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Double Victory for Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven
Double victory in the Tango Dutch GT4 Championship for Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven
ZANDVOORT (August 2nd 2009) – The second and third race of the Tango Dutch GT4 Championship during the AutoMaxx versus Dutch Power Pack weekend at Circuit Park Zandvoort have been won by Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven. In the second race, driven in wet conditions, it only took Paul van Splunteren one lap to drive from his 8th starting position to the lead of the race. A lead he would keep till the finish flag, scoring the team’s first victory of the weekend. In the third race victory did not come easy for Paul van Splunteren and teammate Bas Schothorst. During the final laps of the race the team came under heavy pressure from Ricardo van der Ende, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts to get his BMW M3 GT4 in front of the victorious Porsche 997 GT4.
The second race was the very first wet race for the Dutch GT4 field. Starting from pole-position Ferdinand Kool in his BMW Z4 managed to maintain his position when the field raced towards the Tarzan corner for the first time. Behind him there was contact between Duncan Huisman and Henry Zumbrink, leaving the latter stuck in the gravel bed. Huisman was able to continue his race but dropped to the back of the field.
In the meantime Van Splunteren had an incredible start and he raced himself from his 8th starting position to the lead of the race before the opening lap was over. “For the start I shortly activated the traction control system on our car. And the way these Porsches get off the line at the start is just fantastic”, says the enthusiastic race winner. “I was second by the time we got to Tarzan corner and at the end of the first lap I was in the lead. The car was nothing short of amazing! Brilliant car, brilliant team and a brilliant race.”
Click here to view the first lap of the second race in which Paul start from 8th position and drives himself to the 1st position.
Phil Bastiaans confirmed the words of fellow Porsche driver Van Splunteren by racing his car from 12th to 4th in the first lap of the race. It only took him five more laps to be in 2nd position behind Van Splunteren. And that despite the 100 kilos of success ballast which Bastiaans and teammate Frankenhout had accumulated after their performances in previous races. “But in these wet conditions the influence of the success ballast is not as big as it normally would be” says Bastiaans. “I am very happy with this result, especially because the rain made the race very challenging. You have to keep your focus at 100 percent, but I never expected to finish where I did. If it would have been dry then I would have had no chance whatsoever.”
The only podium finisher who wasn’t happy with the rain was Ferdinand Kool. Starting from pole-position it wasn’t long before he saw the Porsches of Van Splunteren and Bastiaans race passed him, but he managed to follow them and secured his first podium finish in the Tango Dutch GT4. “In the dry we would have been much quicker”, says a disappointed Kool. “When it started raining last night I lay awake for an hour thinking about how this would slow us down. We had no experience with this car in the rain and the team had to take guesses when they set-up the car. But despite that I have to say that this 3rd place finish still feels like a great achievement for us as the smallest team in the Tango Dutch GT4.”
During the rolling start of the third race, the longer feature race, the field was led to the start by pole-sitter Bas Schothorst. After the first couple of corners it was still Schothorst in first position with a small gap to his pursuers. The gap increased when the fight for 2nd position saw Nicky Catsburg and Danny van Dongen race side by side for several corners.
Meanwhile it was Henry Zumbrink (Corvette C6) who was making progress through the field and in the fourth lap he overtook the Porsche 997 GT4 of Schothorst in the Tarzan corner for the lead of the race. He had increased his lead to 2.6 seconds when he came in for his pitstop and driver change, giving the car to Harmen van Putten, who could not match the speed of his teammate. The Corvette dropped back to what eventually would be a 13th position. With the Corvette going into the pits Bas Schothorst once again had an empty track in front of him and he made his mandatory pitstop as late as possible.
“I stayed out for as long as was allowed because I was in a good rhythm and my times were constant and quick”, explains Schothorst. “And I lost radio communication with the team so we couldn’t discuss strategy during the race. But because I stayed out as long as I did we put ourselves in the position to win the race.”
After Paul van Splunteren took the wheel of the leading Porsche during the pitstop there was one person on a mission to prevent a Porsche victory: Ricardo van der Ende. The BMW driver did everything he could to take the victory from Van Splunteren and Schothorst. “I tried everything I could to force Paul into a mistake”, says Van der Ende. “I cut corners, flashed my lights, but nothing worked. I got really close in the last lap and thought I had him but he managed to defend his position very well.”
In the end Van Splunteren crossed the finish line victoriously for the second time that day. “I did have to re-focus myself after the wet race this morning. I remembered where on the track Ricardo was gaining on me and then I kept on looking in my mirrors to defend my position. In the Tarzan corner I noticed Ricardo braking extremely late and I thought he would make contact with me. But he managed to avoid me at the very last moment and I’d like to thank him for that! I’ve had a very good day today and I am very happy with both my victories!”
Simon Knap raced his BMW M3 from 11th to 3rd, but he had to race till the end to get that podium position. In fact, it wasn’t until the very last corner after 26 laps of racing that he overtook Richard van der Berg for 3rd position, at the finish line the difference was only 0,014 seconds. “I didn’t really start this race with a clear goal”, says the 20-year old driver from KTG racing. “But my pitstop went very well and I found myself racing for a good finish. Van der Berg had a miss-shift in the S-corner and then I was on his rear bumper. In the final corner before the straight I was actually able to get next to him and I passed him just before the finish line.”
The next races in the Tango Dutch GT4 Championship are on the 5th and 6th of September during the Wijzonol Trophy at Circuit Part Zandvoort.
Championship standings after twenty races:
1. Christiaan Frankenhout (Porsche), 86 points
2. Paul van Splunteren (Porsche), 77 points
3. Bas Schothorst (Porsche), 75 points
4. Jeroen Bleekemolen (Corvette), 66 points
5. Phil Bastiaans (Porsche), 58 points
6. Ricardo van der Ende (BMW), 57 points
7. Danny van Dongen (Corvette), 56 points
8. Duncan Huisman (BMW), 52 points
RESULTS AUTOMAXX VERSUS DUTCH POWER PACK 2009
Race 1 Tango Dutch GT4 Championship:
1. Nicky Catsburg, Ginetta G50, 14 laps in 26 minutes 10,780 (138,194 km/h),
2. Bas Schothorst, Porsche 997, at 6,314 seconds,
3. Ricardo van der Ende, BMW M3, at 6,630 seconds,
4. Danny van Dongen, Corvette C6, at 7,900 seconds,
5. Mikko Heino, Aston Martin N24, at 11,095 seconds,
6. Rory Bertram, Porsche 997, at 12,882 seconds,
7. Tim Buijs, BMW M3, at 16,674 seconds,
8. Christiaan Frankenhout, Porsche 997, at 20,118 seconds,
9. Paul Vahstal, Aston Martin GT4, at 20,642 seconds,
10. Richard van den Berg, BMW Z4, at 20,716 seconds,
11. Hans Hugenholtz, Mustang FR500C, at 30,489 seconds,
12. Robert den Otter, Aston Martin GT4, at 36,574 seconds,
13. Bernhard van Oranje, Aston Martin GT4, at 48,691 seconds,
14. Harmen van Putten, Corvette C6, at 3 laps.
Not classified:
Simon Knap, BMW M3, at 4 laps,
Dillon Koster, Corvette C6, at 5 laps,
Menno Kuus, Ginetta G50, at 13 laps.
Race 2 Tango Dutch GT4 Championship:
1. Paul van Splunteren, Porsche 997 GT4, 12 laps in 25 minutes 34,799 (121,229 km/h),
2. Phil Bastiaans, Porsche 997 GT4, at 0,948 seconds,
3. Ferdinand Kool, BMW Z4, at 6,730 seconds,
4. Ardi van der Hoek, Porsche 997 GT4, at 12,031 seconds,
5. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, BMW M3 GT4, at 18,786 seconds,
6. Peter van der Kolk, Corvette C6, at 19,572 seconds,
7. Danny van Dongen, Corvette C6, at 19,701 seconds,
8. Mikko Heino, Aston Martin N24, at 37,812 seconds,
9. Allard Kalff, Aston Martin GT4, at 39,071 seconds,
10. Simon Knap, BMW M3 GT4, at 42,917 seconds,
11. Mathijs Bakker, Ginetta G50, at 43,806 seconds,
12. Duncan Huisman, BMW M3 GT4, at 48,066 seconds,
13. Pieter Christiaan van Oranje, Mustang FR500C, at 49,383 seconds,
14. Paul Vahstal, Aston Martin GT4, at 52,748 seconds.
Not classified:
Pim van Riet, Aston Martin GT4, at 7 laps,
Henry Zumbrink, Corvette C6, at 12 laps,
Quint Engel, Ginetta G50, at 12 laps.
Race 3 Tango Dutch GT4 Championship:
1. Equipe Schothorst / Van Splunteren, Porsche 997 GT4, 26 laps in 50 minutes 37,509 (132,719 km/h),
2. Equipe Huisman / Van der Ende, BMW M3 GT4, at 0,341 seconds,
3. Simon Knap, BMW M3 GT4, at 9,910 seconds,
4. Equipe Kool / Van den Berg, BMW Z4, at 9,924 seconds,
5. Equipe Engel / Kuus, Ginetta G50, at 16,951 seconds,
6. Danny van Dongen, Corvette C6, at 17,140 seconds,
7. Equipe Van der Hoek / Bertram, Porsche 997 GT4, at 19,197 seconds,
8. Paul Vahstal, Aston Martin GT4, at 25,730 seconds,
9. Equipe Frankenhout / Bastiaans, Porsche 997 GT4, at 36,278 seconds,
10. Mikko Heino, Aston Martin N24, at 36,449 seconds,
11. Equipe Bleekemolen / Buijs, BMW M3 GT4, at 36,723 seconds,
12. Equipe Kalff / Bernhard Van Oranje, Aston Martin GT4, at 49,055 seconds,
13. Equipe Zumbrink / Van Putten, Corvette C6, at 51,177 seconds,
14. Equipe Van der Kolk / Koster, Corvette C6, at 52,178 seconds,
15. Equipe Catsburg / Bakker, Ginetta G50, at 58,018 seconds,
16. Equipe Hugenholtz / PC van Oranje, Mustang FR500C, at 1:08,434 minute,
17. Equipe Van Riet / Den Otter, Aston Martin GT4, at 2 laps.
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