Supercar Challenge: Zolder Race Report

The fourth circuit on the 2014 Supercar Challenge calendar was Zolder, where the teams and drivers would have to endure wet conditions for much of the weeked. Barry Maessen took his first win of the year in the Racingteam Venrav Vicora V8 in race one and Henry Zumbrink strengthened his championship lead with a victory in the second race.

Race 1

Nico Pronk, starting from pole in the Kox Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo was immediately pressurised from behind at the start of the race by Barry Maessen who would eventually go on to steal the victory in the greasy conditions.

After just two laps, Pronk relinquished the lead, as Bob Herber in the Martino Rosso Ferrari and Barry Maessen slipped past. A fierce battle for the top spot then ensued between the 458, Vicora V8 and later the Raceart Viper of Roger Grouwels. Grouwels took the lead, and managed to hold it until after the pit stop cycle, though Maessen remained in touching distance of the Viper.

Peter Kox took over from Pronk in the pits, and immediately brought the struggling Lamborghini back into play, as the Dutch veteran quickly became the fastest man on the circuit.

It was too late for Kox to get the lead though, as the Gallardo was too far back after Pronk’s stint. He secured third place in the team’s 2014 debut though, crossing the line 34 seconds after Maessen.

In the closing stages, Grouwels was unable to stay on pace with Maessen, who claimed first with just a few laps to go. The Vicora V8 was seemingly perfect in the wet.

“I did my best to keep Barry behind me, but I never had the new Viper ridden in the rain,” explained Grouwels afterwards.

“Barry was already in his rhythm because he drove the first stint, and I did not. In such circumstances, you still have an advantage when you’re driving alone. But we can not complain, second place is a fantastic result!”

Henk Thuis’s Radical took the GT class victory ahead of the GT3 Racing Viper of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott. It was a thrilling contest as usual between the two teams. The GT3 Racing Viper, after leading the class in the first half of the race, lost touch of the Radical after the stops and crossed the line 38 seconds off the Radical Benelux entry.

GTB was also a close contest, with the Day-V-Tec Corvette taking another class victory by just 6 seconds over the FMA Racing Ferrari.

Race 2

After retiring from the first race of the weekend, Henry Zumbrink and the Reede Racing team salvaged the weekend in the rain by winning the second race – which was also a wet contest.

The race started behind the safety car due to the treacherous conditions on-track. Zumbrink held the lead from pole at the start, with Kelvin Snoek and Pronk sitting in second and third respectively.

Snoek and Pronk held the top two spots for almost the entire race, Snoek’s pace just enough to keep the Day-V-Tec Volvo at bay.

“I started on used tyres because I immediately wanted to build a nice lead in the early stages of the race,” said Zumbrink. “That plan failed. In the final phase, when I saw Snoek in my mirrors, I still had to push, which was not easy with all the stragglers. But I’m glad we pulled out the win!”

The battle for third place though, was tight and entertaining throughout.

After an early drive-through penalty for Barry Maessen – for overtaking under yellow – the Dutchman managed to get himself up to third by the time the pit stop cycle was over. But by that time Peter Kox had once again climbed aboard the Kox Racing Gallardo.

Kox was again in a league of his own in terms of pace, but much like the day before, it was too late for him to challenge for the lead. He once again got up to third place, unable to reel in the two Volvos 28 seconds ahead.

Henk Thuis this time took the GT class win in the Radical Benelux RXC. The #206 NSC Motorsports Gallardo finished second after leading for most of the race and the GT3 Racing Viper came home third.