The Dutch Supercar Circus rolled into Spa Francorchamps last weekend. After the torrid problems of Short, Riley and Van 't Hoff over the weeks since Silverstone, it seems that there is a sea-change of fortunes for the Mosler .
So after the longest lay off from racing in 23 years, an understandably apprehensive Martin Short, together with a contingent of family and friends to cheer him on, headed off to Spa this weekend (25 - 27th June).
The Mosler entry field was up to three with Alex van 't Hoff having completed an engine rebuild on his Mosler MT900GT, and Berry van Elk lining up alongside Short. The KRM Mosler is still in the process of being rebuilt at St Ives, and Kevin Riley has made a good recovery from his injuries, following the crash at Assen.
Any doubts that Martin Short might have had that he wasn't fighting fit were laid to rest in practice and qualifying gave him pole position for the start of a race with 70 cars lined up behind him. Unfortunately, the car which had been flawless in qualifying soon started to show signs of an electrical problem and cut out, and with the massive field building up behind him, Short had to pull over. The problem continued to persist for most of the race, although the Rollcentre boss managed to nurse the car around the circuit.
The guest entry of Ferrari GT2 CRS Racing with Kirkaldy and Hummel more usually seen in FIA GT took a lead role in the fight between the cars at the front of the race, with Cor Euser having problems and eventually dropping out, but Alex van 't Hoff was finding good form.
A confusing end to the race saw Martin Short swoop in on the last lap to reclaim the lead, only to have the race red flagged at the end, and the first past the post of the previous lap was CRS's Andrew Kirkaldy, who as a guest, didn't qualify for any points...so full points plus one for fastest lap to a delighted Martin Short, and on to round two tomorrow!
Alex van 't Hoff netted a fourth place overall, but third in point scoring, and Berry van Elk suffering similar problems to Martin Short coming in at 8th place.
It was the rarest of weekends – one spent at Spa where the heavens didn’t open at some point ! In a weekend when on a different day and in a different race it all could have ended in tears, Martin Short grabbed top spot on the podium for the second consecutive day, despite an intriguing problem which beset his ‘Tiger’ again during the race.
With the CRS Ferrari of Hummel and Kirkaldy missing in round 2 of the DSC after a crash in an earlier race it was down to the more familiar opponents in Dutch Supercar to contest for the honours. Rick (Save Me Now) Arbresch and Danny Werkman elbowed their way to the front before Martin Short grabbed the lead back and Peter Versluis hustled up behind. Dijkstra in the Audi R8 GT3 LMS, and a couple of Moslers in the shape of Alex van ’t Hoff in his VEKA and Berry Van Elk in the BlueBerry forming a rear guard action.
However, after a couple of laps, the Audi R8 GT3 took out Peter Versluis, and the resulting accident puts Dijkstra in the Medical centre, and brought out the Safety Car. With Short and van ’t Hoff just behind the safety car, they were there until the opening of the pit window, whereupon an overzealous official decided that Martin Short and Rick Arbresch had not spent long enough on their pit stops and handed down a drive though penalty. The problems that had manifested themselves with the Mosler on Saturday continued for Martin Short although it he was able to cope with them.
At the fall of the checkered flag, it was Martin Short winning again, claiming not just full points for the race, but a bonus point for the fastest lap, with Cor Euser, who had not finished in Saturday's race, in second place, and a very strong third place from Alex van ’t Hoff. He will definitely be one to watch. Berry van Elk who has had a very mixed season so far, was out of the race with electrical problems. So a full haul of points for Martin Short... but the burning question was how did the bones hold up?
“Well it has been ten weeks of abject self pity and it feels fantastic to get my Mojo back again! I put plenty of load back into the wrist to get it to loosen up and although it felt pretty sore by the end, I feel it’s done it good. Look out, I’m back!
We have had some technical issues with mine and Berry’s car as well which will need investigating back at the workshop, but it has been a very reassuring weekend!”
The next round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge will be in three weeks time at Zolder (18th July 2010)
Thanks to Jan Stevenson for the report.
So after the longest lay off from racing in 23 years, an understandably apprehensive Martin Short, together with a contingent of family and friends to cheer him on, headed off to Spa this weekend (25 - 27th June).
The Mosler entry field was up to three with Alex van 't Hoff having completed an engine rebuild on his Mosler MT900GT, and Berry van Elk lining up alongside Short. The KRM Mosler is still in the process of being rebuilt at St Ives, and Kevin Riley has made a good recovery from his injuries, following the crash at Assen.
Any doubts that Martin Short might have had that he wasn't fighting fit were laid to rest in practice and qualifying gave him pole position for the start of a race with 70 cars lined up behind him. Unfortunately, the car which had been flawless in qualifying soon started to show signs of an electrical problem and cut out, and with the massive field building up behind him, Short had to pull over. The problem continued to persist for most of the race, although the Rollcentre boss managed to nurse the car around the circuit.
The guest entry of Ferrari GT2 CRS Racing with Kirkaldy and Hummel more usually seen in FIA GT took a lead role in the fight between the cars at the front of the race, with Cor Euser having problems and eventually dropping out, but Alex van 't Hoff was finding good form.
A confusing end to the race saw Martin Short swoop in on the last lap to reclaim the lead, only to have the race red flagged at the end, and the first past the post of the previous lap was CRS's Andrew Kirkaldy, who as a guest, didn't qualify for any points...so full points plus one for fastest lap to a delighted Martin Short, and on to round two tomorrow!
Alex van 't Hoff netted a fourth place overall, but third in point scoring, and Berry van Elk suffering similar problems to Martin Short coming in at 8th place.
It was the rarest of weekends – one spent at Spa where the heavens didn’t open at some point ! In a weekend when on a different day and in a different race it all could have ended in tears, Martin Short grabbed top spot on the podium for the second consecutive day, despite an intriguing problem which beset his ‘Tiger’ again during the race.
With the CRS Ferrari of Hummel and Kirkaldy missing in round 2 of the DSC after a crash in an earlier race it was down to the more familiar opponents in Dutch Supercar to contest for the honours. Rick (Save Me Now) Arbresch and Danny Werkman elbowed their way to the front before Martin Short grabbed the lead back and Peter Versluis hustled up behind. Dijkstra in the Audi R8 GT3 LMS, and a couple of Moslers in the shape of Alex van ’t Hoff in his VEKA and Berry Van Elk in the BlueBerry forming a rear guard action.
However, after a couple of laps, the Audi R8 GT3 took out Peter Versluis, and the resulting accident puts Dijkstra in the Medical centre, and brought out the Safety Car. With Short and van ’t Hoff just behind the safety car, they were there until the opening of the pit window, whereupon an overzealous official decided that Martin Short and Rick Arbresch had not spent long enough on their pit stops and handed down a drive though penalty. The problems that had manifested themselves with the Mosler on Saturday continued for Martin Short although it he was able to cope with them.
At the fall of the checkered flag, it was Martin Short winning again, claiming not just full points for the race, but a bonus point for the fastest lap, with Cor Euser, who had not finished in Saturday's race, in second place, and a very strong third place from Alex van ’t Hoff. He will definitely be one to watch. Berry van Elk who has had a very mixed season so far, was out of the race with electrical problems. So a full haul of points for Martin Short... but the burning question was how did the bones hold up?
“Well it has been ten weeks of abject self pity and it feels fantastic to get my Mojo back again! I put plenty of load back into the wrist to get it to loosen up and although it felt pretty sore by the end, I feel it’s done it good. Look out, I’m back!
We have had some technical issues with mine and Berry’s car as well which will need investigating back at the workshop, but it has been a very reassuring weekend!”
The next round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge will be in three weeks time at Zolder (18th July 2010)
Thanks to Jan Stevenson for the report.
