Three races as support race for the DTM as the penultimate meeting of 2020
In Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, Hartog is ahead of Schuring
Van Eijndhoven dominates Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux
Confirmation and surprise in Clubsport Division
The fourth and penultimate meeting of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux completed this weekend in Zolder in the support of the prestigious DTM, which could well have been the turning point of the season. For the first time this season, the Dutchman Loek Hartog (Bas Koeten Racing) managed to get a lead in the championship.
Although there could be no doubt about the victory of the 18-year-old Junior of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux in the first race, it was nevertheless expected that Morris Schuring (15 years) could take revenge in the second race on a drying track. But that was without a mistake from the driver of Team GP Elite. Shortly after he had taken over the lead from Hartog, just before an intervention of the safety car, the youngest rider of the suit missed his braking point three minutes from the end. This allowed his rival to drive towards a possible decisive victory in the title fight. At the end of the Zolder meeting, Hartog is now eight points ahead of Schuring. All this means that the youngest of the two Dutch riders will have to put down a clear performance during the last meeting if he wants to qualify for the title.
Just behind the fighting duo, Huub van Eijndhoven (JW Raceservice) made a big impression in his second participation in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. In Race 1 he was already close to the silver medal – Schuring only passed him on the last lap – and also in Race 2, he finished on the lowest podium step. The winner in Pro-Am always preceded Gilles Smits (Speedlover). The latter took two clear victories in the Am class. Both drivers were able to follow the pace of the Pro drivers almost the whole time. A great achievement!
The same goes for Jaxon Verhoeven (Speedlover) and Nicolas Vandierendonck (EMG Motorsport), who each took fifth place in the two races. They were just ahead of regular Michaël Cool (NGT Racing), twice sixth overall.
Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux: van Eijndhoven dominates in Cup, Vermeulen and Goddijn each take a victory in Clubsport
It has been a tradition since the start of this season: for the drivers in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux, three races are scheduled. In addition to the two 30-minute Sprints, points could also be scored in the long race over 55 minutes.
In the “Cup Division” Huub van Eijndhoven won the Long Race in the absence of Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring. The perfect end to the weekend for the Dutchman. Gilles Smits also achieved a high point, by crossing the line as second overall and again as first in Am. The top-3 was completed by the Verhoeven family (Jean-Pierre and Jaxon), who preceded Nicolas Vandierendonck and a returning Jan Jansen (JJ Racing). Because he was only in the sixth position, Michaël Cool loses the lead in the standings, where Jaxon Verhoeven is now four points ahead.
In the ‘Clubsport Division’, reserved for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, Dutchman Thierry Vermeulen (Team GP Elite) won the first sprint, ahead of Steven van Rhee (Team GP Elite) and Alex Goddijn (Team GP Elite). A finish photo was needed to determine the fourth place because Harold Goddijn (Team GP Elite) was beaten by Sven van Laere (RED ANT Racing) with only 19 hundredths of a second!
It was also exciting in the second race. The victory eventually went to Alex Goddijn, who took advantage of contact between Sven van Laere and Thierry Vermeulen, who crossed the line second and third. Vermeulen dominated again in the mini-endurance race. The solid leader in the standings finished ahead of van Rhee and the duo of Laere-Redant.
After an eventful weekend, the drivers and teams of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Benelux now have three weeks to prepare for the final meeting of the season. It is programmed from October 30 to November 1 in Assen, Netherlands, as part of the Final Races.
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