RC-Lemans Series Rd5 – Report

The fifth and penultimate round of the 2019 RC-Lemans Series was held at the famous AMC Apeldoorn track in the Netherlands. The weather was great all weekend and a huge entry made for competitive racing in the LMP1 Modified and LMP2 Stock classes. After a short break at round 4 to was Tim Altmann back in form on one of his favourite tracks, taking all three qualifiers for the overall TQ from championship leader, Timo Schad with Kai Altmann and Reinder Wilms not far behind. The Stock class saw the return of former Dutch Pro10 champion, Nick Boon who instantly took the overall TQ from Mathijs Hermens and championship leader, Rainer Schad.

In the opening LMP1 A-main it was Tim who converted the pole position into an undefeated win in front of Timo and a lucky Reinder, who took profit of a couple of problems Kai experienced.

A2 again saw Tim making the pace with Reinder again taking profit of problems some of the top drivers got into. This time it was Kai and Timo who had to let Reinder past for the runner-up spot. Up front it was Tim with the early overall win while the remaining two podium spots were still up for grabs.

In A3 Tim once again upped his pace and took the win with nearly a lap margin on Timo in 2nd and Reinder in 3rd while Kai again got into troubles. Ultimately it was Timo with the overall runner-up spot from Rainder in 3rd. With his 2nd place, Timo also grabbed his second overall RC-Lemans title.

In LMP2 pole sitter Nick was keen to keep his position, however his fellow countryman Mathijs had other intensions and took over the lead in the opening stages of the race following a small mishap of Nick. The latter however was able to regain the lead about mid-race while Mathijs dropped to 3rd. Up front Nick brought home the win in the opening A-main while Mathijs tried a last corner move to grab the runner-up spot. Unfortunately both made contact but Mathijs let Rainer pass again in great sportsmanship, allowing Rainer to ultimately take the runner-up spot.

A2 again saw Nick setting the pace and separating from the field with Mathijs coming in 2nd. A huge mishap of Nick however closed the gap again and Mathijs tried to find a way past. His hopes were fuelled when Nick’s battery started to fade but in the end Nick would secure the win and with it the overall as Mathijs had to settle for 2nd in front of Roy Visser, the latter taking profit of a lot of problems for the other drivers.

In A3 Nick let Mathijs and Rainer past, allowing the two to battle for the runner-up spot. Unfortunately Mathijs later scored a DNF due to a technical while Michael van der Velden stormed towards the front, putting pressure on Rainer. However Rainer was able to bring home the win and with it the overall runner-up spot while Mathijs was able to secure the overall 3rd place. With his 2nd place finish Rainer is now back-to-back LMP2 champion following his title in 2018, with the result being a novelty for the RC-Lemans Series as father and son Schad obtain both of the series titles.

The final round of the series will be held at the EVMC Velp club in October.

Source: RC-Lemans [rc-lemans.de] & Mathijs Hermens