My visit to the workshop of GLPK Racing (Zonda GR)

[1zippo1]

Hey guys,

As I've mentioned before, a good friend of mine works with the Belgian GLPK racing team. They've won Belcar last year and there are several other racing events that they've won (for instance the 24 hours of Francorchamps). I think it's fair to say it's the most succesfull Belgian racing team.

They have a Dodge Viper (so not the new Chrysler Viper), a 996 Porsche and a 993 Porsche. The Chrysler has an 8 litre V10 engine, and without the air restrictors (they are obligated in this GT class) it tops at some 1600hp :twisted: Then the 996 is usually equipped with a 3.6TT engine but in long term races like the 24hours of Zolder or Francorchamps, it has an 3.8 RSR engine (because that only cosumes half as much fuel as the 3.6). The 993 had an 3.6 RSR if I remember well. In Belcar you have different categories, the Viper runs in the top class called GTA. The Porsche are in the GTB class.

Sometimes there's also a Mini Cooper Works, that belongs to one of the drivers of GLPK (Bert Login). And now there also was a Pagani Zonda GR. That's the ONLY Zonda that is modified for racing. They bought a normal Pagani Zonda C12S and modified everything imaginable. It has something about 580hp now and runs in the Le Mans class.

I allready went to a practice session in Zolder (with the Porsches & Viper) and I'll be sure to go again. If I'm really lucky, I'll be able to do a lap as a passenger on the Sponsors day. My dad knows the owner a bit (he works as a doctor in one of his firms) but I don't want my dad phoning him for a farour. I'll just have to try them to notice me and give me a lap round Zolder.

Btw, I took the pics with the camera of my parents, but it only has 8 meg memory :cry: So I could only take a few high resolution pics and the rest is 640x480 :| I really regret that, but I can allways go back and take some more. Some pics are a bit blurry, that's me and my lousy camery work... Hope they're some nice one's ...

I still have to catch up on a lot of stuff on JW (like TT's story about his ride in the 360spider). But I thought it was best to first post these pics.

This is their website btw:
http://www.glpk.net/2004/

Some pics and info about the Pagani GR:
http://www.7extrememotorsports.com/lemans/cars/gts-pagani-zonda-gr.htm

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[No.1]

Woah.. a racing Zonda... i have not seen this model before, just a silver/grey one :shock: (oh right.. this is the same car) :wink:

Very nice... and i hope you will be able to get more pics of the other cars you mention :D

[Mopsdrops]

wooooaaaaaaaa, super nice Zonda !!! damn i wanna see this car in real life. great pictures, thanks for them. i heard they will race to at the next 24h of spa, also the DB9GT and Murcielago R-GT. maybe...

was da ook voor andere mensen te bezoeken ? of was dit persoonlijk, dat hij je had uitgenodigd om foto's te trekken ? :)

[dingo]

I can't see the pics, seems that imageshack is down since I can't host pictures either.

[possessed_beaver]

I can't see the pics, seems that imageshack is down since I can't host pictures either.

i have been having the same problem all night.

[dingo]

It seems like it just started to work again....thank god so I could upload my pics finally.
Nice pictures you got there 1zippo1....thanks.

[1zippo1]

wooooaaaaaaaa, super nice Zonda !!! damn i wanna see this car in real life. great pictures, thanks for them. i heard they will race to at the next 24h of spa, also the DB9GT and Murcielago R-GT. maybe...

was da ook voor andere mensen te bezoeken ? of was dit persoonlijk, dat hij je had uitgenodigd om foto's te trekken ? :)

Normaal gezien moogt ge daar niet zomaar binnen nee. Kameraad van mij is al meer als een jaar bij dat team en hij had mij uitgenodigd om eens langs te komen aangezien ik de Zonda heel graag eens had gezien.

My favorite pics are these, pitty they aren't in 1600x1200 :?

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[Ford Capri 2.8i]

thanks for the pics and the story....its the best looking zonda that ive ever seen...its looks even better than the production models IMO...the porsches look great as well(i prefer the siemens sponsored Porsche IMO)...anyway....once im interested in rare cars, and the zonda is one of them for me, what would you tell us about how is going the set up of the suspensions of the car, the brakes...(once it was bought a production car and then it was transformed into a gt car), or the results of the merc engine on GT...once its the first time that the zonda is transformed into a racing car....and the last question....is the viper a ex Oreca car?.....anyway...,thanks for your contribution, and enjoy yourselves as a codriver the GT on the racetrack

[TT]

Thanks a lot dude! I'm not that fond in racing car pics, but these ones, although small, rock! :D

[1zippo1]

thanks for the pics and the story....its the best looking zonda that ive ever seen...its looks even better than the production models IMO...the porsches look great as well(i prefer the siemens sponsored Porsche IMO)...anyway....once im interested in rare cars, and the zonda is one of them for me, what would you tell us about how is going the set up of the suspensions of the car, the brakes...(once it was bought a production car and then it was transformed into a gt car), or the results of the merc engine on GT...once its the first time that the zonda is transformed into a racing car....and the last question....is the viper a ex Oreca car?.....anyway...,thanks for your contribution, and enjoy yourselves as a codriver the GT on the racetrack

Thanks for the compliments on the pics, IMO they could have been much better. I'm still a newbie at this. I've clearly seen that experience really helps. Look at TT's pics, they keep improving.

I've passed the text that I wrote to my friend and had him have a look at it. This is what he said:

A few corrections, it's a Chrysler Viper chassis number C11 ex ORECA. It's the second viper we have, our first was a C12 that raced in the FIA GT World Championship. That one was sold in 2000, so we've now got this C11. After that, the Porsche 911 Bi Turbo came, it has 2 Bi Turbo 2.6 engines and for 24hour races an 3.8RSR that actually belongs to the Siemens Porsche 993. The 993 is from 1994 and had an 3.6 single turbo, now an 3.6RSR. The 3.6 single turbo had something about 690hp. It has driven the Rolex 24hours of Daytona twica and is the car wich Antony Kumpen started racing in. The car now belongs to Bert Login. Bert Login also drives a Ferrari 575 GTC from "JMB Racing" in the FIA GT. He also drives together with Anthony Kumpen in the Viper C11 in the Belcar championship. The Siemens Porsche is this year active in the 10 hours race promotion night for Belgian Touring Car Cup.

I can't give you all details of the Pagani, but I can give you a short overview of the construction. The Zonda still has the original chassis, but it has been made stronger. The rest is all remade in carbon (except for the engine of course). The suspension is made from a custom made Aluminium based on airial technologi. The same goes for the suspension of the 991 & Viper. The shock absorbers are replaced by "Moton" suspention technology on all 4 cars. These shock absorbers can be set to 4 different settings: low speed bump, high speed bump, low speed rebound en high speed rebound. The tires are for all 4 cars from BBS. The tires consist of 3 layers. Only for the Viper wich has one layer tires from BBS. The engine from the Pagani is custom made in the company that also makes cossworth engines. The electrical systems on the 996, Pagani & Viper are replaced by a "Motec" electrical system. The 993 has an electric system from "Zytek". My friend often works on this Zytek system.

His job is mechanic/analyst Advanced Data Aquisition & Engine Management Systems. He works on the 2 porsches and the Pagani.

One other correction, GLPK has never won the 24hours of francorchamps. But they did win the 24 hours of Zolder for the 4th time last week.

Oh and I wasn't supposed to mention those prices :oops: :oops: So I removed them from the forum. And shout a magic spell to remove them from the memories of all that read it :wink:

....

ok done :twisted:

One last thing, I'm hoping to get a ride sometime, but it far from sure that I will. We'll see.

[stradale]

Great, so you finally got to see them close up! I remember you talked about this team before, but I never realised it was the team with father and son Hezemans. That also means you can't just call it a Belgian team, can you? You've got to get your neighbours to the north some credit for it as well. :wink:

Wonderful pics! I'm sure you had a blast. I hope you'll get that ride one day. And I sure hope that Zonda will start to win some major races. At least, until the Murciélago and the Maser come on full steam.

[dropot2]

Incredible sightings dude! Thanks for sharing this great pics! This zonda race car must be a rocket... :shock:
________
Toyota Pod (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Toyota_Pod)

[1zippo1]

Great, so you finally got to see them close up! I remember you talked about this team before, but I never realised it was the team with father and son Hezemans. That also means you can't just call it a Belgian team, can you? You've got to get your neighbours to the north some credit for it as well. :wink:

Wonderful pics! I'm sure you had a blast. I hope you'll get that ride one day. And I sure hope that Zonda will start to win some major races. At least, until the Murciélago and the Maser come on full steam.

You're right, I should have mentioned it. The zonda is an exception however. The Pagani used to be owned by Kumpen & Hezemans but now it's only owned by Kumpen.

I think the Le Mans series will be getting very interesting in a year or 2... Maseratie MC12 - Pagani Zonda - Murciélago - BMW Le Mans car - Porsche Le Mans car. But to be honest, I don't think the Pagani has a chance in it's current form. The engine output is just not enough yet. they've enlarged the engine to some 8 litres but 580hp is not that much for the Le Mans series. But they're still currently working on the engine so, we'll see...

Some facts I forgot to mention, without the engine & gearbox the bodywork, tires, interior, suspension, ... in total only weights some 150 kg :shock: Oh and they didn't use the original exaust pipes, they are now filled with blacklights and furfill the tast of braking lights. The new exhaust lies lower in the car.

[SPEEDCORE]

MMMMmm Racing Zonda :D

[1zippo1]

Amazing pics dude! Thanks for sharing... The Zonda is impressive... but I love the 996 GT3RSR, amazing, and with the twin-lights at the front (endurance specs I suppose) it's simply awesome.

I think so, the 24 hours were only last week.

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

thanks a million 1zippo1 for lettings us introduce into a racing atmosphere with your comments(i already congratuled you for the pics), as i have already mentioned, im more fan of racing cars rather than the street cars although the cars means a big part of my life