The final races of the year for the Dutch Supercar Challenge were staged at the TT track near Assen, The Netherlands. With Martin Short still in the running to defend his GT class title from Cor Euser, excitement was guarantied.
In free practice on Friday morning Englishman Martin Short showed he would not go down without a fight and steered his Mosler MT900R to the fastest time by a margin of a second. The duo De Graaff - Ribbens came second in their Viper, a second ahead of Peter Versluis with his Ferrari 430 GT2. Cor Euser proved he still had some work to do to beat Short. He drove his Marcos to the fourth place on the time sheet, just over two and a half seconds behind Short. The second Mosler driver of the field, Berry van Elk, just managed to put his blue MT900R on the fifth place on the dry track.
Qualifying took place Friday afternoon. Martin Short proved again he was the man to beat by taking pole position. He stunned the opposition with his pace, but the experienced Mosler driver described his lap as "not really perfect". Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens put their bright yellow Viper on the front row, but they never came close to the time put on the sheets by Short as he was almost two seconds faster. Third was Peter Versluis, just ahead of Cor Euser who chose to stay on the safe side and not risk a crash by pushing the limit. Berry van Elk was fifth again, but he improved his lap time from the practice session by over two seconds. Although Martin Short took pole well ahead of Cor Euser, he did not belief he still had a real chance to win the title: "Cor has to fail to finish a race, and finish the other one well behind me. I do not think it is going to happen, but still I will try everything I can."
Before the start of the race on Saturday, the grid was dominated by doubt over the tyre choice. The sky was gray and the back of the track was wet, but it was not clear whether it would rain or stay dry. As the mechanics left the start grid it was seemed some teams were willing to take a gamble. Philippe Ribbens started on slicks in his Viper, as did Peter Versluis. Martin Short opted for intermediates and Euser and Van Elk went for full wets.
.jpg)
When the lights turned green Versluis experienced the track was cold and damp as he spun into the pit wall. Luckily everyone could stay clear of his Ferrari. In front Martin Short had the best start.
For Philippe Ribbens the race started in a huge disappointment. Just a couple hundred meters into the race his differential broke and he had to retire. Martin Short in his Mosler MT900R was able to build a big lead over Cor Euser as the rain disappeared and the track dried, leaving the men on full wets in trouble. Berry van Elk took advantage of the misfortune of Ribbens and Versluis and followed on a good third position.
During the mandatory pit stops Van Elk passed Euser who had to stay in longer because of his result penalty seconds. The young Van Elk made a mistake by staying on full wets on the drying track as both Short and Euser went for slicks. Euser overtook Van Elk without a fight as he was lapping ten seconds faster due to his tyre choice. In front Short recorded the fastest lap time of the race on his new and preheated slicks, bringing him an extra point in his fight for the GT title. At the finish Martin Short won by a huge margin of over 85 seconds in front of Cor Euser. Even though Berry van Elk struggled with his worn out rain tyres on the now dry track he took the final place on the podium with a comfortable lead over the Abresch - Pastorelli duo in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Fifth were Van 't Hoff and Werkman in a Corvette Z06 GT3. Martin Short was happy with his win, but the fight for the championship was over as Euser's second place was enough to crown him GT champion for 2009 by just one point. Short: "Congratulations to Cor. He fought hard and is a very worthy champion."
The cars lined up for the race on Sunday according to the results from the day before, so Martin Short in his Mosler MT900R and Cor Euser in his Marcos "La Bomba" LM600 shared the front row, ahead of fellow Mosler driver Berry van Elk and SuperSport 1 class drivers Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois who shared a Renault Megane Trophy.
With the championship sealed Martin Short and Cor Euser were planning on racing each other hard but fair to entertain both the crowd and them selfs. Unfortunately for them Short suffered a drive shaft failure in the first lap but he was able to make it back to the pit. Meanwhile Euser took the lead, well ahead of the rest of the pack. Both Ferrari driver Peter Versluis and Robert de Graaff in the Viper had an excellent start. Since they had to retire in the opening laps of the race on Saturday, they started from the back of the grid but after the first lap they were already in second and third position! Robert de Graaff was absolutely flooring the throttle and within a few laps he put the newly crowned GT champion Euser under pressure. Not long after he positioned his car on the outside of the fast Ramshoek corner to have the better line for the Geert Timmer chicane. With this beautiful overtaking manoeuvre De Graaff took the lead of the race.
Further down the field Mosler driver Van Elk was recovering from his weak start. Coming from the middle of the field the first real opposition he encountered was Alex van 't Hoff in his Corvette Z06 GT3. After a little pressure Van 't Hoff missed his breaking point and Van Elk passed him without to much effort. After his mistake Van 't Hoff was reeled in by his team mate Rick Abresch, but another mistake meant he lost another position. In the meantime Martin Short's Rollcentre team showed their endurance pedigree by putting in a new driveshaft in under fifteen minutes. Without a chance to win, Short concentrated on beating the class lap record in which he succeeded very well.
The pit stops shook up the rankings and Peter Versluis came out the leader as both the Viper driven by De Graaff - Ribbens and Cor Euser had a lot more result penalty seconds. Berry van Elk was now in second, but not for long. Philippe Ribbens was sure to end his difficult season on a high and overtook the Mosler driver with ease. Unfortunately the Viper was struck by technical problems so the team had to retire in the pit lane again. Van Elk, now back in second, had to fight off both Francesco Pastorelli in a Porsche and Cor Euser. The pressure from these two skilled racers forced him into an error and he spun into the scenery and out of the race at the first corner. Now Pastorelli was in second and under pressure from the Dutch ace driver. Lap after lap Euser was looking for a gap until finally Pastorelli had to give in.
Peter Versluis took the checkered flag in his Ferrari 430 GT2 after a flawless drive. Eighteen seconds later Cor Euser finished his championship on a high by coming in second just ahead of Francesco Pastorelli who shared the Porsche with Rick Abresch.
In free practice on Friday morning Englishman Martin Short showed he would not go down without a fight and steered his Mosler MT900R to the fastest time by a margin of a second. The duo De Graaff - Ribbens came second in their Viper, a second ahead of Peter Versluis with his Ferrari 430 GT2. Cor Euser proved he still had some work to do to beat Short. He drove his Marcos to the fourth place on the time sheet, just over two and a half seconds behind Short. The second Mosler driver of the field, Berry van Elk, just managed to put his blue MT900R on the fifth place on the dry track.
Qualifying took place Friday afternoon. Martin Short proved again he was the man to beat by taking pole position. He stunned the opposition with his pace, but the experienced Mosler driver described his lap as "not really perfect". Robert de Graaff and Philippe Ribbens put their bright yellow Viper on the front row, but they never came close to the time put on the sheets by Short as he was almost two seconds faster. Third was Peter Versluis, just ahead of Cor Euser who chose to stay on the safe side and not risk a crash by pushing the limit. Berry van Elk was fifth again, but he improved his lap time from the practice session by over two seconds. Although Martin Short took pole well ahead of Cor Euser, he did not belief he still had a real chance to win the title: "Cor has to fail to finish a race, and finish the other one well behind me. I do not think it is going to happen, but still I will try everything I can."
Before the start of the race on Saturday, the grid was dominated by doubt over the tyre choice. The sky was gray and the back of the track was wet, but it was not clear whether it would rain or stay dry. As the mechanics left the start grid it was seemed some teams were willing to take a gamble. Philippe Ribbens started on slicks in his Viper, as did Peter Versluis. Martin Short opted for intermediates and Euser and Van Elk went for full wets.
When the lights turned green Versluis experienced the track was cold and damp as he spun into the pit wall. Luckily everyone could stay clear of his Ferrari. In front Martin Short had the best start.
For Philippe Ribbens the race started in a huge disappointment. Just a couple hundred meters into the race his differential broke and he had to retire. Martin Short in his Mosler MT900R was able to build a big lead over Cor Euser as the rain disappeared and the track dried, leaving the men on full wets in trouble. Berry van Elk took advantage of the misfortune of Ribbens and Versluis and followed on a good third position.
During the mandatory pit stops Van Elk passed Euser who had to stay in longer because of his result penalty seconds. The young Van Elk made a mistake by staying on full wets on the drying track as both Short and Euser went for slicks. Euser overtook Van Elk without a fight as he was lapping ten seconds faster due to his tyre choice. In front Short recorded the fastest lap time of the race on his new and preheated slicks, bringing him an extra point in his fight for the GT title. At the finish Martin Short won by a huge margin of over 85 seconds in front of Cor Euser. Even though Berry van Elk struggled with his worn out rain tyres on the now dry track he took the final place on the podium with a comfortable lead over the Abresch - Pastorelli duo in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Fifth were Van 't Hoff and Werkman in a Corvette Z06 GT3. Martin Short was happy with his win, but the fight for the championship was over as Euser's second place was enough to crown him GT champion for 2009 by just one point. Short: "Congratulations to Cor. He fought hard and is a very worthy champion."
The cars lined up for the race on Sunday according to the results from the day before, so Martin Short in his Mosler MT900R and Cor Euser in his Marcos "La Bomba" LM600 shared the front row, ahead of fellow Mosler driver Berry van Elk and SuperSport 1 class drivers Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois who shared a Renault Megane Trophy.
With the championship sealed Martin Short and Cor Euser were planning on racing each other hard but fair to entertain both the crowd and them selfs. Unfortunately for them Short suffered a drive shaft failure in the first lap but he was able to make it back to the pit. Meanwhile Euser took the lead, well ahead of the rest of the pack. Both Ferrari driver Peter Versluis and Robert de Graaff in the Viper had an excellent start. Since they had to retire in the opening laps of the race on Saturday, they started from the back of the grid but after the first lap they were already in second and third position! Robert de Graaff was absolutely flooring the throttle and within a few laps he put the newly crowned GT champion Euser under pressure. Not long after he positioned his car on the outside of the fast Ramshoek corner to have the better line for the Geert Timmer chicane. With this beautiful overtaking manoeuvre De Graaff took the lead of the race.
Further down the field Mosler driver Van Elk was recovering from his weak start. Coming from the middle of the field the first real opposition he encountered was Alex van 't Hoff in his Corvette Z06 GT3. After a little pressure Van 't Hoff missed his breaking point and Van Elk passed him without to much effort. After his mistake Van 't Hoff was reeled in by his team mate Rick Abresch, but another mistake meant he lost another position. In the meantime Martin Short's Rollcentre team showed their endurance pedigree by putting in a new driveshaft in under fifteen minutes. Without a chance to win, Short concentrated on beating the class lap record in which he succeeded very well.
The pit stops shook up the rankings and Peter Versluis came out the leader as both the Viper driven by De Graaff - Ribbens and Cor Euser had a lot more result penalty seconds. Berry van Elk was now in second, but not for long. Philippe Ribbens was sure to end his difficult season on a high and overtook the Mosler driver with ease. Unfortunately the Viper was struck by technical problems so the team had to retire in the pit lane again. Van Elk, now back in second, had to fight off both Francesco Pastorelli in a Porsche and Cor Euser. The pressure from these two skilled racers forced him into an error and he spun into the scenery and out of the race at the first corner. Now Pastorelli was in second and under pressure from the Dutch ace driver. Lap after lap Euser was looking for a gap until finally Pastorelli had to give in.
Peter Versluis took the checkered flag in his Ferrari 430 GT2 after a flawless drive. Eighteen seconds later Cor Euser finished his championship on a high by coming in second just ahead of Francesco Pastorelli who shared the Porsche with Rick Abresch.
