The 24 Hours of Spa 2013 promises to become a classical edition. Some 30 cars are aiming the highest step on the podium. More than ever
reliability of both man and machine will play a decisive role. Jos Menten will defend the colors of the German Blancpain Racing for the fourth time.
Blancpain Racing fields a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. The Haelen based driver is teaming up with his fellow countrymen Peter Kox and Henk Haane,
and Swiss driver Marc A. Hayek.
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27-07-2013
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Having only driven a handful of laps with the RTR Porsche, Jos Menten is still convinced a good result is feasible. The second VLN race of the
season is also the last chance to prepare the team and drivers for the infamous 24 Hours of the Nurburgring. The RTR Porsche is off to a good
start and is running third in class. A podium finish was in sight.
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01-05-2013
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Jos Menten is focussing on the VLN Langstreckemeisterschaft. The German endurance championship kicked off on Sunday on the infamous
Nurburgring. Lady Luck was not on the side of Jos Menten and his compatriots Stef van Campenhoudt and Stephan Landmann. An early accident
nearby Brunnchen forced the RTR Porsche out of the race early. The damage to the car was terminal. The next race is scheduled in two weeks.
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15-04-2013
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Jos Menten, Peter Kox, Marc A. Hayek and Albert von Thurn en Taxis finished the 24 Hours of Spa in eleventh place. However for the black
Lamborghini Gallardo with start number 24 the outcome could have been better. The sole representative of the Italian make was undoubtedly the
trendsetter in the Pro-Am class. “A race full of ups and downs. We had no trouble in keeping to the pace of the top-5 overall and led the Pro-Am
class for a long period”, is how Jos Menten started off his account of the race. “After the first intermediate sprint, after six hours of racing, we
were still leading the Pro-Am, and in an honourable fifth spot overall. Unfortunately just after midnight we experienced some bad luck. A rear wheel
problem brought us down in the rankings. We still fought back, but we then had to deal with further set backs. All in all it’s still a very fine
performance for us to finish in eleventh place.”
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29-07-2012
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Jos Menten and his teammates are getting ready for a nail biting 24 hours race. The Lamborghini Gallardo bearing start number 24 will take the start
from an excellent seventh place on the grid. “Peter put in a great qualifying lap time. Let’s not forget that we are up against some strong competition,
all of a high level”, Menten remarked. “We might have been able to improve somewhat in the Superpole, but no way are we disappointed with our
place on the fourth row.”
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27-07-2012
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Haelen based driver Jos Menten is ready for his ninth appearance in the 24 Hours of Spa. The 31-year old Dutchman started the race four times
behind the wheel of a Corvette (SRT, PSI, Phoenix, PK), twice with a Porsche (AD and ProSpeed), and twice with a Lamborghini (Reiter). In 2009
Menten was the overall winner of the blue ribbon event, his first career victory in the FIA GT Championship. “Ups and downs is the best way to
describe my curriculum in Spa”, Menten smiles. “Last year we were leading when an engine failure stopped us. In 2008 we were leading as well
but unfortunately my team mate lost control of the car in the rainy weather. But in 2009 Lady Luck was on our side. After a 20-hour sprint we took
control of the race, and we brought home the win!”
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26-07-2012
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After the brilliant fourth place on the grid, and pole position in the Pro-Am Cup, everything was being prepared at Blancpain Reiter Engineering for this gruelling 24 hours race. Jos Menten was fully confident just prior to the race: “During the warm-up we checked everything once again, and it all looked pretty good for the race. It is important to steer clear of problems during the opening faze, and to basically run our own race. It’s a tradition to go flat out in the early stages, but we aren’t going to play that game. The flag only drops tomorrow at 16.00hrs,” Menten commented looking ahead.
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31-07-2011
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Mid-June Reiter Engineering headed on down to the Belgian Ardennes for an initial endurance test, and at which time Jos Menten, Peter Kox and Marc Hayek worked off an impressive run. The Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 was extremely fast, but with ever changing climatic conditions could not count on Lady Luck. “A poor dress rehearsal usually implies a great concert”, Jos Menten promised following the Belcar race. Six weeks after that dress rehearsal it is now time for the harder work. The 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Spa promises to be one of the heaviest, with no less than 20 likely candidates for victory, representing 13 makes. The 30 year old Jos Menten is joined by fellow countryman Peter Kox and the Swiss driver Marc Hayek in the Blancpain Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 with start number 24, entered by the German Reiter Engineering team.
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29-07-2011
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Jos Menten started off his 2011 circuit racing season at Spa-Francorchamps, on the occasion of the 3rd round of the Belcar Endurance Championship, the curtain raiser for the 12 Hours of Spa. The Haelen based Dutch driver was preparing together with Reiter Engineering for the upcoming 24 Hours of Spa, a race which he in fact won two years ago. For the occasion Hans Reiter entered the Lamborghini Gallardo LM560 GT3 for the Dutch-Swiss trio Jos Menten, Peter Kox and Marc Hayek. Menten and Kox have a previous history going back to 2007, when this duo competed in the FIA GT championship with the Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT. For 2011 Hayek is the regular team mate of Peter Kox in the Blancpain Endurance Series.
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19-06-2011
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Jos Menten is kicking off his 2011 racing season at Spa-Francorchamps in the third round of the Belcar championship, held as curtain raiser for the 12 Hours of Spa. The Haelen based Dutch driver, together with Reiter Engineering is preparing for the 24 Hours Spa, an event which he won two years ago. Hans Reiter is entering the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 for the Dutch-Swiss trio Jos Menten, Peter Kox and Marc Hayek. Menten and Kox have a previous history going back to 2007, when this duo competed in the FIA GT championship with the Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT.
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16-06-2011
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For the seventh meeting of the season the FIA GT1 caravan travelled on down to Portimao, Portugal. In the sunny Algarve region – and quite a contrast to the cold Nurburg experienced two weeks previously – Jos Menten once again was in the points. Together with team mate Frank Kechele Menten clinched the eighth place in the World Championship race. The race was won by Vitaphone Racing, whereby the Maserati team is pretty sure of grabbing all the titles. The second Reiter Engineering Lamborghini also finished in the points, whereby Hans Reiter’s team has strengthened its second place in the team championship.
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20-09-2010
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Reiter Engineering is pulling out all the stops to clinch the team title in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Hans Reiter’s troops are some twenty points down on the World Championship leaders Vitaphone Racing and with four rounds still to go anything is possible. When one takes a look at the drivers pairings one realises that Reiter is highly ambitious. Test and development driver Peter Kox continues to share the drive with Christopher Haase, ADAC GT champion in 2007 and European GT3 champion in 2009. In Silverstone Frank Kechele was called upon to replace Rafael Daniel. Since then we have seen Kechele perform brilliantly on numerous occasions at the wheel of the Lamborghini bearing start number 25. In Silverstone the young German talent together with Jos Menten grabbed the third place, and in Spa teamed up with Ricardo Zonta he ended up on the top rung of the podium.
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16-09-2010
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For the sixth round of the FIA GT1 World Championship the teams travelled on down to the German Eifel region. “A weekend to forget soonest”, is how Jos Menten summarised the meeting of the World Championship for GT cars on the Nürburgring. Similar to last month Menten was part of the Mad Croc Racing team, which is running two Corvette C6.R. Together with his regional partner Xavier Maassen Menten dominated in Spa-Francorchamps… up until a flat tyre threw a spanner in the works. In Germany the Dutch duo were robbed of a decent placing as the result of several collisions.
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30-08-2010
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This weekend Jos Menten will once again defend the colours of energy drink Mad Croc. The Haelen based driver has been called up to share the wheel of the Corvette C6.R with Xavier Maassen. Last month this Dutch duo was unbeatable at Spa-Francorchamps. Menten-Maassen dominated the free practice sessions, the qualifying sessions and the races … but a flat tyre in the Championship Race threw a spanner in the works. “We were in for a perfect weekend. Naturally I would have preferred winning, but in the meanwhile the loss has been digested. We showed the world what we are worth, and we presented Mad Croc with their first victory. So let’s build on that”, Jos Menten remarked looking ahead.
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27-08-2010
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Everything had started off so well for Jos Menten in Spa-Francorchamps. The Haelen based driver teamed up with Xavier Maassen had started from pole position for the qualifying race of the new FIA GT1 World Championship. Menten and his team mate Maassen dominated the qualifying race and the Limburg duo left the competition behind them. Similarly in the Championship Race it appeared as though the duo would once again be aiming for victory unchallenged … until fate threw a spanner in the works.
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01-08-2010
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A strong start to the upcoming meeting for Jos Menten and Xavier Maassen. It soon became apparent during the free practice that the Mad Croc Racing Corvette C6.R hadn’t travelled on down to Spa merely to act as a grid filler in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Menten and Maassen took the Corvette through its paces and promptly decided to park the car in the pitbox. “The car is perfect and shod with new tyres we’re definitely playing up front”, is how Menten analysed the first free practice session. “However seeing the regulations limit the number of sets, it is important not to use up all our tyres right now. Qualifying on Friday morning remains the important factor as also the races on Friday at 16.30hrs and obviously the main race on Saturday midday.”
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30-07-2010
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This coming weekend Jos Menten is competing in the 24 Hours of Spa. The Haelen-based driver, who found himself on the podium last year, will this time around be driving for the Belgian ProSpeed Competition team in this Belgian endurance race. On this occasion his choice of battle weapon will be the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Menten will be sharing the car from Weissach with his countryman Oskar Slingerland and his two southern neighbours Maxime Soulet and Julien Schroyen.
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27-07-2010
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The decision only fell on Wednesday that Jos Menten would once again be at the wheel of the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Murciélago SV-670. Team principal drummed up Menten to replace the Brazilian former F1 driver Ricardo Zonta. In 2007 the Haelen-based driver competed in the entire FIA GT championship with the Murciélago R-GT, the SV-670’s predecessor. Team-mate with Reiter Engineering was the young German talent Frank Kechele. At Silverstone Menten and Kechele crowned themselves to being the super-subs. In every session this Reiter-duo surprised friend and foe alike, bringing the Lamborghini home in a sensational third spot in this World Championship. In addition the outcome is that Menten is the best ranked driver from the Low Countries!
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02-05-2010
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For Matt Connolly Motorsports' European quartet the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona came to a premature end. Just before the halfway stage in the race the engine of their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup bearing #20 gave up the ghost. Under difficult conditions, with a heavy downpour just before the start of this American classic event, Jos Menten managed in the early stages to keep in contact with the top players. Menten and his team mates even climbed up into the top-ten of the well filled GT class. But after six hours of hard racing it became apparent that lady luck wasn't on the side of Jos Menten, Markus Palttala, Oskar Slingerland and Christophe Lapierre. An engine failure put an end to the strong performance put in by the four Europeans.
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01-02-2010
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Jos Menten, Markus Palttala, Oskar Slingerland and Christophe Lapierre qualified the MCM Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in 19th position. The team focussed its efforts on a good race set-up. "It is important not to compromise our race by trying to overdrive the car in qualifying", Jos Menten explains. "It is clear that we don't have the fastest car in the field, but we are a force to be reckoned with. The race lasts 24 hours so we have plenty of time to fight our way to the top, lapping constant times trying not to push the car over the limit", a combatitve Menten remarks. Pictures on the 24 Hours of Daytona will be regularly updated and can be found by clicking on "pictures" in the left menu.
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29-01-2010
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After his victory in the Total 24 Hours of Spa everything remained quiet for Jos Menten. The 28 year old driver from Haelen had in fact put his motorsport activities on the backburner in order to concentrate on developing his professional career. But blood is thicker than water. For the first time in his motorsport career Menten will be travelling to America. Together with Markus Palttala, Oscar Slingerland and Christophe Lapierre the Dutchman will be taking on a new adventure in the United States with as sole assignment to come up trumps in the renowned 24 Hours of Daytona.
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09-01-2010
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