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The impressive field of participants in the 6 Hours of Kortrijk will be joined by another star next weekend. None other than Marc Duez will open the course with a Volvo 240 Turbo from the GDM Motors stable. For the occasion, he will be reunited with co-driver Hendrik Béatse.
Marc Duez has a history with GDM Motors, formerly known as SLC Racing. In 2008, he drove several rallies with a Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC from the team. That iconic car is not the only one that has made GDM Motors famous. In recent years, the team has specialized in the FIA-compliant construction of circuit cars such as the BMW 3.0 CSL Group 2, BMW 635CSI Group A, and Volvo the 240 Turbo.
“Historic racing is attracting an ever-growing group of enthusiasts,” says Hendrik Béatse, CEO of GDM Motors. "That's why we are fully committed to producing top-quality reproductions of the most iconic race and rally cars from the golden age. Influenced by the FIA rules of the time, rally and racing cars were created in the 1970s and 1980s with a look that we all still admire. That is exactly what we want to continue to make possible in Historic racing and rallying today."
With a rally version of the Volvo 240 Turbo, GDM Motors now wants to focus on the rally world as well.
With a rally version of the Volvo 240 Turbo, GDM Motors now wants to focus on the rally world as well. The car, which will be on display in Kortrijk next weekend, is a faithful replica of the Volvo 240 Turbo with which Sweden's Bernd-Inge Steffansson caused a sensation in Belgium. In 1987, he won the Circuit des Ardennes and finished sixth in the 24 Hours of Ypres, among other achievements.
Marc Duez will present the car to the Belgian public and will once again have Hendrik Béatse as his co-driver. “For Marc, it will be the first time he has driven a Volvo 240 Turbo in a rally,” Béatse continues. "For me, it's exactly ten years since I’ve put my helmet back on. The 6 Hours of Kortrijk in 2015 was my last rally. In 2015, I also drove with Marc for the last time in Ypres, then in a Porsche 911 GT3. It will be a unique moment to drive a rally together again, and that with a legendary car from the golden age of rallying."
Photo: Filip Van Den Bogaert