Grooten, Borremans, Van de Vel, & Soers win 24 hours of Brussels!
May 05, 2009
In preparation for the 2009 IKWC, 2008 World Champion Mathias Grooten takes a major victory at one of Europe's toughest indoor karting events, the 24 hours of Brussels at First Kart Inn Indoor Karting Center. The race featured 23 competitive teams, and Grooten drove for team KartGrid.be, alongside team mates Robin Borremans, Bart Van de Vel, and Yves Soers. A very strong team whose drivers share many victories, as well as 6 National Titles and 1 World Championship among them. The race included indoor and outdoor sectors and the weather played a significant part, with rain soaking the outdoor track and the wet karts bringing the water into the indoor track as well.
The race did not start well for the team due to a bad kart draw, but the race ahead was long. Consistant lap times, good strategy, and better luck on kart changes, allowed the team to move up the field and eventually gain positions through the tricky night phase of the race. The rain came at the last 6 hours of racing, and the grip on the smooth concrete inside sector was close to zero, favoring some of the local drivers with experience on wet conditions at that track. Team KartGrid.be by then had a 2 lap lead, but began to see their lead fade away. The team decided to have 2008 Indoor Kart World Champion (heavy) Mathias Grooten do a double stint, and drive a full 2hrs40min to the finish. Despite having to deal with the competition and the very cold and wet conditions, Grooten was able to show why he is World Champion and took the KartGrid.be team kart to victory. The prize at stake was a test drive in a Westfield racing car, which will take place later this year.
Robin Borremans and Mathias Grooten will join forces for the 2009 IKWC with former Talent Promotion team mates Marc Viskens, Kristoff Van de Parre, and Daan Vanhamme racing under Team Belgium entries. The team did not find a major sponsor this year and as a result, Bart Van de Vel and Dave Singelee will not be in Brazil.
(photo credit: Paul de Winter)
Grooten & Borremans win 2008 Belgian Championships | Back to News | Filipe Jorge wins the Pre-Qualifier IKWC Championship!
