Ronny Gabriels Photography

Contrary to wath the Belgian weather service had predicted, Leuven's “Grote Markt” square was bathed in sunshine and thus the perfect setting for an very unusual sight.  On the square, several of the competitors of the BTCS (Belgian Touring Car Series) were parked.  It didn't take too long for a nice crowd to form around the cars. Some who knew this city demo was happening (identifiable by the cameras they brought), some were quite surprised to see racing cars in the city center. And that last part of the crowd, was what this demo was all about.  Bringing the championship to the people who might otherwise never get to see them. 

 BTCS on Leuven’s “Grote Markt”

Now what's so attractive about BTCS, you might ask?  Well the main attraction of championships like these, is the fact that it features touring cars.  They are built on the foundation of normal roadgoing cars you and I drive (see later).  They are not hyper-designed race machines like Formula 1.  Although those are also impressive, most of the people know they exist.  What a lot of people don't know is that the car they drive is also racing in a championship.  Confronting those people with this fact, might bring new crouds to the racing circuit, and after all that's what it's all about. 
Because a lot of people believe that going to the races is expensive. It's really not!  They are of course thinking of the ridiculous prices you pay for F1.  You pay 75€ for a ticket that restricts you to one part of the track or even one seat.  For BTCS races you pay 15€ max (for most races free tickets can be downloaded somewhere), but it not only gives you access to the entire circuit, it also provides access to the paddock.  If you want that in F1, you'll pay astronomical amounts of money.  That's why championships like BTCS are a lot more fun, because you can bring the entire family or go with some friends and don't have to worry about having to cancel your vacation because you ran out of money. A little analogy might be in place here. If the F1 is the huge concert in some big stadium, the BTCS is the free concert in a public park that you take the wife and kids to. Both are great concerts, both are fun, but only one is affordable for everybody.

Now back to the city demo in Leuven. Because after a couple of hours on the city square the cars took a little trip to the square in front of the station.  To get there, they had to drive through the main city shopping street.  Resulting in an unusual sight of racing cars riding along at walking speeds and a lot of surprised shoppers standing by and watching. The parade ended after a couple of minutes in front of the station, where the racing cars were parked next to their raodgoing brothers and sisters.  Another perfect way to prove to people that in fact the cars they drive can be made into racing cars.  There were of course some signing session by well known drivers, a demo of a BTCS pitstop and some goodies to take home. 

BTCS driving along the “Bondgenotenlaan”

Although I must admit that most of the people there were already racing fans, I think quite a lot of people's eyes were opened to a form of racing they had never heard of.  It's funny how everybody stops and stares when a proper racing car crosses their path.  And despite the fact that a lot of people are now buying eco-friendly small town cars, you can see in their eyes, secretly they still want a racing machine. 

 BTCS next to their roadgoing counterparts

The photos of the city demo can be found on my website (under Photos/Racing Season 2009).  For people who are reading this because they are trying to find out what in the hell they say in Leuven on Saturday, take a look at the BTCS website here.  The next Belgian race is on the 16th and 17th of May in Zolder.  Free tickets can be downloaded here.

Hope to see you all soon on the race track! Next event, this Sunday, the Belgian GT opening race in Zolder!