SWITZERLAND — Marc van der Straten, 78, died at his home in Switzerland on July 5, 2026. He was a member of the van der Straten-Ponthoz family, which is tied to the lineage behind the Stella Artois brewing company. His father was also a racer.

Van der Straten raced the Gillet Vertigo in the Belcar series under the Belgian Racing banner. By 2005, he competed in the FIA GT Championship. The Gillet Vertigo program was not eligible to score points toward the GT championship because Gillet did not build enough road-going examples to meet homologation rules.

In 2009, the team rebranded as Marc VDS and became a development partner for the Matech-built Ford GT1. Marc VDS earned one of twelve entries in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010. That year, the team entered a Ford GT1 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans but did not finish the race.

In 2011, a Kronos Racing/Marc VDS-entered Lola-Aston Martin LMP1 finished seventh overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Vanina Ickx, daughter of Jacky Ickx, drove alongside Bas Leinders and Maxime Martin in that race. Marc VDS also began running BMW Z4 GT3s in 2011.

The team won the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup title with drivers Yelmer Buurman, Bas Leinders, and Maxime Martin. BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS subsequently won the 2015 24 Hours of Spa outright with Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin, and Dirk Werner driving. Van der Straten ended the Marc VDS sportscar program in October 2015, following a regulation introduced by SRO requiring Pro Cup teams to contest the full Blancpain season to remain eligible for the Spa 24 Hours.

In 2010, van der Straten merged with Michael Bartholemy and Didier de Radiguès to enter the Moto2 World Championship. Marc VDS fielded Scott Redding and Héctor Faubel on Suter machinery that season. The team saw Tito Rabat win the Moto2 World Championship title in 2014, followed by Franco Morbidelli in 2017 and Álex Márquez in 2019.

Marc VDS operated a satellite MotoGP team from 2015 to 2018. Jack Miller secured a win for the team at the 2016 Dutch TT at Assen, marking the first victory for a non-factory team in the premier class since the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix. On June 28, 2026, a Boutsen VDS-run Porsche finished eighth overall at the 79th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.