Magny-Cours report

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The last two SuperSixties races took place at Magny-Cours, the former Grand Prix circuit in France. With seven contenders still in the running, the top three separated by just a few points, it was an exciting weekend.

Qualifying: Lotus Elans rule

Bob Stevens was the man to beat in SuperSixties qualifying at Magny-Cours. Jan van der Kooi was 0,6 seconds behind. He was unable to improve after an off-track excursion through the gravel. Luc de Cock and Damien Sionneau make it an all-Lotus Elan top-4. First of the big bangers was Christophe Germain in the TVR Griffith in fifth. Malivaï Castelli made it 5 Lotus Elans in the top-6. Carlo Hamilton was fastest of the touring cars in 7th, just ahead of Norbert Gross, Hemmo Vriend and Deenik/Sinke all in Ford Falcons, with Jos Stevens’ Lotus Elan as interloper in 7th. In GTS11, all MGB’s this weekend, Australian visitor Paul Cruse was a lot faster than the 4 regulars. In CT06, local drivers Charles-Edouard Rousseau and Romain Guerardelle showed the way to Smeer/Izaks and Bernd Horlacher, all on Mini Coopers of course. Finally, in CT08, the Lotus Cortina department, Marcel Wentzel put in a demon lap to give him and co-driver Hanna Grade the class pole from Julius Junck. With points leaders Jan van der Kooi, Luc de Cock and Norbert Gross all qualifying 2nd or 3rd in their class, the two races on the Sunday promised to be interesting.

Race 1: Time penalties galore

The first race at Magny-Cours, very early on Sunday morning, turned into a time penalty festival with generous amounts of seconds being awarded for track limits, pitstops that were too short or outside the pit window and especially speeding in the pitlane. On track, the action was frantic, with Jan van der Kooi taking an early lead in his Lotus Elan. Bob Stevens was never far behind and the blue Lotus passed the green one on lap 7. After 18 laps of racing, Bob was just 0,28 seconds ahead. Luc de Cock finished third on the road, but both Bob and Luc had spent too little time in the pits. This cost them dearly as every second gained is penalized with 5 seconds. This made Jan the winner, with Bob second and Roelant de Waard third on the podium. After a gearbox change his Shelby Mustang was finally up to speed and he successfully dealt with Claudio Missaglia (Shelby Mustang) and Christophe Germain (TVR Griffith) to win GTS12. Damien Sionneau was fifth and Jos Stevens seventh, which made it 6 Lotus Elans in the top-7. Carlo Hamilton was unbeatable in CT10, but went too fast in the pitlane. That meant Norbert Gross kept his title hopes alive by finishing first in class, with Deenik/Sinke second, all in Ford Falcons of course. Charles-Edouard Rousseau was the winner in CT06, with Bernd Horlacher second and Jacques Smeer third, adapting well to driving a Mini Cooper instead of a Shelby Mustang. Julius Junck took a dominant win in CT08 in his Lotus Cortina, with Gerrit Jan van Leenen inheriting second after Wentzel/Grade suffered gearchange problems. Michael and Paul Cruse won GTS11 in their MGB, from Egbert Kolvoort and Klaus-Peter Mutschler. Finally, we must mention the only GTP present this weekend, the Porsche 904 of Rob Rappange and Jasper Izaks, which of course won its class.

Race 2: Heartbreak for Van der Kooi

There was heartbreak for Jan van der Kooi as he retired from the lead when the clutch of his Lotus Elan failed. Bob Stevens was the race leader throughout, but made a strategic pitstop so as not to interfere with the regulars. As a result, he was classified only ninth. The surprise winner was Roelant de Waard in the Shelby GT350, with Luc de Cock and Jos Stevens second and third in their Lotus Elans. Carlo Hamilton did everything right this time and was rewarded with a class winning fourth in his Ford Falcon, while Jasper Izaks drove a strong race and brought the Porsche 904-6 home fifth. In sixth was Norbert Gross who did what he needed to do, second in CT10 netting him just enough points to beat his former Formula Vee rival Luc de Cock in the overall standings. Jaap van der Ende overtook the Deenik/Sinke Falcon for third in class and Hemmo Vriend was the 5th Falcon in the top-10. This was thanks to Christophe Germain, who had the misfortune to spin his TVR into the gravel trap on the penultimate lap. This gifted second in class to Claudio Missaglia in his awesome sounding Shelby Mustang GT350. He was on fire after needing a push start to get going from the grid. Pascal Metayer was the first Frenchman home in his Lotus Elan. Charles-Edouard Rousseau won CT06 again, but Romain Guerardelle was not far behind this time, with Bernd Horlacher third in the Mini class. CT08 was a repeat of the morning: Julius Junck was the runaway winner, while Gerrit Jan van Leenen was second after Hanna Grade’s Lotus Cortina suffered gearchange issues. In GTS11, the Cruse brothers were in charge again, with Egbert Kolvoort and Klaus-Peter Mutschler first of the pursuers, all in MGB’s.

Full results: https://www.its-live.net/live/hvm/2025/magnycours

Points after 12 of 12 races: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/standings/

More news from Magny-Cours in SuperSixties Magazine 2025#6: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/super-sixties-magazine-magny-cours-2025-edition/

Check out our YouTube channel for action clips: https://www.youtube.com/@Supersixties

SuperSixties race calendar 2026

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Report: ADAC Hansa Racing Days – TT Circuit Assen

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Qualifying: Lotus Elan vs. Porsche 904

Jan van der Kooi was the man to beat in SuperSixties qualifying at the ADAC Hansa weekend on the Assen TT-Circuit. For a long time it looked like we would have an all Lotus Elan front row, with Luc de Cock second fastest, until one of the Rappange brothers took over the 904-6 and slotted it into second. Oliver Douglas claimed 4th in the Daytona Cobra from Jos Stevens in another Lotus Elan. Carlo Hamilton in his Ford Falcon was fastest of the touring cars in 6th, with the next Falcon up that of Norbert Gross in 10th. In between were the GTS12 cars of Smeer/Izaks (Shelby GT350), Niek van Gils (TVR Griffith) and Claudio Missaglia (GT350). In CT07 the two Rappange Mini’s were split by the #37 of Bert Mets and the mysterious Durk van Hardenberg, while CT08 belonged to Grade/Wentzel, then Patrick Vanspringel and Magnus Lillerskog third, all in Lotus Cortina’s of course. In GTS11, Thijs van Gammeren treated the spectators to some spectacular antics in the GT chicane at the wheel of the Porsche 911, with Albert van der Wal and Egbert Kolvoort second and third in MGB’s.

Race 1: Van der Kooi rules

Jan van der Kooi scored a lights to flag victory in the Lotus Elan at Assen on Saturday. Luc de Cock (Lotus Elan) and Oliver Douglas (Shelby Cobra Daytona) had a very entertaining scrap for second. An off-track excursion by Niek van Gils in the TVR caused a full course yellow, which allowed Douglas to close the gap. On the podium, he sportily changed places with De Cock to restore the order. Jos Stevens came fourth to confirm the Lotus dominance. First touring car home was Carlo Hamilton in the Ford Falcon, while Dante and Jop Rappange came a giant killing 6th overall in the white Cooper S. Hemmo Vriend was 7th overall and second in CT10, with the GTS11 winning Porsche of Thijs van Gammeren 8th overall. Ninth was the second Mini of Von Hardenberg/Mets while SuperSixties debutant Gianni Sanen brought the Ashley bodied MG Midget home 10th, winning the invitation class. Jur Nederpelt had a good debut as well, he brought his Shelby GT350 home 3rd in GTS12, while newby #3 Jerry Breg had a steady race in his BMW Tisa, which was a relief as he did not manage a single lap in qualifying. In CT08, Lotus Cortina land, Patrick Vanspringel took the win from Magnus Lillerskog and Gerrit Jan van Leenen, after Grade/Wentzel dropped out with a broken rear suspension A-frame. Frank Weidema scored the GTP<2500 win in his Mini Marcos after the Rappange Porsche 904-6 dropped out. Egbert Kolvoort was first of the MGB’s from Jürgen Felske, second and third in GTS11. Fernand Lelong beat Bernd Horlacher to third in CT07.

Race 2: 2 out of 2 for Van der Kooi.

Jan van der Kooi made it two out of two by winning Sunday’s SuperSixties race at Assen as well. In a repeat of his earlier performance, he led from the green light and only gave up p. 1 for a short while during the compulsory pitstop. He was followed home by Luc de Cock in another Lotus Elan. Oliver Douglas finished third on the road in the Daytona Cobra, but dropped to fifth after a 15 second time penalty was applied for a pitstop that was marginally too short. That handed the final podium place to Niek van Gils, who drove a great race from the back of the grid in his TVR Griffith. Jos Stevens was classified fourth in his Lotus. Carlo Hamilton was again unbeatable in touring cars, followed home by Norbert Gross and Hemmo Vriend in a train of Ford Falcons. Thijs van Gammeren was 9th in the GTS11-winning Porsche 911, with the Rappange brothers rounding out the top-10 in their Cooper S. The Von Hardenberg/Mets Mini actually set the fastest laptime in CT07, but both the team’s cars lost time in the pits. More Mini fun was provided by Bernd Horlacher and Fernand Lelong, who were never more than a few seconds apart. Egbert Kolvoort was first MGB home, followed at a distance by Jürgen Felske, who kept going despite gearbox bothers. Frank Weidema again won the small GTP class in his Mini Marcos. He was followed home by Patrick Vanspringel in the Lotus Cortina, who scored another CT08 class win from Magnus Lillerskog and Gerrit Jan van Leenen.

With 2 races to go it is very tight in the SuperSixties ranking. Jan van de Kooi, Luc de Cock and Norbert Gross are separated by just a few points. With a healthy entry in the GTS10 class at Magny-Cours, including a number of local heroes, anything can happen!

Results: https://raceresults.nu/Results/organisator/2025?evenement=TT-Circuit+Assen&race=ADAC+Hansa+Racing+Days

More news from Assen in SuperSixties Magazine 2025#5: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Super-Sixties-Magazine-Assen-edition.pdf

Points after 10 of 12 races: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/standings/