Pieter van Soelen scored a double overall victory in his BMW 132 GTR as the Supersport II and Sport I classes of the Dutch Supercar Challenge visited Zandvoort at the weekend.
In both races van Soelen held of the challenge of the rapid Saker Sportscar, defeating the car shared by Bob Herber and Milko Tas in race 1 and the similar diesel-powered machine of Tom Verkoelen and Herbert Boender in race 2.
His opening win came in comfortable fashion, although the Herber/Tas car was just over nine seconds behind at the end of the hour-long event. Belgian racer Luc de Cock secured third in his Lotus 2 Eleven ahead of the KTM X-Bow shared by Peter and Piet Versluis. Verkoelen and Boender were fifth in the Saker.
In race 2 Verkoelen and Boender pushed van Soelen throughout the race and were just 1.553 seconds adrift at the chequered flag.
Herber and Tas secured another podium finish in third ahead of the BMW Z4 of Eugene Janssen. Fred Cavanagh’s BMW E48 M3 was fifth.
In the Sport 1 category Aart Bosman took the race 1 win in his Lotus Exige Cup from the BMW E36 M3 of Eline Braspenning and Iman van Schelven. Koen Bogaerts and Nik de Jong were third in their BMW.
Race 2 saw a completely different make up to the podium as the Lotus Exige Cup of Willem van der Kooi and Ben Verwoerdt took the win ahead of Laurens de Wit’s BMW130i and Rob Nieman’s Renault Clio RS 2.0.
Dutch Supercar Challenge results – Supersport II and Sport 1 classes, Zandvoort
Race 1
1 SSII Pieter van Soelen, BMW 132 GTR, 1:02:22.968
2 SSII Bob Herber / Milko Tas, Saker Sportscar GT, +9.385
3 SSII Luc de Cock, Lotus 2 Eleven GT4, +59.856
4 SSII Peter Versluis / Piet Versluis, KTM X-Bow, +1:02.536
5 SSII Tom Verkoelen / Herbert Boender, Saker Sportscar GT-TDi, +1:05.182
6 SSII Eugene Janssen, BMW Z4 M GT, +1:35.773
7 SSII Fred Cavanagh, BMW E48 M3, +1 lap
8 SPI Aart Bosman, Lotus Exige Cup, +1 lap
9 SP1 Eline Braspenning / Iman van Schelven, BMW E36 M3, +1 lap
10 SP1 Koen Bogaerts / Nik de Jong, BMW E36 M3, +1 lap
11 SP1 Rob Nieman, Renault Clio RS 2.0 16V, +1 lap
12 SP1 Laurens de Wit, BMW 130i, +1 lap
13 SP1 Willen van de Kooi / Ben Verwoerdt, Lotus Exige Cup 190, +1 lap
14 SP1 Wessel van Drimmelen, Mercedes Benz 190E, +1 lap
15 SP1 Philip Hillege / Jan-Bart Claassen, BMW E36 M3, +2 laps
16 SP1 Marco Poland, BMW E36 M3, +2 laps
17 SP1 John van der Voort / Peter Claassen, Renault Clio, +3 laps
18 SP1 Esra van Elk / Ronald van Loon, Mini Cooper S. +3 laps
19 SP1 Nico Been, Renault Clio RS 2.0 16V, +5 laps
Not classified
SSII Bert van der Zweerde, BMW E46, 23 laps
SPI Leon Zappeij, BMW M3, 6 laps
SSII Luco Hornsveld, Seat Leon Supercopa, 4 laps
SPI Frank Bedorf, Renault Clio RS 2.0 16V, 1 lap
SPI Manfred Lewe, Ford Focus ST, 0 laps
Race 2
1 SSII Pieter van Soelen, BMW 132 GTR, 1:01:54.507
2 SSII Tom Verkoelen / Herbert Boender, Saker Sportscar GT-TDi, +1.553
3 SSII Bob Herber / Milko Tas, Saker Sportscar GT, +41.087
4 SSII Eugene Janssen, BMW Z4 M GT, +52.958
5 SSII Fred Cavanagh, BMW E48 M3, +55.107
6 SSII Luco Hornsveld, Seat Leon Supercopa, +1 lap
7 SP1 Willen van de Kooi / Ben Verwoerdt, Lotus Exige Cup 190, +1 lap
8 SP1 Laurens de Wit, BMW 130i, +1 lap
9 SP1 Rob Nieman, Renault Clio RS 2.0 16V, +1 lap
10 SP1 Eline Braspenning / Iman van Schelven, BMW E36 M3, +1 lap
11 SPI Aart Bosman, Lotus Exige Cup, +1 lap
12 SP1 Koen Bogaerts / Nik de Jong, BMW E36 M3, +1 lap
13 SSII Luc de Cock, Lotus 2 Eleven GT4, +2 laps
14 SP1 Leon Zappeij, BMW M3, +2 laps
15 SP1 Frank Bedorf, Renault Clio RS 2.0 16V, +2 laps
16 SP1 Esra van Elk / Ronald van Loon, Mini Cooper S. +2 laps
17 SP1 Marco Poland, BMW E36 M3, +3 laps
18 SP1 John van der Voort / Peter Claassen, Renault Clio, +4 laps
19 Bert van der Zweerde, BMW E46, +5 laps
Not classified
SP1 Wessel van Drimmelen, Mercedes Benz 190E, 17 laps
SP1 Philip Hillege / Jan-Bart Claassen, BMW E36 M3, 5 laps
Next race: Spa-Francorchamps 4 October
Watch Dutch Supercar Challenge highlights from Zandvoort on Motors TV (Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545) on Sunday 27 September at 4.30pm (BST).
Andy Wilkinson
International
