What started as a promising race weekend for Belgium Racing #98 ended in bitter disappointment on Sunday afternoon. After strong performances in free practice and qualifying, the team of Brent Verheyen and Michael Cool was forced to retire from the race due to repeated electronic issues.
The weekend had begun on a positive note. In Friday evening’s free practice session, the duo set the second-fastest time despite heavy traffic and mixed tyre compounds on track. Setup changes were made overnight, and on Saturday morning the improvements were immediately noticeable. The #98 car again set the second-fastest time overall, with sister car #99 going fastest, giving the team plenty of data to work with.
Qualifying on Saturday afternoon brought challenging weather. Just five minutes before the session, a downpour hit the circuit. Brent Verheyen completed his stint entirely on rain tyres, putting in a strong performance to go second fastest. As the track dried, Michael Cool took over on slicks and showed that the car’s setup was spot on. He managed to qualify third overall, but a grid penalty for track limit violations dropped the car to P4 on the starting grid.
Sunday’s race started dry, and Michael took the start. About 20 minutes into the race, the #98 car suffered a full electronic shutdown just before braking for the final chicane—losing ABS, power steering and dashboard data. Michael flat-spotted the tyres trying to stop but was able to restart the car and pit for new tyres. He finished his stint without further issues and posted the fastest laps on track, even though the early stop was outside the pit window and didn’t count toward the mandatory stops.
At the halfway point, Brent took over. His first laps were strong and the car felt excellent—this was his first time driving the dry setup. But soon the problems returned: ABS and power steering errors made the car unpredictable. The power steering began cutting in and out mid-corner, and eventually the car fully shut down again—this time at high speed through Eau Rouge. Brent managed to keep control, coasted back to the pits, and in an attempt to resolve the issue, the team gave him a new steering wheel. It was a calculated move in the hope that the problem was linked to the electronics in the original wheel. The car restarted momentarily, but unfortunately, the issue persisted.
After leaving the pit lane, the car once again shut down at the final corner. Brent managed to roll into the pit entry without power. This time, the car could not be restarted at all—no dashboard, no power steering, no radio, a complete blackout. The team pushed the car back to the garage, and even after several minutes of analysis from Porsche engineers, it was clear that continuing was no longer safe or realistic.
“It’s incredibly frustrating to retire like this after such a strong weekend,” said Brent Verheyen. “The pace was there, the setup was right, and we felt confident. But when the car shuts down without warning at over 200 km/h, it becomes dangerous. This was the right call, even if it’s hard to accept.”
Despite the DNF and no points scored, the team walks away with confidence in their pace and a setup that proved to be extremely competitive. With the next round taking place at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium Racing #98 will return ready to fight from the very first lap.
