| Audis in Touringcar championships are more or less a common sight. But in the Belgian Belcar series, two Audis are among the best, shocking sometimes even the Vipers and Porsche GT2. This page was only possible as the owners of the pics were so friendly to let me use their pics. Many thanks for that! These nice guys are: (1) Belcar.com (2) Laurent Duquesne (3) Werner's Belcar site (4) Official site of Jean-François Hemroulle If you want to know which pics is by whom, please compare the numbers right of the pictures to the one in front of the links! | |
 (3)
| This is the terrifying Audi 80 Competition of Pertti Kuismanen (Finnish) and Karl Hasenbichler (Austrian). The engine is a tuned 5cylinder turbo. As Belcar has a handicap of x1,7 for charged engines, the Audi 80 has to start in the class TA, for touring cars over 3litre. This picture was taken during the '99 24h race at Zolder, where the both drivers were supported by Matti Alamäki. |
 (2)
| But starting in TA is not really much of a problem. Kuismanen and Hasenbichler easily manage to be under the top 5 (over all!) if nothing fails. The car colour has shifted from silver/black/red to silver/red and even more sponsor stickers. Along with the colour, some bodywork was changed, the fenders are no longer "large" they now are "extreme". |
 (2)
| The first thing you notice are the extreme wings front and back. Belcar rules allow that, if the wing does not "protrude beyond the car’s contours". The lateral view of the car must be maintained. |
 (2)
| Obviously that still allows for some serious bodywork. Note that strange small bulge in the hood and the many venting holes along the whole body. |
 (2)
| The air guides in front surely help the air flow around the body's edge and create some downforce. |
 (1)
| The front air intake is large enough to sniff up cats and dogs, so a net was necessary. ;) Note the additional headlights in the opening, the standard headlights are covered by stickers- of a sponsor, of course. |
 (1)
| Once again in full motion! Despite many DNFs (did not finish), Kuismanen and Hasenbilcher reached 4th place in their division in 2000. Either they won or they DNF, that is nearly the conclusion of 2000. Eight races, 5 wins, once 2 points, twice 0 points. In the combined ranking of touringcars (called "T"), they reached the respectable 5th place. In the drivers' championship, combining all drivers of all divisions, Kuismanen finished 7th. |
 (1)
| Another top-contender is this red/yellow A4. Based on a standard 2.0 litre Audi touring car of the STC, thanks to its tweaked 1.8T (x1.7) it has to start in class TB: Touring cars between 2 and 3 litres. Driven by Jean-François Hemroulle and Tim Verbergt (both Belgian), this A4 quattro is a threat to the bigger classes like TA and even the GTs. Caused be many DNFs, only the 6th place in the TB was the result of the 2000 season. Similar to Kuismanen, the won if they finished. Eight races, 7 starts, 3 wins, 5 times 0 points. This was still good enough for 10th place in the overall ranking of the touringcars. |
 (4)
| Belcar has succeeded in creating a fair set of rules. Both turbo charged cars can compete with the normally aspirated, bigger cars in such a way that it won't get boring. The red/yellow paint job really is an eye-catcher, and the partially covered headlights really look mean. Taken '99 in Zolder. |
 (3)
| Ooops! Belcar racing is known to be fair, but as all touringcar series, a bit of bent metal belongs to it, especially during a 24h race (Zolder 99). Drivers were Jean-François Hemroulle and Tim Verbergt as usual, accompanied by Marcel Tarrès. |
| For Zolder '98 the car had a different paint scheme. In fact, every year has its own colour scheme, sometimes it changed during a season. |
 (4)
| This is an older pic (at Zolder in 1997), showing less yellow but more of the original silver. |
 (4)
| Even older, even more silver. Note the other Audi behind Hemroulle. This was taken at Zolder in 3/96. |
 (4)
| In the very beginning (this was taken in Franchorchamps in 1996), the car wore pure silver like the factory racers of Audi in the STC. |
 (4)
| In the past Hemroulle has also driven this Audi 80 Competition. This was taken 3/94 at Zolder. |
 (4)
| One of the first major series for Hemroulle was the Belgian Procar series in 1993, where he, as a rookie, drove this pretty famous V8 (like in the DTM) as a member of the Belgian Junior Team. |
 (2)
| Yes, even an TT occasionally drives in the Belcar series. But how can you control the lift on the rear axle that caused so many problems on the streets? |
 (2)
| Right! With a big rear wing. Compare that to the small spoiler Audi now fits on the TTs and you will realize that this thing creates enough downforce. ;) |
| Even relatively normal cars are participating in the 24h races (99 at Zolder). Noteworthy on this A4 are the rear spoiler and the additional headlights for the night. Drivers were Erik Crabbe, Philippe Maertens and Patrick Lombaerts. |
