RC-Lemans Series Rd3 – Report
The Raco 2000 club in Utrecht, The Netherlands played host to round 3 of the RC-Lemans Series this past weekend. The weather forecast was pretty mixed with especially the practice on Saturday was washed away, so only a handful of drivers made use of their rain cars. Sunday started off very damp and with a mixture of rain cars or dry cars with very soft tyres the drivers tried to make maximum use of the opening qualifier. Peter Plümacher made the best out of the conditions as he took the win in the LMP1 opener from Tobias Weist and Reinder Wilms. The track though started to dry up soon and by the second qualifier it was Kai Altmann on top from Tobias and Reinder. Thanks to the points system both Peter and Kai already got their spots in the A-main and with the quickest run in Q3 Tobias would grab the pole position for the triple A-mains as he won the tie-breaker against Kai and Peter. Reinder’s P2 in the final qualifier secured him P4 on the grid followed by reigning LMP1 champ, Tim Altmann who suffered two DNFs while a P3 in the final qualifier won him the 5th overall position.
The LMP2 class also allowed for quicker times as the day went on with Andy Dick winning the first and third qualifier to take the overall TQ from Rainer Schad on the 2 spot. 2014 champion, Sascha Lennartz came in 3rd from current championship leader, Mathijs Hermens in 4th and Jörn Bauer 5th.
The opening A-main of the LMP1 class was held in dry conditions. Thanks to the rough asphalt surface grip wasn’t an issue and the stage was set for a nice show. Up front Tobias made maximum use of his pole position while Tim Altmann was able to move up the field into 2nd, putting pressure on Tobias. Both would then swap positions several times until Tim made a move on Tobias that required the latter to be marshalled. Tim waited in great sportsmanship which allowed Timo Schad, coming from the 6 spot, to come really close to the top 2 drivers. Shortly after Tim had a bobble which left Tobias and Timo alone up front and both would have a battle to the finish line. In the final lap Tobias clipped a curb which allowed Timo to sideline Tobias on the way to the final corner. Timo was on the inside now and thanks to the tighter line he brought home the win by 0.3 seconds. In a distance Reinder would come in 3rd some five seconds down. In time for the 2nd A-main dark clouds came up and some drivers opted to use their rain cars or very soft tyres. The latter allowed Timo, who used his softest tyres, to jump into the lead, coming from the 6 spot, only two laps into the race. With the rain now pouring down all drivers faced challenging conditions with lots of spins and position swaps but Timo made the best out of it, ending the leg some two laps in front and grabbing the overall win early. Kai Altmann would end the chaos race in 2nd from Tobias in 3rd. The third A-main was again held in wet conditions and only Tobias, Reinder and Timo opted to start. Timo would pull out after two minutes which left Tobias and Reinder battle it out. Tobias looked like the dominating driver but two mishaps allowed Reinder to take the win and with it the 3rd overall spot with Tobias in 2nd thanks to the better tie-breaker.
The opening LMP2 A-main was held in dry conditions. TQ setter Andy Dick set the pace and he was able to grab the win by 1.4s from Rainder and Mathijs. Making use of the drama the second LMP1 A-main offered, all LMP2 drivers opted to use their rain cars and full wet tyres. Andy again made the best choice and with a dominating win he took the overall victory with Mathijs Hermens and Erwin Peters coming in 2nd and 3rd in A2. The third and final LMP2 A-main was also held in wet conditions and despite having already taken the overall win, Andreas opted to start again. Much like in A1 and A2 he took off with no problem, taking a tone-to-tone win from Mathijs Hermens and Jörn Bauer. Overall and behind Andy it was Mathijs on the 2 spot from Rainer Schad, who grabbed himself the final podium spot in a tie-breaker with Jörn and Erwin.
Source: RC-Lemans [rc-lemans.de]
