Bert Longin
Belgian racing driver (born 1965)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bert Longin (born 26 October 1965) is a Belgian racing driver who last competed for HAAS RT in the Middle East Trophy.
Belgian
FIA Gold (until 2015)
FIA Silver (2016–2020)
FIA Bronze (2021–)| Bert Longin | |
|---|---|
Longin in 2022 | |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Born | 26 October 1965 Rotselaar, Belgium |
| Relatives | Stienes Longin (son) |
| Racing licence | FIA Gold (until 2015) FIA Silver (2016–2020) FIA Bronze (2021–) |
| Championship titles | |
| 2002–2004, 2006, 2013, 2022–2023 | Belcar |
Personal life
Longin is the father of Stienes Longin, who is also a racing driver.[1] Longin is also the CEO of Longin Service.[2]
Career
Longin began racing in 1996 in the Zolder Touring Cup, following a test drive offered by a friend,[3] a year in which he also won the Zolder 10 Hours.[4] The following year, Longin began racing in Belcar Endurance Championship with AD Sport, racing with them until 2000,[5] as well as debuting at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998 and making a one-off appearance in the 2000 FIA GT Championship at Zolder.[6]
Joining GLPK Racing for 2001,[7] Longin continued racing mainly in the Belcar Endurance Championship, which he won overall in 2002,[8] as well as the 24 Hours of Zolder the same year.[9] Longin also continued racing part-time in the FIA GT Championship in the N-GT class, in which he most notably scored a class podium at the 2002 Spa 24 Hours for Freisinger Motorsport.[10] Longin then won the following two editions of the 24 Hours of Zolder for GLPK Racing,[11][12] whilst also racing full-time in the FIA GT Championship for Freisinger Motorsport in the N-GT class in 2003,[13] before switching to the GT class in 2004 with JMB Racing.[14]
Remaining with GLPK Racing as they stepped up to the FIA GT Championship in 2005,[15] Longin won at Imola and Zhuhai as well as taking four more podiums to end the year sixth in points.[16][17] Longin's second season with the team in FIA GT Championship proved to be less successful, only winning at Le Castellet and taking four more podiums to secure seventh in points,[18] whilst also securing his fourth overall Belcar title with the same team.[19] Two more years with PK Carsport then ensued, yielding a GT3 class title in Belcar in 2007,[20] as well as six podiums and a win at San Luis in 2008 in the FIA GT Championship.[21]
Longin switched to Selleslagh Racing Team for the 2009 FIA GT Championship season alongside James Ruffier,[22] taking a lone win at Algarve and a third-place finish at Le Castellet to secure third in points.[23] As FIA GT rebranded to the FIA GT1 World Championship the following year, Longin joined Team Hegersport for his only season in the series, enduring a tough year as he scored points only four times with a best result of fourth at Silverstone.[24] That year, Longin also raced in the Belcar Endurance Championship, in which he scored his fourth 24 Hours of Zolder win in August.[25]
Switching to Blancpain Endurance Series for 2011 and joining WRT,[26] Longin finished second three times to secure third in points,[27] as well as finishing runner-up in the GT3 standings of the Belcar Endurance Championship and winning the Zolder 24 Hours overall for the fifth time.[28] The following year Longin returned to the series, as he switched to Marc VDS Racing Team, joining Mike Hezemans and Henri Moser.[29] In his sophomore season in the series, Longin scored a best result of sixth at Le Castellet, as he ended the year 13th in the Pro standings.[30]
Following a year in International GT Open in which he scored a lone class win at Le Castellet and winning his fifth Belcar Endurance Championship title,[31][32] Longin returned to PK Carsport to race in the Elite 1 class of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.[33] In his first season in the series, Longin qualified on pole on debut at Valencia, a round in which he scored his best results of the season by finishing second and third in the two races, en route to a sixth-place points finish.[34][35] The same year, Longin finished second overall and first in the Prototype 1 class of the Zolder 24 Hours.[36]
Two more seasons in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for PK Carsport then ensued,[37] in which he finished 12th in 2015, taking a best result of fourth at Magione, and fifth in 2016 with a best result of third in race one in Adria, in what was his last full-time season in Elite 1.[38] In 2016, Longin also competed in the LMP3 class of the European Le Mans Series for Race Performance,[39] taking a best result of sixth twice to finish 13th in the class standings.[40]
After racing locally in 2017 and running a limited schedule in the 2018 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and Belcar Endurance Championships,[41] Longin returned to full-time competition the following year, racing in both Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup and Belcar Endurance Championship.[42] In both series, Longin was runner-up in points,[43][44] and also took his sixth win at the 24 Hours of Zolder in the latter.[45]
Longin then raced part-time in Belcar the following year, before returning to PK Carsport to race in the Pro-Am class of the 2021 GT2 European Series.[46] In his first season in the series, Longin scored his maiden win at Monza,[47] before scoring further wins at Misano and Spa to secure runner-up honors in points.[48][49] Returning to the series and team the following year,[50] scoring a best result of second in class at the Red Bull Ring en route to a third-place points finish.[51] During 2022, Longin also scored his seventh 24 Hours of Zolder win as well as his sixth Belcar Endurance Championship title.[52][53]
In 2023, Longin returned to full-time competition in the Belcar Endurance Championship, scoring his seventh and final title with PK Carsport.[54] Longin then competed part-time in Belcar the following year, winning the season-finale at Zolder and announcing his retirement from full-time motorsport,[55] before making a one-off appearance in the 2025 Middle East Trophy for HAAS RT at the Dubai 24 Hour.[56]
Racing record
Racing career summary
† As Longin was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete FIA GT Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT1 World Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete International GT Open results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1 results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | NWES | Pts | |||
| 2014 | PK Carsport | 11 | Chevy | VAL 2 |
VAL 3 |
BRH 18 |
BRH 21 |
TOU 6 |
TOU 9 |
NÜR 12 |
NÜR 8 |
UMB 8 |
UMB 7 |
BUG 5 |
BUG 7 |
6th | 573 | |||
| 2015 | VAL 17 |
VAL 22 |
VEN 5 |
VEN 15 |
BRH 8 |
BRH 6 |
TOU 12 |
TOU 12 |
UMB 15 |
UMB 4 |
ZOL 15 |
ZOL 17 |
12th | 509 | ||||||
| 2016 | VAL 7 |
VAL 9 |
VEN DNS |
VEN 11 |
BRH 10 |
BRH 11 |
TOU 10 |
TOU 7 |
ADR 3 |
ADR 4 |
ZOL 19 |
ZOL 8 |
5th | 535 | ||||||
| 2018 | Alex Caffi Motorsport | 1 | Ford | VAL | VAL | FRA | FRA | BRH 23 |
BRH 27 |
TOU | TOU | 38th | 60 | |||||||
| PK Carsport | 11 | Chevy | HOC 25 |
HOC DNS |
ZOL | ZOL | ||||||||||||||
Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2
Complete GT2 European Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)