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Audi Presents Petit Le Mans

06/10/2001

Kumpen

And American Viperacing

The young 23 year-old Belgian star, Anthony Kumpen, enjoyed his second racing appearance in the U.S. He co-drove with Dutchman Mike Hezemans in a unique and much publicized collaboration.

Their American Viperacing Dodge has been the subject of much consternation during the year. The team had actually originated a year ago at the same race under the name Patriot Motorsport. The entry came to nought as regards a result, with one car non-starting and the other flipping into the gravel. The Oreca built cars were re-christened this year and have run the entire ALMS season, but conducted very much in the shadow of the more potent GTS competitors, namely the Corvettes and Saleens. There had been hope of a three-marque battle through the year, but that never quite came about. The no. 44 Viper had typically been run as mostly a gentleman’s effort, while the no. 45 was occasionally given over to more seasoned campaigners. Even with well-known pilots such as Shane Lewis and David Donohue, the V-10 could never run with the pack - although Laguna Seca saw the team moving up.

Carsport Holland supplied one missing ingredient at Petit Le Mans. Led by 1970s sports car veteran Toine Hezemans, the Dutch team has been extremely successful with Vipers in the FIA GT series, ever since the departure of the works Oreca squad at the end of 1999. The team actually goes back several years in the international championship, having run Lotuses and the short-lived and appropriately named Bitter. Their two Chryslers have featured extensive development of the earlier versions, included engines and cockpits shifted rearward and experimentation with sequential shift systems. The more elaborate of these innovations could not be readily re-imported to the American team, but the team’s know-how certainly could be. Therefore, Hezemans, his son and lead driver Mike, and several crew members, came bearing their “Route 66” overalls.

Added into the mix was Kumpen. He brings a different sort of experience. Kumpen has been one of five regular drivers in the Vipers of the Belmondo squad. The team of the son of the great French actor has been fielding Chryslers longer than the Carsport squad. They achieved notoriety in 1999 by being the only team other than Oreca to win an FIA round. Now often running three cars per race, the yellow and blue cars are a familiar sight in the tight battles between them and the increasingly diverse mix of cars in the series.

Kumpen has had considerable experience in GT racing in his home country and branched off into the FIA series with a one-off Belgian entered Viper at the 1999 Hungarian round. This was followed up by another single appearance in 2000, this time with a Belmondo Viper at Magny-Cours. Kumpen and frequent co-driver Claude-Yves Gosselin enjoyed a fourth place finish.

His first American race came at this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, with an excursion into a Porsche, driving a Cirtek 996 that only lasted a little over four hours. Then came a string of ten FIA GT races plus Le Mans, with the best result being a spot on the third rung of the podium at Silverstone. He also finished 8th at the Spa 24 Hours, but his racing accomplishments don’t stop there. Kumpen has a been a regular in the Belcar Championship, where he had five class wins in 1998. Then he graduated to the top GT class the following year, gaining four wins and two other podium finishes in only seven starts in 1999, winning the title in the process. A win eluded him at that series’ premier event this year, the Zolder 24 Hours, when the fuel pump failed.

In earlier years, Kumpen began with karting before graduating to Formula Renault in Germany, scoring five podium finishes. A highlight came with an invitation to that country’s Winfield school where he 'matriculated' by winning the term-ending race. He then took a break to complete his university degree.

Kumpen’s first run with ALMS came at the scenic Road Atlanta circuit that he compares favorably to European courses. Since many of the FIA GT races are held at F1 venues, he finds that safety features there are more advanced, particularly with regard to runoff areas and gravel traps. However, the Georgia facility is perfectly adequate for the sports car classes. He is also having to adjust his driving style to differences here such as the more frequent use of full-course cautions and also what Kumpen considers a higher caliber of driving and teams in ALMS versus FIA.

The Belgian has seen his contribution to American Viperacing to be primarily in the area of setup suggestions as opposed to sheer speed—which he nonetheless also demonstrated. It certainly paid off as 'his' Dodge was at most 2.5 seconds off the pace of the GTS leaders during most pre-race sessions, whereas in the past it has been much further back. That pattern continued into the race, particularly during the early damp track hours, which was relished by the team. After all, both drivers come from a fairly rainy part of the Continent. But they lost the door in an altercation and the delay prevented any hope of an unlikely upset.

Kumpen hopes to continue racing on both sides of the Atlantic during 2002. He’s a true marathon man and looks forward to once more participating in four 24 hour races, as he had this year; Daytona, Le Mans, Spa, and Zolder. The latter was one of his few appearances in the Belcar series. He expects to run one or two other rounds there, but prefers the longer events to the one-hour sprints.

He would actually prefer to continue with a Viper team, but expects that the emphasis in the FIA championship will begin to shift toward customer versions of the Prodrive Ferrari. Although quiet on the subject, it is likely that discussions are ongoing with American Viperacing for more collaboration. Whatever the cards hold for 2002, expect the rising Belgian star to be in the thick of it and expect the dark spiky-haired one to be on the rostrum with increasing frequency.