Marc VDS Racing Team

Marc VDS Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team founded by Belgian owner Marc-Oswald van der Straten-Ponthoz, descendant of the founder of the Stella Artois brewery.[1] The team currently competes in motorcycle racing in the Moto2 World Championship and the MotoE World Cup under the name Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS. It also previously competed in many auto racing championships, particularly in grand touring classes - namely the FIA GT1 World Championship, the Blancpain Endurance Series, and the European Le Mans Series - as well as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. They have also previously contested in rallying at various rally raid events, such as the Dakar Rally.

Marc VDS Racing Team

2019 name	Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS
Base	Gosselies, Belgium
Principal	Joan Olivé
Rider(s)	Moto2: 22 Sam Lowes 37 Augusto Fernández MotoE: 63 Mike Di Meglio
Motorcycle	Moto2: Kalex MotoE: Energica
Riders' Championships	Moto2: 2014: Tito Rabat 2017: Franco Morbidelli 2019: Álex Márquez

History

Mixed motorsport era

A Ford GT1 entered by Marc VDS in the FIA GT1 World Championship

Based in Gosselies, Belgium, Marc VDS began competing in the Belcar series as part of the racing program for the Gillet Vertigo, a Belgian sports car, under the Belgian Racing title. By 2005 the Gillet program expanded to include the international FIA GT Championship, although the team was not allowed to compete for the season championship due to the low production of road legal Vertigos. Despite continued development for several years, the Gillet program ended in 2008 and van der Straten rebranded the team as Marc VDS for the 2009 season. The team however remained involved in the FIA GT Championship at the behest of Jean Michel Delporte and Bas Leinders by becoming one of two development teams for the Matech Ford GT, shifting the team to the GT1 category.[2] Marc VDS also expanded their program through the purchase of a Volkswagen Buggy TDI Rally raid for the 2010 Dakar Rally.

Scott Redding on the Marc VDS Suter MMX Moto2 motorcycle

After their year of development in FIA GT, Marc VDS was one of twelve teams granted entry in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010, where they would retain their Ford GT. The 2010 GT1 program also included an entry in the Le Mans Series' 1000 km of Spa as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shortly after entering FIA GT1, Marc VDS also announced their merger with Michael Bartholemy and Didier de Radiguès' entry in the new Moto2 category of Grand Prix motorcycle racing,[3] where riders Scott Redding and Héctor Faubel would compete on Suter bikes. Marc VDS also added a fourth program to 2010 by co-developing a Ford Mustang with Multimatic Motorsports of Canada for use in the FIA GT3 European Championship.

Tito Rabat celebrating winning his home GP in Barcelona with fellow Catalan winners of the other classes, brothers Álex and Marc Márquez, en route to his 2014 Moto2 championship

In 2013, Marc VDS had a good showing in Moto2, with their riders Scott Redding and Mika Kallio finishing 2nd and 4th in the championship. The team also expanded their motorcycle grand prix programme into the Moto3 category with Kalex-built and KTM-powered machinery with Belgian rider Livio Loi. This expansion proved a challenge, with Loi and Marc VDS barely managing to finish in the points in 4 out of 15 entered races that season. The troubles continued the following season, and despite a good 4th place finish at the third race in Argentina, Livio failed to place better than 19th in the following 6 races. Livio was ultimately replaced mid-season with Spanish rider Jorge Navarro for the remainder of the season. 2014 was, however, the first taste of major success for Marc VDS in the Moto2 class, where their riders Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the rider's championship.

For 2015, Marc VDS dropped their difficult Moto3 programme, as they were presented with the opportunity to run a satellite Honda bike in the premier MotoGP class. Former long-time Marc VDS rider Scott Redding returned for this season. Redding and Marc VDS were reasonably successful from the off, consistently finishing in points-scoring positions and even achieving a 3rd place podium position in San Marino. The team finished a respectable 8th in the team's championship, significantly ahead of even some teams who regularly fielded two riders.

In July 2015, Bas Leinders announced he had parted from the team.[4] In October 2015, Marc van der Straten announced that the sportscar racing programme would end at the conclusion of the 2015 season. He claimed he had lost confidence in his managers because they had taken too great a risk with his money.[5] In addition, the SRO Motorsports Group, organizer of the Blancpain GT Series, introduced a new regulation for the 24 Hours of Spa which stated that pro teams must compete in all races of the series to be eligible for the 24 Hours. Van der Straten did not like this decision, as the team only wished to participate in the 24 Hours of Spa. Accordingly, the Marc VDS Racing Team decided to concentrate solely on two-wheeled motorsports.

Motorcycle Grand Prix era

Franco Morbidelli on the Marc VDS Kalex Moto2 bike in 2016

In 2016, Marc VDS fielded two bikes in the MotoGP class, ridden by Australian Jack Miller and their former Moto2 champion Tito Rabat. Rabat was able to finish consistently in the points, but it was Jack Miller who gave the Marc VDS team their first taste of ultimate success at the pinnacle of motorcycle racing, by winning a rain-soaked Assen TT. The win was the first for a non-factory team in nearly a decade, dating back to the 2006 Portuguese GP.

2017 was another strong year for Marc VDS. In MotoGP, both riders continued with the team, and thanks to more consistent performances from both, Marc VDS finished 7th in the team's championship with 117 points, their best finish in the class to date. In the Moto2 class, rider Franco Morbidelli achieved 8 wins from 18 rounds, sealing another rider's championship for the team. Second rider Álex Márquez also managed three further wins, securing 4th place on the year.

For 2018, Morbidelli was promoted to the MotoGP squad alongside his Moto2 runner-up Thomas Lüthi. Morbidelli was able to consistently finish in the low point-scoring positions, thus being crowned rookie of the year, but Lüthi failed to score a single point that season. The team finished second-to-last in the team's championship in 11th. During the course of the season, team leader Bartholemy left the team by “mutual agreement”, according to a Marc VDS statement, after reports in German media claimed he had been embezzling team funds.[6] As a result of this upheaval and a desire of the MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna Sports to reduce grid sizes, Marc VDS was dropped from the MotoGP class at the end of 2018.[7]

In 2019, Marc VDS returned to winning ways in Moto2 with Álex Márquez taking 5 wins and 10 podiums en route to the rider's championship. Teammate Xavi Vierge's inconsistent results however relegated the team to just 4th place in the team's championship. The team also joined in the inaugural MotoE season with Mike Di Meglio taking pole, fastest lap, and the win at the Austrian round.

Motorsports results

Grand Prix motorcycle results

Prior to 2018, no team's championship was awarded in the Moto2 or Moto3 classes. If it were, Marc VDS Racing could likely be counted among the most successful Moto2 teams of the modern era.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap

Year	Class	Bike	Tyres	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	Pos.
2010	Moto2	Suter MMX	D		QAT	ESP	FRA	ITA	GBR	NED	CAT	GER	CZE	IND	RSM	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	POR	VAL			-	-
				Scott Redding	23	16	11	21	4	11	Ret	Ret	22	3	Ret	8	5	Ret	2	4	5
				Héctor Faubel	22	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	25	Ret	25	12	Ret	16	17	30	11	Ret	11	21
2011	Moto2	Suter MMXI	D		QAT	ESP	POR	FRA	CAT	GBR	NED	ITA	GER	CZE	IND	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL			-	-
				Mika Kallio	20	17	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	13	9	15	10	10	16	6	2
				Scott Redding	31	23	25	16	11	5	24	27	7	26	5	5	15	20	7	10	30
2012	Moto2	Kalex	D		QAT	ESP	POR	FRA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	IND	CZE	RSM	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	VAL			-	-
				Mika Kallio	10	7	9	5	9	10	10	2	11	4	9	4	15	16	6	Ret	7
				Scott Redding	6	4	11	3	10	2	3	Ret	6	6	Ret	7	3	4	11	3	22
2013	Moto2	Kalex	D		QAT	AME	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	MAL	AUS	JPN	VAL			-	-
				Mika Kallio	5	3	Ret	2	5	9	4	12	7	1	6	9	5	4	7	2	14
				Scott Redding	2	5	2	1	1	4	2	7	3	8	1	6	4	7	DNS	Ret	15
	Moto3	Kalex-KTM		Livio Loi			15	16	25	Ret	23	22	14	21	19	22	15	18	18	12	Ret			-	-
				Jules Danilo				Ret						24
2014	Moto2	Kalex	D		QAT	AME	ARG	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		-	-
				Mika Kallio	2	4	7	1	1	6	4	3	2	1	2	2	2	7	5	4	2	Ret
				Esteve Rabat	1	2	1	4	3	1	1	8	4	4	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	2
				Aiden Wagner																26
	Moto3	Kalex-KTM		Livio Loi	17	12	4	Ret	20	19	25	25												-	-
		KTM RC250GP											Ret
		Kalex-KTM		Jorge Navarro										14	Ret	27	15	Ret	Ret	12	12	Ret
2015	MotoGP	Honda RC213V	B		QAT	AME	ARG	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		84	8th
				Scott Redding	13	Ret	9	13	Ret	11	7	13	Ret	13	12	6	3	12	10	11	11	15
	Moto2	Kalex	D	Esteve Rabat	Ret	4	12	3	2	1	3	2	Ret	5	2	3	2	1	DNS	DNS		1		-	-
				Álex Márquez	11	15	15	9	Ret	12	11	9	18	10	4	4	Ret	Ret	18	9	Ret	12
2016	MotoGP	Honda RC213V	M		QAT	ARG	AME	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		87	11th
				Jack Miller	14	Ret	DNS	17	Ret	Ret	10	1	7	DNS		16	DNS		Ret	10	8	15
				Esteve Rabat	15	9	13	18	Ret	DNS	14	11	16	14	10	15	17	Ret	14	16	18	17
				Nicky Hayden														15
	Moto2	Kalex	D	Franco Morbidelli	7	25	14	4	4	8	11	3	Ret	2	8	2	5	3	3	2	2	3		-	-
				Álex Márquez	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	16	18	8	Ret	6	5	25	10	2	Ret	DNS	7	Ret
2017	MotoGP	Honda RC213V	M		QAT	ARG	AME	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL		117	7th
				Jack Miller	8	9	10	Ret	8	15	Ret	6	15	14	Ret	16	6	13		7	8	7
				Esteve Rabat	15	12	13	Ret	11	11	15	12	18	17	19	12	Ret	15	15	16	18	10
				Hiroshi Aoyama															18
	Moto2	Kalex	D	Franco Morbidelli	1	1	1	Ret	1	4	5	1	1	8	1	3	Ret	1	8	3	3	2		-	-
				Álex Márquez	5	21	4	1	4	3	1	6	Ret	2	2	14	DNS	Ret	1	6	Ret	5
2018	MotoGP	Honda RC213V	M		QAT	ARG	AME	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	50	11th
				Thomas Lüthi	16	17	18	Ret	16	Ret	Ret	20	17	16	22	C	22	17	20	20	16	16	Ret
				Franco Morbidelli	12	14	21	9	13	15	14	DNS	WD	13	19	C	12	11	14	11	8	12	Ret
				Stefan Bradl									16
	Moto2	Kalex	D	Joan Mir	11	7	4	11	3	3	Ret	5	2	Ret	8	C	5	6	Ret	11	2	10	Ret	328	3rd
				Álex Márquez	3	5	2	Ret	2	5	3	3	13	Ret	Ret	C	18	4	Ret	4	7	7	3
2019	Moto2	Kalex	D		QAT	ARG	AME	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	343	4th
				Álex Márquez	7	3	5	24	1	1	1	Ret	1	1	2	Ret	3	3	5	6	8	2	30
				Xavi Vierge	10	DNS	Ret	6	5	12	8	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	10	8	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	7
	MotoE	Energica Ego	M		GER	AUT	RSM		VAL															-	-
				Mike Di Meglio	3	1	Ret	10	10	6

Rally Raid

Year	Race	Class	Vehicle	Pilot Co-pilot	Class result
2010	Dakar	Car	VW Buggy TDI	Stéphane Henrard François Béguin	21 [8]

FIA GT1 World Championship

Year	Car	No.	Drivers
				1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Points	Pos.
				QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR	QR	CR
2010	Ford GT1	40	Bas Leinders Maxime Martin	6	13	19	8	16	Ret	20	4	9	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	5	3	5	11	5	3	Ret	62	8
		41	Markus Palttala Renaud Kuppens (1-7) Matteo Bobbi (8-10)	Ret	DNS	18	10	18	15	22	14	14	15	12	17	19	15	12	10	20	15	15	Ret
2011		40	Bas Leinders Marc Hennerici (1-9) Ricardo Risatti (10)	11	DNS	Ret	10	Ret	10	Ret	8	11	6	12	10	Ret	12	10	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	132	6
		41	Maxime Martin Frédéric Makowiecki (1-2,4-5,7-8) Yann Clairay (3, 10) Bertrand Baguette (6, 9)	1	8	5	8	6	Ret	1	Ret	NC	Ret	3	4	5	6	1	1	Ret	4	15	11

Blancplain Endurance Series results

The Marc VDS Racing BMW Z4 gt3 that won the 2015 24 Hours of Spa

Year	Team	Class	Car	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	Pos.
2011	Marc VDS Racing Team	Pro Cup	BMW Z4 GT3	40	Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Markus Palttala (1-2, 4-5) Marc Hennerici (3)			Ret	1	1		85	2nd
			Ford GT3			3	13
				41	Markus Palttala Jonathan Hirschi Antoine Leclerc	DNS	DNS	11
			Alpina B6 GT3		Dylan Derdaele Dino Lunardi Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof					6
		Pro-Am Cup	Ford Mustang FR500 GT3	92	Éric Bachelart Marc Duez Jean-Michel Martin			28				-	-
2012	Marc VDS Racing Team	Pro Cup	BMW Z4 GT3	3	Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Markus Palttala	1	1	2	4	Ret	4	122	2nd
				4	Mike Hezemens (1-5) Bert Longin Henri Moser Nick Catsburg (6)	11	Ret	6	15	8	12
2013	Marc VDS Racing Team	Pro Cup	BMW Z4 GT3	3	Yelmer Buurman Bas Leinders Maxime Martin	10	Ret	1	Ret	3		99	1st
				4	Nick Catsburg (1-2, 4-5) Henri Moser Markus Palttala Andrea Piccini (3)	36	5	21	Ret	7
				14	Jens Klingmann Dirk Müller Andrea Piccini				Ret
2014	BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS	Pro Cup	BMW Z4 GT3	66	Augusto Farfus Maxime Martin Jörg Müller				Ret			-	-
				77	Lucas Luhr Markus Palttala Dirk Werner				2
2015	BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS	Pro Cup	BMW Z4 GT3	45	Augusto Farfus Maxime Martin Dirk Werner				31			58	5th
				46	Lucas Luhr Maxime Martin (3) Markus Palttala Nick Catsburg (4)			3	1
Blancpain Endurance Series results[9]

24 Hours of Le Mans

Year	Team	Driver	Car	Class	Laps	Overall result	Class result
2010	Marc VDS Racing Team	Eric de Doncker Bas Leinders Markus Palttala	Ford GT1	GT	26	DNF	DNF
2011	Kronos Racing Marc VDS Racing Team	Vanina Ickx Bas Leinders Maxime Martin	Lola B09/60	LMP1	328	7	7

24 Hours of Nürburgring

Year	Team	Driver	Car	Class	Laps	Overall result	Class result
2012	Marc VDS Racing	Maxime Martin Bas Leinders Markus Palttala	BMW Z4 GT3	SP9	154	4	4
2013	Marc VDS Racing	Maxime Martin Andrea Piccini Yelmer Buurman Richard Göransson	BMW Z4 GT3	SP9	88	2	2
2014	BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS	Maxime Martin Jörg Müller Uwe Alzen Marco Wittmann	BMW Z4 GT3	SP9 GT3	60	DNF	DNF
		Bas Leinders Markus Palttala Nick Catsburg Dirk Adorf			60	DNF	DNF
2015	BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS	Maxime Martin Lucas Luhr Markus Palttala Richard Westbrook	BMW Z4 GT3	SP9 GT3	156	2	2
		Augusto Farfus Jörg Müller Nick Catsburg Dirk Adorf			155	4	4

Complete NASCAR Whelen Euro Series results

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1
Year	Car	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Pts
2014	Toyota Camry	32	Bas Leinders	VAL 13	VAL 18	BRH 9	BRH 5	TOU 21	TOU 7	NUR 19	NUR 19	UMB 21	UMB 21	BUG 21	BUG 5	14th	464
		46	Markus Palttala	VAL	VAL	BRH 8	BRH 9	TOU	TOU	NUR 6	NUR 21	UMB	UMB	BUG	BUG	22nd	178
			Nathalie Maillet	VAL	VAL	BRH	BRH	TOU	TOU	NUR	NUR	UMB DNS	UMB DNS	BUG DNS	BUG DNS	32nd	106
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2
Year	Car	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Pts
2014	Toyota Camry	32	Denis Dupont	VAL 10	VAL DNS	BRH 2	BRH 22	TOU 1*	TOU 1*	NUR 20	NUR 18	UMB 8	UMB 18	BUG 8	BUG 3	5th	561
		46	Nathalie Maillet	VAL 12	VAL 16	BRH 21	BRH 12	TOU 14	TOU 17	NUR 6	NUR 19	UMB DNS	UMB DNS	BUG 10	BUG 6	12th	481

References

1. Borghi, Enrico (12 July 2017). "Marc van der Straten (VDS): Milliardär und Mäzen". SpeedWeek.com (in German). Retrieved 24 November 2019.
2. "Marc VDS Racing Team to enter Ford in 2009". planetlemans.com. Planet Le Mans. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
3. Matthew Birt (10 December 2009). "Ex-Kawasaki MotoGP boss unveils Moto2 plan". motorcyclenews.com. Motor Cycle News. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
4. Dagys, John (30 July 2015). "Leinders, Marc VDS Part Ways". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
5. Watkins, Gary (6 October 2015). "BMW sportscar team Marc VDS Racing stops car racing programme". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
6. Klein, Jamie (6 June 2018). "Bartholemy cleared of Marc VDS embezzlement allegations". motorsport.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
7. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (21 September 2018). "MotoGP outlines reduced 22-bike 2019 field, Marc VDS drops out". autosport.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
8. "2010 Dakar final standings - Car". motorsport.com. 18 Jan 2010. Retrieved 24 Nov 2019.
9. "Blancpain Endurance Series". RacingSportsCars.com. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Marc VDS Racing Team on Twitter