This season two Ultimas GTR are competing in the Belgian Belcar GT Championship. The cars are built by Eric Qvick who previously developed and raced the famous M3 engined Mini S3. For this new venture, Qvick Racing have teamed up with Belgium Racing and the drivers line-up consists of Eric Qvick-Christophe Geoffroy and Peter Theuws-Patrick Derdaele.
The liberal technical regulations of Belcar allow competitors to use any components of a given manufacturer, a rule that can obviously be stretched to the maximum in the case of kit-cars.
Instead of following the traditional Chevy V8 route though, Qvick Racing have opted for a new approach. Given their vast experience with BMW racing (the Qvick Mini won the TB class in the 2002 Zolder 24 Hours), the engine choice for the Belgian Ultima was the M3 straight six.
The 3.2 litre engine delivers in excess of 400 bhp in race trim, sending power to the wheels trough a Hewland sequential six-speed gearbox. The body work has also been revised with the addition of some aerodynamic modifications, the most obvious being the extension of the rear body work section.
Though fitting the 6 pot BMW engine may seem a bit odd given the mighty V8 also available, it makes the Ultima GTR eligible for the GTB class. This means that on the one hand competition from the leading GTA class Vipers, Porsches 996 BiTurbo, Corvette C5R and Stealth will be avoided, while on the other hand podium chances in its own GTB class will definitely be enhanced.
At the opening race at Zolder three weeks ago only the Theuws-Derdaele car (joined on this occasion by Geoffroy) appeared on the start grid. Without any testing at all, the Ultima GTR performed surprisingly well, realizing 4th quickest lap time in GTB class during the race and more importantly, finishing its first ever race. Final result was a modest 20th overall but then Belcar races have a duration of 125 minutes! According to the team, the remaining Porsches GT3 and Gilet Vertigo should prepare for some serious battle in GTB class once all teething problems will be solved.
How serious Qvick-Derdaele are about their Ultima GTR project is reflected by their intention to enter the cars in the upcoming FIA GT Spa 24 Hours, probably an Ultima first.
Jo Hemelsoet
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