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GT4 European Cup & FIA GT3 European Championship 2008 / 1. Silverstone 

Eric De Doncker had to battle it out to appear on the podium ! 

Winner of the first GT4 European Cup last year, at the wheel of his Ford Mustang FR500C Thermosulit Motorsport 98, Eric De Doncker was back to defend his title again this year. Even though the car is new, its technical configuration has hardly evolved during the winter.

Now in it's second year, the championship has grown and  now has a well filled grid and the level of competition has developed as well, "There’s no point in hiding one’s face, the Aston Martin Vantage N24s will be strong contenders this season ", Eric De Doncker commented .”We noticed this as from the initial free practice sessions at Silverstone. What’s worse is that I experienced problems with the new tyres supplied by Pirelli."

"In fact the size of the rear tyres has changed which has clearly affected the Mustang’s handling, and as a consequence, a 7^th  in qualifying was the team's best time for the  first of the two races being held. As a comparison the lap time I clocked up was exactly the same as the one with which I clinched pole position last year. This time around I’m back on the 4^th row of the grid!" 

Luckily Pirelli was able to rectify matters and Eric found himself at the wheel of an improved car, resulting in a 2^nd best qualifying time for the Sunday race... 

On Saturday the Mustang FR500C Insulco Motorsport 98 wasted no time in climbing back up to 4^th place, keeping in touch with the three leaders. The British driver and pole position holder Michael Mallock ended up crashing his Aston Martin on the Hangar straight, causing  De Doncker to jam on the brakes, as a result he lost two places, one to Guino Kenis. The title holder called on all his driving skills during the final laps to come back up to the level of Kenis and steal 5^th place overall by... 20 thousands of a second! The time keepers almost had to call for a photo finish... 

This Sunday in the absence of Mallock (car beyond repair), De Doncker set-off from pole position, and even though his take off was far from impressive he was well in command of the situation at the second braking point. Unfortunately his tyres were wearing rapidly, and the Aston Martins were applying  pressure. On the final lap the Belgian driver appeared to be pushed off by Austrian Klaus Engelhorn, who was penalised with a 15 second penalty as a result. This allowed De Doncker to reclaim his 2^nd place. "Pretty positive result all the same, even though I do regret that these GT4 races are somewhat turning into a fist fight. Nonetheless for Ford it was pretty satisfying, and I reckon this first weekend was positive. It goes without saying that we’re going to have to fight, and I haven’t said my last word yet..." 

As was to be expected matters were far less euphoric in FIA GT3, where the Ford Mustang FR500GT3 Matech Racing, far more competitive than last season, is still a border line case performance wise when trying to rival with the best. "At this moment in time I think that it is worthy of a place in the top 25 out of a grid of 50 cars during qualifying, and a top 15 place in the race. With my team-mate Scott Maxwell we’re doing our utmost, but the circumstances didn’t help us, what with a black flag during the second leg, the team having called in Scott too late. Results: a 21^st and a 24^th place, but the car is improving, and at Ford Racing everyone is aware of this. As from the Monza meeting we’ll be another step forward.."