V.d. Akker & Janssen win at Dutch Nationals Rd3
Last weekend the third round of the Dutch Electric On-road Nationals was held at the MRC Genk track. For most drivers it was the maiden race at this track as the nationals never visited the track before. Round 3 saw the running of the Touring Modified, Touring Stock and the growing FWD class and in Modified it was the expected battle between the current number 1 and 2, Sidney Blokker and Rick v.d. Akker. As the grip conditions were constantly changing it became very difficult to drive constant lap times. With two of the three rounds to count it came down to the third round of qualifying as both Sidney and Rick had a 1st and 2nd place after twi rounds. The TQ position ultimately went to Sidney with a 1-second margin in the last round.
The opening final saw a bad start for the top 2 as they came together in the first lap which gave Thomas and Govert a 1 and 2 finish. The second final was crazy for all drivers as there were a lot of crashes. At the end Sidney and Rick came in 1st and 2nd. Again it came down to the last leg. In the end it was a win for Rick v.d. Akker as Sidney had to retire with an exploded tire some ten laps into the race. So the final top 3 was Rick v. d. Akker from Thomas Buijze and Govert Verbeke.
In Touring Stock it was a battle between the top 3 drivers from the previous round at the MRM Lelystad combined with former Formula ETS winner Jitse Miedema joining the touring cars for this round. With Rob Janssen winning the first two rounds it came down to a battle for 2nd and 3rd spot in the last round of qualifying between Tjitte Miedema, Ronald Arts and Jitse Miedema. Due to some mistakes Jitse had to start the finals from 5th spot – knowing he is fast enough to join the battle in front. After some battles he came up to 2nd spot in the first final, but due to a late mistake he dropped down to 6th position and the top 3 would finish as they started. The second final was a close battle between Rob and Tjitte as Rob did go a little sideways at the end of the straight in lap 8 which allowed Tjitte to pass. In the last minute it was Rob passing Tjitte again, making it a same order of finishing as final 1. The last final was a little less sensational as Tjitte couldn’t get close enough to Rob to make a move, but was close by to profit from any possible mistake. When the dust had settled it was Rob Janssen with the win from Tjitte Miedema and Ronald Arts.
In the FWD class the entries were not as huge as hoped for. But there was a lot of fun and passionate driving from the drivers who attended. The difference between the drivers was a little to big to have some real battles. So qualifying order also became the finish order in the finals with Patrick Jongenelis taking the win from Nick Nerrings and Randy v. d. Berg.
Source: NOMAC [nomac.nl] & Rob Janssen
