Race report and magazine Dijon

Qualifying: always the sun

The low sun caught out a few people in Friday’s SuperSixties qualifying session. Three stranded cars caused a red flag. Alex Korle bumped his Lotus Elan’s nose and Frank Weidema’s Mini Marcos lost a wheel, but it all looked fixable. Fastest of everyone was Kennet Persson in the Ford GT40. The Campagne-Izaks Corvette GS was another visitor to the gravel bed, causing the session to be red flagged with a few minutes still to go, yet they still posted second fastest time. First of the Lotus Elans was Bob Stevens, just ahead of the Van Gils family, Niek in the TVR Griffith 0,2 of a second faster than Sander in the Elan. Sixth fastest was Philippe Vermast in another Elan. Then it was Oliver Douglas, partnered by Simon Ham in the Cobra Daytona. The Germain/Darley E-type, Mark Dols in his Marcos and Armand Adriaans in the AC Cobra rounded out the top-10. Fastest of the touring cars were Jaap van der Ende and Martin Bijleveld in the Ford Falcon, just ahead of the Hees father and son team in another Falcon. Another father and son team, René and Thijmen de Vries were third fastest of the touring cars. In CT08, Cortina country, Bert Du Toy van Hees just pipped Ralf Wagner. In GTS11, Frank Veenstra and Dennis Bron were fastest of the 5 MGB’s, but Erwin van Lieshout in his Porsche 911 was faster still. With 53 cars on the grid, the 300 km race promised a lot of fun.

Race 1: Two hours of excitement

How exciting can a 300 kilometre race be? It was Lotus Elans versus Ford GT40 from start to finish. Bob Stevens, Philippe Vermast, Sander and Niek van Gils and Charlie and Ross Hyett all took the fight to Kennet Persson in his Ford GT40. The van Gils Elan was eliminated in an altercation with the GT40, while Bob Stevens dropped back to fourth when his rear tires gave up. The Hyetts and Vermast kept the pressure on and were only a few seconds behind Persson after two hours of hard racing. However, after the race the srcutineers took issue with the ignition of these cars and they were duly disqualified, so Bob Stevens was promoted to second. Michiel Campagne and Jasper Izaks were unlucky and finished 4th in the GTP Corvette, behind GTS12 winner Roelant de Waard in his Shelby GT350. Luc de Cock (Lotus Elan), Rappange father and son (Porsche 904), Armand Adriaans (AC Cobra), Jos Stevens and Marc Morawietz (Lotus Elans) and Mark Dols (Marcos) rounded out the top-10. Erwin van Lieshout took the GTS11 spoils in his Porsche 911, from Egbert Kolvoort and Waterhouse/Tonks in their MGB’s. Alexander Schlüchter drove an impressive race in his 1,2 litre Lotus Elite and Frank Weidema bounced back from an unlucky practice day by running like clockwork in his Mini Marcos. Hemmo Vriend won the touring car class in his Ford Falcon, from Ralf Wagner in his Lotus Cortina. Third went to Bijleveld and Van der Ende in their ducttape special Falcon, after the De Vries Mini and Hees Falcon retired late in the race.

Race 2: Short but sweet

Sunday’s SuperSixties race at Dijon was short but sweet. Kennet Persson led from start to finish in the Ford GT40. Michiel Campagne could not keep up in the Corvette GS, instead he was being harried by Bob Stevens in the Lotus Elan. In fourth was Roelant de Waard, with Jop Rappange in the Porsche 904-6 reeling him in. Not far behind, Armand Adriaans in his AC Cobra had the Lotus Elans of Luc de Cock and Jos Stevens in his mirrors. It looked like we were set for a thrilling finale. Alas, it was not to be. Frans van Maarschalkerwaart (Shelby GT350) was at the head of a train with Björn Hees (Ford Falcon), Nigel Winchester (AC Cobra) and Ralf Wagner (Lotus Cortina). Going into turn 5 the Falcon split an oil line and spun on its own oil, collecting the Cobra on the way. Both drivers were OK and the bent cars quickly removed, while the field was circulating behind the Safety Car. The oil from the big V8 was another story though. It was all over the track and there was no other option than to red flag the race. So the top-8 remained as before. The ever improving Marc Morawietz took 9th in his Lotus Elan, while Christoph Germain finished 10th in his E-type. In GTS11, Erwin van Lieshout was first across the line in his Porsche 911. Jaap van der Ende had an eventful race. First he had a huge spin, then the Ford Falcon’s bonnet flew off. He still won the touring car division, from Ralf Wagner in his CT08 class winning Lotus Cortina and Hemmo Vriend in another CT10 Falcon.

Results: Results – Super Sixties Racing

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