After the wet Sunday race at the Nürburgring, the teams were happy to find the TT circuit of Assen a sunny track for rounds five and six of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Still without the injured Martin Short and the smashed up Strata 21 Mosler, and with Alex van 't Hoff in a Ferrari F430 because of a broken engine, only two Moslers made it to the Dutch track.
During free practice on Friday young Dutch Mosler driver Berry van Elk showed the lack of quantity had no impact on the quality of the MT900R. After the disappointing Sunday race in Germany two weeks ago the team further improved the setup to make the car more stable in the corners, resulting in a good third place on old tyres. Kevin Riley began his weekend with ignition problems and failed to set a competitive lap time.
Saturday started with qualifying for the fastest classes of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Early in the session Berry van Elk put in a quick lap on new but cold tyres. Unfortunately a few moments later his left rear brake disc exploded causing severe damage to the brake caliper, rim and upright. Unable to make it back to the pits Van Elk could only watch as the track got quicker and his competitors improved their times. In the end he found himself on the third row for the start later that afternoon, but with a damaged car.
Kevin Riley got his engine going well and was just one tenth of a second behind his fellow Mosler driver. Cor Euser put his Marcos on pole ahead of guest driver René Snel in a Porsche 911 GT2. Rick Abresch in a Corvette Z06 GT3 and his team mate Danny Werkman in his V8 Star shared the second row.
With just minutes to spare the BlueBerry Racing team finished working on the Mosler so Van Elk was able to make the start of the race Saturday afternoon. Cor Euser was not to enjoy his pole postion for much more than a lap as René Snel used his power surplus on the home straight. Berry van Elk had a very good start moving from sixth up to third. A couple of laps into the race Van Elk was the fastest on track and overtook Euser without much of a hassle. René Snel proved more of a problem and a blunt attempt of Van Elk ended in a collision. Both Snel and the Mosler driver lost control and were overtaken by the head of the field. To make matters worse Van Elk was handed a drive through penalty for the action. "Absolutely an unnecessary move to go into the corner like that." According to culprit Van Elk. "I totally deserved that penalty, and I am sorry I ruined René's race."
Kevin Riley in the other Mosler took advantage of Snel's misery and moved up into a solid fourth. Not long after Van Elk served his penalty the pit window opened for the mandatory pit stops.
After his stop Van Elk showed he had not lost his intentions to win the race and quickly was in second place again, this time on the tail of the black V8 Star driven by Danny Werkman. But again Van Elk showed he still has to gain some patience as he went on the throttle a bit to early in the first corner, resulting in a spin. After he restarted his engine the young driver found himself way back in the field. Some good driving brought him the fourth position at the finish. Berry van Elk: "I was just stupid making that mistake at the first corner. Exactly the same mistake at the exact same point I made last year. Just plain stupid! There was a lot more in store for us today, a victory was very likely, even after my drive through. I have to thank the team for the hard work they put into replacing my left rear after qualifying. In such a short period of time they managed to do a great job. The car was superb, I was the weakest link this afternoon." Kevin Riley failed to impress during the second half of the race but still managed to steer his Mosler to sixth place at the flag, picking up valuable points for the GT class championship. Without Van Elk breathing in his neck Werkman steered his V8 Star to victory without much trouble. Peter Versluis was very happy in second place as he had started the race from the very back of the field. Dave Basu put in a strong drive and brought his Ferrari F430 GT3 home third.
The race on Sunday started off with a massive crash involving Kevin Riley, Rick Abresch in his Corvette, a Porsche and a Ford Mondeo silhouette car. As a result of a sudden loss of power, Riley was tapped in the rear and spun around at the entry of the home straight as the whole field raced his way to start the second lap of the race. Some drivers were just able to avoid the Englishman, but unfortunately not Rick Abresch. The Corvette hit the Mosler at a 100 mph, causing them both to catch fire.
The flames on the Corvette were only minor, but all the marshals focused on that car. Meanwhile Riley was still stuck in his car, which quickly was engulfed by big flames. The marshals failed to notice it, but Rick Abresch ran around the burning wreckage to try to free Riley. Within seconds he was helped by series organiser Dick van Elk, father of Berry, who leaped over the pit wall and over the track in just his jeans and fleece jacked. Together they pulled Riley out of his burning Mosler. Thanks to their selflessness and quick acting Kevin Riley only suffered a dislocated shoulder and some damaged ribs but no burns. His Mosler though was severely damaged by the crash and subsequent fire.
The race was immediately stopped and only restarted when everything was cleaned up. Due to the live tv coverage of the Superleague Formula the race was shortened to just 25 minutes without the mandatory pit stop. Although now a sprint race there was no shortage of action on track. While Dave Basu extended his lead Werkman, Versluis and Van Elk had an amazing battle for second place. Positions changed multiple times a lap between the three of them until René Snel passed the bunch. After that the battle continued for third, but was no less intense. All the spectators were on the edge of their seats until Versluis and Werkman touched and Van Elk became the laughing third. At the front René Snel had little difficulty passing Basu for the lead. The top three stayed the same until the checkered flag.
After a short brake the next races will be at the famous Spa Francorchamps track in Belgium on May 26th and 27th.
During free practice on Friday young Dutch Mosler driver Berry van Elk showed the lack of quantity had no impact on the quality of the MT900R. After the disappointing Sunday race in Germany two weeks ago the team further improved the setup to make the car more stable in the corners, resulting in a good third place on old tyres. Kevin Riley began his weekend with ignition problems and failed to set a competitive lap time.
Saturday started with qualifying for the fastest classes of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Early in the session Berry van Elk put in a quick lap on new but cold tyres. Unfortunately a few moments later his left rear brake disc exploded causing severe damage to the brake caliper, rim and upright. Unable to make it back to the pits Van Elk could only watch as the track got quicker and his competitors improved their times. In the end he found himself on the third row for the start later that afternoon, but with a damaged car.
Kevin Riley got his engine going well and was just one tenth of a second behind his fellow Mosler driver. Cor Euser put his Marcos on pole ahead of guest driver René Snel in a Porsche 911 GT2. Rick Abresch in a Corvette Z06 GT3 and his team mate Danny Werkman in his V8 Star shared the second row.
With just minutes to spare the BlueBerry Racing team finished working on the Mosler so Van Elk was able to make the start of the race Saturday afternoon. Cor Euser was not to enjoy his pole postion for much more than a lap as René Snel used his power surplus on the home straight. Berry van Elk had a very good start moving from sixth up to third. A couple of laps into the race Van Elk was the fastest on track and overtook Euser without much of a hassle. René Snel proved more of a problem and a blunt attempt of Van Elk ended in a collision. Both Snel and the Mosler driver lost control and were overtaken by the head of the field. To make matters worse Van Elk was handed a drive through penalty for the action. "Absolutely an unnecessary move to go into the corner like that." According to culprit Van Elk. "I totally deserved that penalty, and I am sorry I ruined René's race."
Kevin Riley in the other Mosler took advantage of Snel's misery and moved up into a solid fourth. Not long after Van Elk served his penalty the pit window opened for the mandatory pit stops.
After his stop Van Elk showed he had not lost his intentions to win the race and quickly was in second place again, this time on the tail of the black V8 Star driven by Danny Werkman. But again Van Elk showed he still has to gain some patience as he went on the throttle a bit to early in the first corner, resulting in a spin. After he restarted his engine the young driver found himself way back in the field. Some good driving brought him the fourth position at the finish. Berry van Elk: "I was just stupid making that mistake at the first corner. Exactly the same mistake at the exact same point I made last year. Just plain stupid! There was a lot more in store for us today, a victory was very likely, even after my drive through. I have to thank the team for the hard work they put into replacing my left rear after qualifying. In such a short period of time they managed to do a great job. The car was superb, I was the weakest link this afternoon." Kevin Riley failed to impress during the second half of the race but still managed to steer his Mosler to sixth place at the flag, picking up valuable points for the GT class championship. Without Van Elk breathing in his neck Werkman steered his V8 Star to victory without much trouble. Peter Versluis was very happy in second place as he had started the race from the very back of the field. Dave Basu put in a strong drive and brought his Ferrari F430 GT3 home third.
The race on Sunday started off with a massive crash involving Kevin Riley, Rick Abresch in his Corvette, a Porsche and a Ford Mondeo silhouette car. As a result of a sudden loss of power, Riley was tapped in the rear and spun around at the entry of the home straight as the whole field raced his way to start the second lap of the race. Some drivers were just able to avoid the Englishman, but unfortunately not Rick Abresch. The Corvette hit the Mosler at a 100 mph, causing them both to catch fire.
The flames on the Corvette were only minor, but all the marshals focused on that car. Meanwhile Riley was still stuck in his car, which quickly was engulfed by big flames. The marshals failed to notice it, but Rick Abresch ran around the burning wreckage to try to free Riley. Within seconds he was helped by series organiser Dick van Elk, father of Berry, who leaped over the pit wall and over the track in just his jeans and fleece jacked. Together they pulled Riley out of his burning Mosler. Thanks to their selflessness and quick acting Kevin Riley only suffered a dislocated shoulder and some damaged ribs but no burns. His Mosler though was severely damaged by the crash and subsequent fire.
The race was immediately stopped and only restarted when everything was cleaned up. Due to the live tv coverage of the Superleague Formula the race was shortened to just 25 minutes without the mandatory pit stop. Although now a sprint race there was no shortage of action on track. While Dave Basu extended his lead Werkman, Versluis and Van Elk had an amazing battle for second place. Positions changed multiple times a lap between the three of them until René Snel passed the bunch. After that the battle continued for third, but was no less intense. All the spectators were on the edge of their seats until Versluis and Werkman touched and Van Elk became the laughing third. At the front René Snel had little difficulty passing Basu for the lead. The top three stayed the same until the checkered flag.
After a short brake the next races will be at the famous Spa Francorchamps track in Belgium on May 26th and 27th.
