24 Hours of Zolder: De Keersmaecker finishes 7th overall, Loeman & Maers take class podium

Highs and lows were close together at the 24 Hours of Zolder for female drivers on the grid, as the #45 BMW M4 GT4 featuring Yana Loeman and Eveline Maers took third place in the GT Sport class, while Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker, the only woman in the top class, secured a highly-positive seventh place overall.

The 24 Hours of Zolder once again provided a grueling challenge for teams and drivers; among the many entries, several cars featured women drivers, continuing the strong presence of women in this classic Belgian race. From experienced endurance racers to those combining national and international programs, the female competitors were looking to secure strong results across multiple categories.

While the event brought moments of promise, it was ultimately a story of both highs and lows for the women on the grid. The standout result came from the #45 BMW M4 GT4 crew, featuring Yana Loeman and Eveline Maers, which secured a podium finish in the GT Sport class. Elsewhere, the other female-driven lineups showed potential and determination but narrowly missed out on their own podium results, settling instead for solid top-ten class finishes.

In qualifying for the endurance classic at Zolder, the No. 68 car was the best-placed female driver: with a time of 1:32.132, the team of Frédéric Bouvy, Benjamin De Cock, Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker, Alessandro Tudisca, and Gilles Verleyen secured eighth place on the grid in both the GTC and overall classifications in their Porsche 992 GT3 Cup.

Following in 14th place and third in the GTS were the No. 45 BMW M4 GT4 of Filip Baelus, Yana Loeman, Eveline Maers, Dirk Mertens, and Chris Van Woensel. Close behind were the Super Sport pole-setters in the No. 6 BMW E90, consisting of René De Conick, Cor Euser, Charlie Martin, Robert Van den Berg, and Sandra Van der Sloot. In 5th place in this class was the BMW 2 Series with the No. 40, fetauring Celine Convents, Davy Convents, Vincent Convents and Steve Raymakers.

The start of the race was rather slow, as the start was delayed due to an oil slick behind the safety car. The green light didn't appear until about 15 minutes later. But soon things would turn hectic; after a collision in the leading group, the safety car had to be deployed again to ensure the safe recovery of the stranded championship leader. Only then could the race really get going.

The #6 BMW, driven by Robert Van der Berg, made an early pit stop after just 40 minutes, falling back from the battle for the class lead, ahead of the #40 BMW of Davy Convents, just behind. The latter, like most in the class, hadn’t stopped yet.

When the other teams made their first stops after about 80 minutes, the #6 BMW was swept back to the front, but remained over 70 seconds behind the class leader. Shortly after the stops, separate incidents occurred in turns 9 and 12, resulting in another yellow period. After their stop, the women were also behind the wheel in the #40: Celine Convents, Eveline Maers in the #45, and Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker in the #68. Van den Sloot’s Porsche was only 3 seconds ahead of her BMW after the stop.

Van den Sloot was able to take advantage of her warmer tyres and overtook the Porsche after 90 minutes of racing. It wasn’t until 100 minutes had passed that the Supersport class leader also stopped and was only just ahead of the #6, which was now second in the class again. Due to the early first stop, Van der Berg himself had to pit just a few minutes later. He handed the wheel over to Sandra Van den Sloot. She dropped a few positions in the overall standings in the pits but retained her class podium.

She subsequently worked her way back up to 12th place overall, clocking faster laps than the class leader, but was already almost a lap behind. Celine Convents also climbed further up the standings, reaching 22nd place overall and 7th in the class.

After three hours of racing, however, the BMW E90 came into the pits but never left: the car had to retire with an irreparable technical failure. The best-placed woman was now Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker in the #68, running at the bottom of the top ten and 9th in the GTC class. 14th place overall went to the #45 BMW GT4 driven by Eveline Maers. Steve Raymakers in the #40 BMW, after another stop, was 23rd and seventh in the class.

The positions remained stable over the next few hours. Only the pit stops noticeably shook things up. However, the drivers in the cars were swapped around: Gilles Verlayen was now driving the #68 after five hours of racing, while Chris Van Woensel was able to move up one position overall in the #45. Over the course of the final two hours, Vincent Convents managed to push his #40 car up to 18th place and 4th in the class.

As night fell, the number of off-track moments increased, resulting in repeated, short, localized yellow phases. Turns 9 and 11 were particularly frequently affected. Among other things, the #39 car slid off the track there with 16:40 remaining, but was able to continue to the pits under its own power.

Not only due to the misfortune of others, but especially due to their own pace, the teams with female drivers managed to move up a few positions during the night: after seven hours of driving, Bouvy in the #68 was in 8th place both overall and in the class. The #45 could clinch the final spot on the GTS podium with 12th place overall.

Further back, the #40, in fifth place in the Supersport class, was fighting to stay in the top 20. These were to be the last significant position changes in the otherwise remarkably quiet night. Apart from brief shifts due to pit stops, the positions of these teams were mostly settled.

In the morning, Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker was back in the #68, still in 8th place in both classifications. Half an hour after getting into the car, another full course yellow appeared with 5:55 remaining. The #99 was involved in an incident, but the scene was quickly cleared. After just five minutes, the race resumed. However, the #99 sustained significant damage and had to be repaired in the pits. Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker’s team therefore inherited 7th place in both classifications.

After another 80 minutes, another incident occurred, with a single car needing recovering out of the gravel before the race could continue. Alessandro Tudisca now drove the Porsche, still safely in 7th place. Chris Van Woensel, with 13th place overall, maintained his grip on the GTS podium for the #45.

Celine Convents was unable to advance the BMW 2 Series any further and remained in 6th place in the Supersport class, just inside the top 20. The gaps between the cars had become larger, so little change was expected.

This changed with 80 minutes remaining when it began to rain. The race was declared a wet race, and shortly before the finale, rain procedures were also implemented. This made no difference to Juna-Jane de Keersmaecker’s #68 car: with 774 laps, they crossed the finish line in 7th place in both classifications as the best female team.

The #45 car of Eveline Maers and Yana Loeman, which primarily raced at night, slipped to 14th place overall at the final stop, but retained 3rd place in the class. The Convents Racing team led by Celine Convents also managed to hold on to 6th place in the class, finishing 18th.

The team lining up the promising BMW E90 of Sandra Van den Sloot and Charlie Martin was however hit hard by misfortune; the Briton had been off for most of the season and wanted to be back on the attack, but the early retirement meant she didn’t get to drive. Next year, they'll aim to bounce back.