This is a European first. As far as we consider that the United Kingdom is no longer part of the Old Continent since a British team released the Ford Mustang GT4 in the national championship recently. For the rest, the car which will compete this weekend in the European GT4 championship is just unpacked from its crate in the literal sense of the term.
“We received the car three days ago”, smiles Jean-Marc Valckenaere, the boss of Floral Racing. “In fact, she left Multimatic, Canada, on April 1st. Arriving at the port of Antwerp, it remained stuck at customs for a very long time. »
A grotesque situation caused by a question of existential depth. “With the Customs Administration, the whole question was to know if this Ford Mustang was of American origin and in this case pay an import tax or Canadian where this type of tax does not exist. Customs officials took many weeks before making a decision! » For the Spa meeting, the Mustang is entrusted to Nico Verdonck and Nathan Vanspringel.
Learning objective for Floral Racing
“We called on Nico for his extensive GT4 experience”, continues Jean-Marc Valckenaere. “He will certainly be of great help to Nathan who has never played at this level. »
We remind you that the latter regularly shines in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup where Floral Racing is the prime contractor. As for Jean-Marc Valckenaere, he has been linked to Ford for many years. It is in particular to his team that we owe the Fiestas lined up in a promotional cup in the Belgian rallies where a certain Thierry Neuville stood out in 2008.
By the way, what can we expect from the Verdonck-Vanspringel tandem this weekend?
“We have no other ambition than to improve the car”, tempers Nico Verdonck. “The level of GT4 Europe is high. We have very few kilometers in the rims. It would not be realistic to hope for a podium. »
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