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| Race report by Bart Wubben - 5th round |
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The 5th round of the Dutch Championship was held on August 26 on the tricky and bumpy HFCC track. On Saturday I was not able to practice but since itâ™s my home track I already had a pretty decent setup. In the morning I drove a few practice laps and the car was good for the track conditions.
Qualifying
For the first qualifier I used a new set of tires since the track was still cool... I knew the first round of qualifiers would be the fastest round. I started well with a 16.6sec lap, a new fastest lap record, so when the 5 minutes where over I had set the new track record of 18 laps in 5:07... more than 5sec faster than 2nd place.
For the second qualifier I tried some old tires from a previous race; since we can only use 6 sets of tires for 6 races I decided to keep my 1-run tires for the finals. So I started with some pretty worn tires but the car actually felt really good. The balance was much better I only missed some of the super-fast lap times (which you can only do on new tires) for the first 4 laps. I finished only 0.5sec slower than my first qualifier. |
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For the last qualifier I didnâ™t change anything on my car and drove with the same tires as the previous run. The track got a little hotter and therefore the lap times increased. Again I drove 18 laps in 5:08.
After the qualifiers were over I had claimed TQ and had more than a 5sec advantage on the 2nd place driver.
Final
For the first A-main final I used my 1-run tires and since the track was hotter I decided not to use any additive since it doesnâ™t work that well on this track when itâ™s hot. I had a good start and pushed hard for the first 2 or 3 laps, increasing my lead to about 2.5 seconds. After a few more laps the gap was set and I finished the race still at the front of the pack.
Results A-main 1:
1. Bart Wubben XRAY T2â™007
2. Arjen Potharst
3. Rob Janssen |
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For the second A-main final I changed back to my old tires since I was not happy about the balance in the first final. Right from the start my car was super fast and really easy to drive. I was amazed by how much difference there can be between sets of tires. When the race was over I had an 8sec lead on 2nd place.
Result A main 2:
1. Bart Wubben XRAY T2â™007
2. Arjen Potharst
3. Sven van Esse
Top 10 overall:
1. Bart Wubben XRAY T2â™007
2. Arjen Potharst
3. Rob Janssen
4. Sven van Essen
5. Michael Lepelaar
6. Hugo van der Berg
7. Rick Thomson
8. Steven Koiter XRAY T2'007
9. Vasco Christiaanse
10. Peter Meurs |
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So when the race was over I knew that I had scored enough points to take the Dutch Championship title for 2007. There is still one more round but with 4 TQâ™s and winning 7 of the 10 finals I already scored enough points. I would like to thank XRAY, RC-Connect, SMC, Spintec and LRP for their great support!
Thanks Rcnews for the pictures.
Bart Wubben
Team XRAY Netherland |
| Race report by Joep Willemsen - 6th round |
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The last race for the Dutch Nationals 2007 took place at the track of AMCA in Apeldoorn. Despite the late time of the year the weather was excellent.
Because Bart Wubben was already certain of his title Dutch National Champion Modified, he let the battle take place for position 2 & 3 in his absence. The race was dominated by local local drivers Hugo van den Berg, Stefan Jansen, and Rob Janssen.
On Saturday I found a trick to get more cornering speed with also a lot of initial, mid- and corner exit steering response. We transferred this setup to the car of Patrick Jongenelis, giving him immediate edge of approximately 1sec per lap which should put him in the A-final. Unfortunately, bad luck in all three qualifiers dropped him back into the B-final. |
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For me it was a race of personal records. With the new setup I was able to make 18laps in 5:16 which I never achieved before and took 6th place on the grid in the B-final. Both my finals were breathtaking with a lot of close encounters but in the end I finished in 12th overall.
It was again a nice race weekend, with very close racing in all finals. The first 19 drivers were all in the same lap (18) within a span of only 18.2 seconds. I'm looking forward to the 2008 season.
Race results round 6 Dutch Nationals AMCA 2007:
1. Berg, Hugo van den
2. Jansen, Stefan
3. Janssen, Rob
4. Essen, Sven van
5. Arjen
6. Tempelaars, Raymond
7. Lepelaar, Michael
8. Essen, Luke van
9. Dijken, Wesley van
10.Vredenberg, Tony XRAY T2'007
11. Jongenelis, Patrick XRAY T2'007
12. Willemsen, Joep XRAY T2'007
13. Bruins, John |
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The end result of the Dutch Nationals 2007
1. Wubben Bart XRAY T2'007
2. Berg, Hugo van den
3. Janssen, Rob
4. Lepelaar, Michael
5. Jansen, Stefan
6. Potharst, Arjen
7. Essen, Sven van
8. Christiaanse, Vasco
9. Jongenelis, Patrick XRAY T2'007
10. Thomson, Rick
11. Bruins, John
12. Oers, Benny van
13. Meurs, Peter
14. Koiter, Steven
15. Ackermans, Johan XRAY T2'007
16. Dijken, Wesley van
17. Roeleveld Alexander
18. Willemsen, Joep XRAY T2'007
19. Essen, Luke van
20. Mulder, Eric
Photos by Patrick van der Knaap and Joep Willemsen |
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