Rick V wins Rd5 of Dutch 1/8th Nationals

Last weekend the 5th round of the 1/8 onroad Dutch nationals was held on the beautiful AMCA track in Apeldoorn which also will be the venue for next month’s EFRA GP. Finally for the first time this year the whole weekend had nice weather so everybody had a lot of tracktime which could be seen on race day with very fast and close racing. Due a bad position in the ranking by Robin d’Hondt he was the one setting a very good pace in the very first heat between the slower drivers. Finally after 3 qualifiers he was able to take the 2nd direct starting place in the final. In front of him it was Rick Vrielijnck taking the pole with a 6 second gap and the 3rd and 4th spot went to Gunther v. Staey and John Ermen.

In the final it was Rick having a bad start allowing Robin to run in the front followed by Gunther and John. After a few laps John was leading and Rick was in the rear of Robin, all 3 were running very close to each other. In a small accident Rick bumped into Robin, Rick did let go the throttle directly but Robin went upside down and needed the help of a marshal so Rick quickly moved on in pursuit of John Ermen. Finally it was Rick taking the win followed by John Ermen and Gunther v. Staey.

NK class results:
1. Rick Vrielijnck – 119L 30:12.895
2. John Ermen – 118L 30:12.209
3. Gunther Van Staey – 117L 30:04.072
4. Robin D’hondt – 117L 30:04.829
5. Joey Sorber – 114L 30:15.162
6. Daan Haling – 110L 30:12.413
7. Martin Zevenhoven – 107L 30:05.977
8. Michiel Renting – 105L 30:01.071
9. Marcel Schouten – 103L 30:14.998
10.Arie Manten – 17L 4:29.011

In the NOMAC it was Danny Leewis setting the fastest time already in his first qualifying session. The other 3 direct final places went to Benny Ciere, Patrick Vannieuwenhuyse and Andy Muyijres. In the final it was Andy taking the lead with a very good start and Danny was following with very constant lap times but suddenly his engine stopped ending his race. In the end it was Patrick Vannieuwenhuyse taking the win with a 3 lap lead over Marc Meijer with the 3rd podium spot going to Benny Ciere.

NOMAC class results:
1. Patrick Vannieuwenhuyse – 112L 30:00.608
2. Marc Meijer – 109L 30:06.059
3. Benny Ciere – 109L 30:09.629
4. Andy Muijres – 107L 30:05.714
5. Ad Vissenberg – 105L 30:09.391
6. John Lenaers – 105L 30:11.388
7. Mark Hellenbrand – 104L 30:10.195
8. Johnny Jakoby – 100L 30:04.647
9. Danny Leewis – 28L 7:22.867
10.Mark Vandenberk – DNS

The last round is in 3 weeks on the very small and tricky de Sluis track in Gouda where everything is possible in the championship fight.

Thanks to Roelof To0ms for the report.