Marc VDS Racing team owner Marc van der Straten has decided to focus solely on its Moto GP and Moto 2 efforts going forward, and terminate its four-wheeled activities with immediate effect.
Following the end of its GT3 programme at the tail end of its Spa 24 Hours-winning 2015 season, Marc VDS Racing returned to GT racing in 2016, racing in the Renault Sport Trophy series which supported the European Le Mans Series. That series will not continue into 2017 however, resulting in the VDS team deciding not to continue racing in that part of the sport.
“Car racing has long been my great passion,” said van der Straten. “A passion that my father had conveyed to me as he passed on to me many values. For ten years, initially as a sponsor with Tony Gillet and his Vertigo, and then as a stable boss, I gathered around me different people from whom I got many successes including this fantastic victory at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2015. This year again, we shone in the Renault Sport Tophy.
“Unfortunately, I have just been disappointed by what has become car racing,” he continued in his statement. “Rules that vary according to the whims of each other, competitions that disappear as quickly as they were created, sponsors who do not keep their engagements, people without morals, profiteers … I no longer recognize the spirit and the values that I knew and that I find today in motorcycle sport with the fabulous men who surround me.”
“That’s why I decided to put a definitive end to the commitment of the Marc VDS Racing Team in car motorsport to dedicate my activity in the motorcycle world championship.
“I thank all those who helped us shine on four wheels during these ten years, and I wish them all the best for the future. ”
This withdrawal means that any potential FIA WEC LMP2 programme for VDS in the future now looks unlikely to go ahead.
