Belgian Racing to run GT1 Fords

The new team takes the place of Matech, which led the development of the Ford GT1 but has shelved its racing team for 2011, and will be run as a sister squad to fellow Ford runner Marc VDS.

Belgian Racing will receive technical assistance from Marc VDS, which has called off its GT3 programme so it can transfer resources to supporting four cars in GT1.

The new operation's team manager Laurence Hanssen is confident Belgian Racing will be competitive from the outset with the ex-Matech cars and Marc VDS' help.

"We are a new team in GT1, but we won't be starting completely from zero," Hanssen said.

"These are the cars that won two races last season and took Thomas Mutsch to second place in the championship, so we know we have a competitive package. We received all the data with the cars and the Marc VDS Racing Team, who also ran two Ford GT cars in 2010, will be supplying a comprehensive technical support package.

"We also have a team with a lot of experience of the Ford GT, albeit in its GT3 guise. To strengthen the team further we have brought in additional technical personnel with specific GT1 experience, including two race engineers, so we're well prepared for the challenge ahead."

The team has yet to announce a driver line-up for the cars, which will race in Belgian national colours.

World GT1 rules require each brand to be represented by a pair of two-car teams. Similar arrangements to Marc VDS/Belgian saw Hegersport operating as a sister team to champion squad Vitaphone Maserati in 2010 and the four Nissans being fielded by the affiliated Sumo Power and JR teams this year.