Last weekend saw round 5 of the Dutch National Championship at the technical racetrack of Gouda. I was rather relaxed about this race since I was already crowned as Dutch champion in round 4. Practice on Saturday was okay from the first rounds which proved again how well the NT1performs with a near-basic set-up.
In qualifying it was clear that only a few drivers could handle this technical circuit. My car and my engine did well again, though I missed TQ by less than 2sec.
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Starting in 2nd place in the main final I lost more then a lap because of a crash with another car. I had to come into the pit to rework my body and went back out in the very last position.
During the 30 minutes I pushed the car to the maximum because I really wanted to win the last race but I knew that would be very difficult being more than a lap down.
I was able to work my way back through the field to 2nd place, only 3sec behind the leader Ruud Schuitmaker. But I made a mistake because I pushed too hard, and I felt back to 3rd place behind Remy Moller (last yearâ™s Dutch Champion). In the last 2 minutes it was very close racing with Remy Moller and we changed positions almost 5 times, but in the last few corners I tried to overtake but it didnâ™t work out because Remy safely closed the gap every time I was almost beside him. After it was all over it was one of the most exciting races of the season.
Dutch National Championship 2007: 1. Maarten van Lierop XRAY NT1
2. Ruud Schuitmaker
3. Remy Moller
4. Richard Keur
5. Bas Geurds
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For me the NT1 has proven that it is the most competitive car this season. This year we had 5 rounds for the Dutch National Championship and I finished 5 times on the podium with my NT1, taking the Championship in round 4. To me this means that not only is the NT1 the fastest car, but also the strongest and most reliable.
I would like to thank XRAY for their great support, and I look forward to seeing a lot of NT1 drivers in the next racing season and the WC in Portugal.
