For the final round of the 2010 campaign the Dutch Supercar Challenge went to Assen. The track, host of the annual Dutch TT for the MotoGP series was the theatre for an exciting conclusion in the GT class and Mosler Challenge.
Despite the often dreadful weather, Martin Short makes no secret of the fact that Dutch Supercar Challenge is one of his favourite series to drive in. So it was with a spring in the step that the Rollcentre team took the new Cup Car over for its first outing in DSC and working on the theory you can’t have too much of a good thing, introduced Steve Quick to the ‘Cloggie Culture’ in the Fisken’s backed Mosler MT900GT3 for his first outing in The Netherland’s largest GT series.
Saturday’s race saw the Cup Car race fit, although not without some problems which saw the team working hard the night before sorting out troubles with the clutch, flywheel and airbox amongst others.
Slightly overlooked in all the furore was the fact that Alex van ‘t Hoff of the Mad and Daring Team, was a contender for the championship title, although it was going down to the wire as he was among other contenders that could easily have claimed the title. His friend Ferrari F430 GT2 driver Peter Versluis was at the top of the points tally, followed by last years champion Cor Euser in his trusty Marcos LM600.
The final charge for the crown started well for Euser who quite easily took pole position during the qualifying session Friday afternoon. Robert de Graaff had to settle for second in his Viper, ahead of Short and Van 't Hoff. Peter Versluis played safe and finished qualifying on fifth, followed by Berry van Elk in his Mosler. Steve Quick proved the first time on a unknown track is never easy by finishing twelfth, but he managed to just stay ahead of Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois in their second Mosler weekend.
The first race on Saturday opened with monsoon-like conditions and it caused problems for many drivers finding the standing water causing slides and spins. Out at the front, pole man Cor Euser was doing his best to fend off a thundering drive from Short, but by the ninth lap he had to bow to the inevitable and Short took the lead. Behind them De Graaff, Versluis and Van 't Hoff completed the top five. Versluis and his Ferrari had a difficult time in the wet and after numerous attempts his team mate Rick Abresch and Mosler driver Rene Wijnen passed the struggling Versluis. Just before the pitstops Van 't Hoff did what he had to do to stay in contend for the GT crown as he too passed the Ferrari driver.
After the mandatory pit stops Robert de Graaff was the new leader, ahead of Euser and Short who suffered from their result penalty seconds. The victory chances for the Viper driver looked ruined when he suffered a puncture and had to make another pit stop. Peter Versluis had the worst afternoon of all as he spun his car into the barrier. Failing to finish he lost the lead in the championship. Meanwhile Short had pulled out a big lead over the rest of the field, but in the final lap, just a few hundred meters from the line the conditions bit back and dumped him out of the running. “Well the car was an absolute missile” said Short later, “But billy mistake, huge puddle and there was nothing I could do! Car absolutely amazing, driver absolute plonker!” As the team worked to repair the damage into the night, Martin Short was outside practising kicking himself. Robert de Graaff was the surprised but happy winner of the Saturday 60 minutes race. Rick Abresch took second, Cor Euser third. Finishing fourth Alex van 't Hoff was the new leader in the GT championship. All sorts of handling problems, later diagnosed as results of a broken anti-roll bar caused Berry van Elk to drive well of the pace just to get his car over the line safely. Steve Quick and the Wijnen - Dubois duo too had a difficult race and were unable to get to the front.
On Sunday, a shower just before the start of the race saw many drivers electing to start on wets, but Short went for intermediates, and it soon paid off.
Yesterdays winner Robert de Graaff took the lead from pole, and together with Cor Euser they created a gap with Van 't Hoff, Abresch and Short. Despite starting 12th on the grid Short was soon up with the front runners. After Euser had passed De Graaff the pitstop window opened and the drivers were faced with a difficult tyre choice for the second half of the race. Short was the first of the front runners to stop and he decided to stay on his intermediates. Cor Euser took a gamble and opted for slicks. Van 't Hoff had a dreadful pitstop as a wheelnut caused him to stay in for way longer than his mandatory time, throwing him to eight in class.
Mosler Challenge leader Berry van Elk did a good job fighting his way to the front. He decided to stay on his full wets during his pitstop. Peter Versluis again had a nightmare race as he had to reset the gearbox of his Ferrari over and over, costing him lost of time and finally the championship. With Euser in the lead Van 't Hoff needed to pass another car to win the GT title. In the last few laps Ferrari driver Rick Abresch too had technical difficulties and Van 't Hoff could easily steer his Mosler past the Ferrari to become the GT class champion of 2010! The race was won by Cor Euser, a mere 0.024 seconds ahead of Martin Short in his new Mosler Cup Car. The closest finish in 10 years of Dutch Supercar history!
Despite the troubles in Saturday’s race, Berry van Elk picked up a fourth place on Sunday, and is the well deserved overall winner of the Mosler Challenge within Dutch Supercar. And what of Alex van ’t Hoff? Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso has been saying all season that to win the championship he needed to be on the podium as much as possible and that is a theory that van ‘t Hoff must be in full agreement with. Despite not claiming a top step, he has consistently found form and podium places, and although it looked during the weekend that things were conspiring against him, he had enough points at the end to claim the Title of GT Champion. An engine problem after the first rounds at Silverstone, saw him back in his Ferrari for two of the DSC rounds, but he switched back to the Mosler at the first opportunity and had brought home the laurels in his first season with Mosler as his weapon of choice. His closest rival Peter Versluis had a DNF on Saturday, and despite a problem with a wheelnut which saw him sitting in the pits for two minutes longer than necessary, Alex still managed to finish high enough to do the business. Congratulations to him on a superb season.
Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois in their newly purchased Kembit Carworld Motorsport Mosler have used the final two rounds of this season to bed the car in, and investigate what needs to be worked on over the winter. They scored an 18th place in the first round and up to 10th place in the second. We look forward to them having a good season for 2011.
Steve Quick did a solid job all weekend, very much in at the deep end with fairly horrendous conditions. Despite a few spins he further extended his learning curve and was very pleased with his weekend.
Authors: Jan Stevenson and Alexander van der Griend
Photos: Roel Louwers photoreplay.nl
Despite the often dreadful weather, Martin Short makes no secret of the fact that Dutch Supercar Challenge is one of his favourite series to drive in. So it was with a spring in the step that the Rollcentre team took the new Cup Car over for its first outing in DSC and working on the theory you can’t have too much of a good thing, introduced Steve Quick to the ‘Cloggie Culture’ in the Fisken’s backed Mosler MT900GT3 for his first outing in The Netherland’s largest GT series.
Saturday’s race saw the Cup Car race fit, although not without some problems which saw the team working hard the night before sorting out troubles with the clutch, flywheel and airbox amongst others.
Slightly overlooked in all the furore was the fact that Alex van ‘t Hoff of the Mad and Daring Team, was a contender for the championship title, although it was going down to the wire as he was among other contenders that could easily have claimed the title. His friend Ferrari F430 GT2 driver Peter Versluis was at the top of the points tally, followed by last years champion Cor Euser in his trusty Marcos LM600.
The final charge for the crown started well for Euser who quite easily took pole position during the qualifying session Friday afternoon. Robert de Graaff had to settle for second in his Viper, ahead of Short and Van 't Hoff. Peter Versluis played safe and finished qualifying on fifth, followed by Berry van Elk in his Mosler. Steve Quick proved the first time on a unknown track is never easy by finishing twelfth, but he managed to just stay ahead of Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois in their second Mosler weekend.
The first race on Saturday opened with monsoon-like conditions and it caused problems for many drivers finding the standing water causing slides and spins. Out at the front, pole man Cor Euser was doing his best to fend off a thundering drive from Short, but by the ninth lap he had to bow to the inevitable and Short took the lead. Behind them De Graaff, Versluis and Van 't Hoff completed the top five. Versluis and his Ferrari had a difficult time in the wet and after numerous attempts his team mate Rick Abresch and Mosler driver Rene Wijnen passed the struggling Versluis. Just before the pitstops Van 't Hoff did what he had to do to stay in contend for the GT crown as he too passed the Ferrari driver.
After the mandatory pit stops Robert de Graaff was the new leader, ahead of Euser and Short who suffered from their result penalty seconds. The victory chances for the Viper driver looked ruined when he suffered a puncture and had to make another pit stop. Peter Versluis had the worst afternoon of all as he spun his car into the barrier. Failing to finish he lost the lead in the championship. Meanwhile Short had pulled out a big lead over the rest of the field, but in the final lap, just a few hundred meters from the line the conditions bit back and dumped him out of the running. “Well the car was an absolute missile” said Short later, “But billy mistake, huge puddle and there was nothing I could do! Car absolutely amazing, driver absolute plonker!” As the team worked to repair the damage into the night, Martin Short was outside practising kicking himself. Robert de Graaff was the surprised but happy winner of the Saturday 60 minutes race. Rick Abresch took second, Cor Euser third. Finishing fourth Alex van 't Hoff was the new leader in the GT championship. All sorts of handling problems, later diagnosed as results of a broken anti-roll bar caused Berry van Elk to drive well of the pace just to get his car over the line safely. Steve Quick and the Wijnen - Dubois duo too had a difficult race and were unable to get to the front.
On Sunday, a shower just before the start of the race saw many drivers electing to start on wets, but Short went for intermediates, and it soon paid off.
Yesterdays winner Robert de Graaff took the lead from pole, and together with Cor Euser they created a gap with Van 't Hoff, Abresch and Short. Despite starting 12th on the grid Short was soon up with the front runners. After Euser had passed De Graaff the pitstop window opened and the drivers were faced with a difficult tyre choice for the second half of the race. Short was the first of the front runners to stop and he decided to stay on his intermediates. Cor Euser took a gamble and opted for slicks. Van 't Hoff had a dreadful pitstop as a wheelnut caused him to stay in for way longer than his mandatory time, throwing him to eight in class.
Mosler Challenge leader Berry van Elk did a good job fighting his way to the front. He decided to stay on his full wets during his pitstop. Peter Versluis again had a nightmare race as he had to reset the gearbox of his Ferrari over and over, costing him lost of time and finally the championship. With Euser in the lead Van 't Hoff needed to pass another car to win the GT title. In the last few laps Ferrari driver Rick Abresch too had technical difficulties and Van 't Hoff could easily steer his Mosler past the Ferrari to become the GT class champion of 2010! The race was won by Cor Euser, a mere 0.024 seconds ahead of Martin Short in his new Mosler Cup Car. The closest finish in 10 years of Dutch Supercar history!
Despite the troubles in Saturday’s race, Berry van Elk picked up a fourth place on Sunday, and is the well deserved overall winner of the Mosler Challenge within Dutch Supercar. And what of Alex van ’t Hoff? Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso has been saying all season that to win the championship he needed to be on the podium as much as possible and that is a theory that van ‘t Hoff must be in full agreement with. Despite not claiming a top step, he has consistently found form and podium places, and although it looked during the weekend that things were conspiring against him, he had enough points at the end to claim the Title of GT Champion. An engine problem after the first rounds at Silverstone, saw him back in his Ferrari for two of the DSC rounds, but he switched back to the Mosler at the first opportunity and had brought home the laurels in his first season with Mosler as his weapon of choice. His closest rival Peter Versluis had a DNF on Saturday, and despite a problem with a wheelnut which saw him sitting in the pits for two minutes longer than necessary, Alex still managed to finish high enough to do the business. Congratulations to him on a superb season.
Rene Wijnen and Pieter Dubois in their newly purchased Kembit Carworld Motorsport Mosler have used the final two rounds of this season to bed the car in, and investigate what needs to be worked on over the winter. They scored an 18th place in the first round and up to 10th place in the second. We look forward to them having a good season for 2011.
Steve Quick did a solid job all weekend, very much in at the deep end with fairly horrendous conditions. Despite a few spins he further extended his learning curve and was very pleased with his weekend.
Authors: Jan Stevenson and Alexander van der Griend
Photos: Roel Louwers photoreplay.nl
