It is an unusual but perfect combination, the Mazda3 sedan and its 3-rotor racing rotary engine. Mr. Werner Van Herck, of Van Herck Racing, let out the most beautiful exhaust from the rotary engined Mazda3 as he took his first victory in the T3 class, at the first race in the Belgian Masters, part of the Belgian Touring Car Series (BTCS), held at Zolder.

Werner said, "The car was really fast and well balanced. We have tremendous power and the handling suits the characteristics of the racetrack here at Zolder. However, it was very hot - and since I was the only driver, one and a half hours under these conditions was really hard work."

In qualifying for the second race, Werner's best time earned him 4th on the grid, which is better than some of the faster S1-cars. Although they do not have enough of a budget to conduct a sufficient amount of testing, reliability is getting them there. Sadly though, the car was forced to retire from the second race with a broken wheel shaft.

There is one more race to go, at Spa-Francorchamps in three weeks' time.