gillet Vertigo .5 which is now powered by a 4.7-litre Maserati V8 engine for 2008 was forced to retire from the opening round of the FIA GT championship, held at Silverstone last month, with technical problems in the aftermath of a spin by Bas Leinders.

Formerly powered by an Alfa Romeo V6 unit the new Vertigo .5 was making its race debut with its new Maserati V8 unit and endured a tricky qualifying session at the English circuit due to the difficult weather conditions which were also the cause of its demise during the race. On a foggy and wet Silverstone circuit 31 drivers and cars stormed at 12h15 local time towards the famous Copse Corner for the first battle of the season, among them Bas Leinders behind the wheel of the 101 Vertigo. Most drivers opted for full wet tyres to start the race.

Whilst the track was still wet it wasn’t raining anymore above Silverstone when the green flag was waived. Leinders had a strong start from the last row on the grid climbing up five places in the first couple of meters of the race but in a scheduled stop Bas Leinders came in to the pit at the end of the first lap to hand over the wheel to Renaud Kuppens.

Belgian Racing didn't change the tyres and Renaud Kuppens took over the wheel for his first stint of the season. Hence, the Vertigo dropped to the back of the field, one lap down but with already one pitstop carried out and without traffic problems. The team had a strong trump card to come to the fore in the second part of the race. Renaud Kuppens put in a good performance on the wet tyres coming back from last place to finish in 26th, overtaking both the G2 class Moslers. Kuppens was lapping only a couple of seconds adrift of some of the faster GT2 cars and much faster than the other G2 cars in the field. At the one hour mark Renaud Kuppens came to the pit for a tyre and driver change. The track was still damp but drying out and Belgian Racing decided to put, like most other teams, slick tyres on the Vertigo. Bas Leinders rejoined the track but on his out-lap on cold slick tyres Leinders spun off the track into the gravel trap. After some help from the marshals the Vertigo was able to get out of the gravel. Leinders brought the car back in but in the pit lane but it quickly became clear that the undertray of the car was damaged, forcing Belgian Racing to retire from the first race of the season.

The FIA GT paddock and the Gillet Vertigo team now head to the high-speed Monza track in Italy where the second round of the season takes place on 17-18 May.