After a first partial disinvestment at the end of 2015, following a human betrayal that Count Marc van der Straten then explained to us, the Belgian team Marc VDS definitively abandons motorsport to concentrate solely on motorcycle Grands Prix.
Here is his press release.
After a decade of adventures punctuated by numerous successes, but also by disappointments and annoyances, Marc van der Straten has decided to put a definitive end to his activities in motorsport.
The famous feline from the Marc VDS Racing Team will therefore desert the paddocks of the GP and LMS championships to concentrate on the highest level of motorcycling sport with the MotoGP and Moto2 Grands Prix.
Already last year, Mac van der Straten decided to end his involvement in motorsport. The moral failings of certain officials of the Marc VDS Racing Team led the President of the Belgian structure to pull the handbrake.
The decision was difficult to make, the Marc VDS Racing Team having nevertheless particularly shone in recent years. Crowned in 2013 in the “Blancpain Endurance Series” as “Pro Cup Team Champions” after appearing twice on the podium at the prestigious 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the team even obtained in 2015 the best result in its history in winning the 24 Hours of Spa, the biggest GT race in the world.
Ultimately refusing to turn the page on a human failure, Marc van der Straten finally chose at the very last moment to keep one foot in the world of motorsport by setting up a new three-year project as part of the Renault Sport Trophy organized in at the same time as the European “Le Mans Series” events. “An interesting formula in the sense that everyone has the same equipment,” underlines the Owner and President of the Marc VDS Racing Team. It’s up to the drivers and teams to make the difference. »
Proof of its competence and the talent of its troops, the Belgian team immediately won all the titles awarded in this discipline. It is this supremacy, but above all Renault's decision to abandon this competition, which led Marc van der Straten to make the decision to definitively turn the page on his involvement in motorsport.
“Motorsport has long been my great passion. A passion that my father passed on to me as he passed on many values to me. For around ten years, first as a sponsor for Tony Gillet and his Vertigo, and then as team boss, I brought together different people around me with whom I obtained numerous 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 once again with what motor racing has become. Regulations that vary according to the whims of each person, competitions that disappear as quickly as they were created, sponsors who do not keep their commitments, people without morals, profiteers... I no longer recognize the spirit and values that I knew and that I find today in motorcycling sport with the fabulous men who surround me. This is why I decided to definitively put an end to the Marc VDS Racing Team's involvement in motorsport to devote my activity to the world motorcycle speed championship. I thank everyone who helped us shine on four wheels over these ten years, and I wish them good luck for the future. »
