The Dutch Supercar Challenge moved down to Spa Francorchamps for the penultimate weekend of the season with Martin Short and Cor Euser in a close fight over this years GT class crown.
During a dry free practice Martin Short steered his Mosler Europe entry to a lap time almost a second faster than runner up Guino Kenis in his G&A Mosler MT900R. Marcos driver Cor Euser was fourth behind Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens in their Viper. Other Moslers drivers were DSC regular Berry van Elk in sixth, Kevin Riley in eleventh and the Woodcock brothers in sixteenth.
In qualifying Martin Short struggled to get a perfect lap on the technical Belgian track. He was unsatisfied with his third place on Saturdays grid, because he was over two and a half seconds of the pace of De Graaff and Ribbens in their Viper, who managed to get pole position for their 100th race as a duo after a stunning lap. Even worse, Cor Euser showed to be quicker around the track resulting in a front row spot for the Dutchman. Guino Kenis and Berry van Elk shared the third row on the grid, while the Woodcock brothers were a bit of the pace in eleventh. Kevin Riley was hit by technical difficulties and was not able to put a time on the table.
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Under the threat of rain so usual for this race track the cars lined up for the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. After the rolling start the field of 47 cars sprinted to the tight hairpin at the end of the pit straight. While the front of the pack braked for this first corner, Porsche 997 RSR driver Rick Abresch was somewhat overoptimistic and tried to overtake his competitors by outbraking them. As he found himself braking on the grass strip between the pit wall and the storming pack he experienced an unsurprising lack of grip and lost control. In his spin he hit the G&A Mosler of Guino Kenis, who in turn hit Martin Short. Berry van Elk was unable to avoid the spinning Kenis, resulting in a sour hattrick of three Moslers unable to continue after the first corner. Peter Versluis, driving the bright red Ferrari 430 GT2 took advantage of the mayhem and found himself in third place after he started from ninth.
Because of the debris the safety car was brought on to the track for two laps. After the restart Robert de Graaff managed to prevent the Marcos LM600 of Cor Euser from overtaking him. A tense but fair duel followed until Euser was able to outbrake the Viper at the bus stop chicane some laps later.
Due to the differences in mandatory pit stop times Peter Versluis rejoined as leader, closely followed by Cor Euser. The Marcos driver quickly passed the Ferrari of Versluis, but found the Viper, now driven by Philippe Ribbens, on his tail the next lap.
In the second half of the race the lead did not change. Cor Euser took maximum advantage of Martin Shorts misfortune and established a comfortable lead in the championship standings by winning the race and thus ensuring pole postion for Sunday. Philippe Ribbens managed to stay close to Euser after taking over the wheel of the Viper during the pit stop and finished a good second. Behind them the Mad & Daring team took places three, four and five with Ferrari driver Peter Versluis in front of the Werkman - Pastorelli duo in a V8 Star and Alex van 't Hof and David Hart driving a Corvette Z06 GT3. Of the two remaining Moslers the Woodcock MT900R finished highest in seventh, while Kevin Riley worked his way up from the back of the grid to P16.
The Sunday race started on a chilled and rainy track with the four victims of yesterdays first corner accident at the back of the grid. In front of them where the considerable slower entries of the Sport and Supersport classes, posing potentially dangerous cars to overtake with the limited sight in the spray. Luckily everyone was wise enough and the start saw no accidents this time. Euser and Ribbens immediately created a gap when Versluis spun halfway through the first lap. Martin Short, who had to start from the very back of the grid after the crash on Saturday, had an absolutely amazing start, overtaking no less than 30 cars during the first lap.
Guino Kenis also took off like a rocket, challenging Belgian guest GT driver Verbist in his Renault Megane Endurance after just a few laps. The cars made contact in Les Combes, but both were able to continue with Verbist leading Kenis. Meanwhile Euser was building a gap to ensure his lead after the pit stops. His strategy worked, because he found himself in the lead in front of Omega V8 Star of the Werkman - Pastorelli duo. Robert de Graaff was fighting Martin Short over third place, a battle won by the English Mosler driver. Not much later Danny Werkman in his V8 Star also had to succumb, allowing Short to climb to the second place.
Cor Euser was well out of Shorts sight by now, leading by over twenty seconds. The battle for third place continued with De Graaff recording quicker lap times than Werkman. Without putting up much of a fight, Werkman saw De Graaff steer his Viper to the podium. Versluis however was not able to pass Werkman, resulting in a fourth place for Danny Werkman and Nicky Pastorelli and a fifth place for Peter Versuis. Well ahead of them Cor Euser took the checkered flag, leading Martin Short who had fought his way up from the last place at the start to the second place at the finish. An outstanding performance needed to stay in the running for the GT title in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens finished a problem free weekend with a good third place.
Berry van Elk encountered a lot of understeer during the race and came in sixth. Kevin Riley was the last Mosler to finish in a disappointing 26th place.
The championship will be decided during the final weekend at Assen, October 24th and 25th.
During a dry free practice Martin Short steered his Mosler Europe entry to a lap time almost a second faster than runner up Guino Kenis in his G&A Mosler MT900R. Marcos driver Cor Euser was fourth behind Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens in their Viper. Other Moslers drivers were DSC regular Berry van Elk in sixth, Kevin Riley in eleventh and the Woodcock brothers in sixteenth.
In qualifying Martin Short struggled to get a perfect lap on the technical Belgian track. He was unsatisfied with his third place on Saturdays grid, because he was over two and a half seconds of the pace of De Graaff and Ribbens in their Viper, who managed to get pole position for their 100th race as a duo after a stunning lap. Even worse, Cor Euser showed to be quicker around the track resulting in a front row spot for the Dutchman. Guino Kenis and Berry van Elk shared the third row on the grid, while the Woodcock brothers were a bit of the pace in eleventh. Kevin Riley was hit by technical difficulties and was not able to put a time on the table.
Under the threat of rain so usual for this race track the cars lined up for the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. After the rolling start the field of 47 cars sprinted to the tight hairpin at the end of the pit straight. While the front of the pack braked for this first corner, Porsche 997 RSR driver Rick Abresch was somewhat overoptimistic and tried to overtake his competitors by outbraking them. As he found himself braking on the grass strip between the pit wall and the storming pack he experienced an unsurprising lack of grip and lost control. In his spin he hit the G&A Mosler of Guino Kenis, who in turn hit Martin Short. Berry van Elk was unable to avoid the spinning Kenis, resulting in a sour hattrick of three Moslers unable to continue after the first corner. Peter Versluis, driving the bright red Ferrari 430 GT2 took advantage of the mayhem and found himself in third place after he started from ninth.
Because of the debris the safety car was brought on to the track for two laps. After the restart Robert de Graaff managed to prevent the Marcos LM600 of Cor Euser from overtaking him. A tense but fair duel followed until Euser was able to outbrake the Viper at the bus stop chicane some laps later.
Due to the differences in mandatory pit stop times Peter Versluis rejoined as leader, closely followed by Cor Euser. The Marcos driver quickly passed the Ferrari of Versluis, but found the Viper, now driven by Philippe Ribbens, on his tail the next lap.
In the second half of the race the lead did not change. Cor Euser took maximum advantage of Martin Shorts misfortune and established a comfortable lead in the championship standings by winning the race and thus ensuring pole postion for Sunday. Philippe Ribbens managed to stay close to Euser after taking over the wheel of the Viper during the pit stop and finished a good second. Behind them the Mad & Daring team took places three, four and five with Ferrari driver Peter Versluis in front of the Werkman - Pastorelli duo in a V8 Star and Alex van 't Hof and David Hart driving a Corvette Z06 GT3. Of the two remaining Moslers the Woodcock MT900R finished highest in seventh, while Kevin Riley worked his way up from the back of the grid to P16.
The Sunday race started on a chilled and rainy track with the four victims of yesterdays first corner accident at the back of the grid. In front of them where the considerable slower entries of the Sport and Supersport classes, posing potentially dangerous cars to overtake with the limited sight in the spray. Luckily everyone was wise enough and the start saw no accidents this time. Euser and Ribbens immediately created a gap when Versluis spun halfway through the first lap. Martin Short, who had to start from the very back of the grid after the crash on Saturday, had an absolutely amazing start, overtaking no less than 30 cars during the first lap.
Guino Kenis also took off like a rocket, challenging Belgian guest GT driver Verbist in his Renault Megane Endurance after just a few laps. The cars made contact in Les Combes, but both were able to continue with Verbist leading Kenis. Meanwhile Euser was building a gap to ensure his lead after the pit stops. His strategy worked, because he found himself in the lead in front of Omega V8 Star of the Werkman - Pastorelli duo. Robert de Graaff was fighting Martin Short over third place, a battle won by the English Mosler driver. Not much later Danny Werkman in his V8 Star also had to succumb, allowing Short to climb to the second place.
Cor Euser was well out of Shorts sight by now, leading by over twenty seconds. The battle for third place continued with De Graaff recording quicker lap times than Werkman. Without putting up much of a fight, Werkman saw De Graaff steer his Viper to the podium. Versluis however was not able to pass Werkman, resulting in a fourth place for Danny Werkman and Nicky Pastorelli and a fifth place for Peter Versuis. Well ahead of them Cor Euser took the checkered flag, leading Martin Short who had fought his way up from the last place at the start to the second place at the finish. An outstanding performance needed to stay in the running for the GT title in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens finished a problem free weekend with a good third place.
Berry van Elk encountered a lot of understeer during the race and came in sixth. Kevin Riley was the last Mosler to finish in a disappointing 26th place.
The championship will be decided during the final weekend at Assen, October 24th and 25th.
