HOCKENHEIM - After a regulation change that banned the prototypes in the Belcar Endurance championship we had to look for another competition to compete in. We quickly found the Dutch Supercar challenge, a competition with a wide set of different types of cars.
The competition in which we participated is not the only thing that changed over the winter. With a new competition comes a new team name, so we can proudly present our new name, Verheyen Motorsport by T2 racing. This in combination with our new livery we are ready for the first race of the season
The season started this weekend at the mythical Hockenheimring in Germany. After a promising pre-season test the week before, we had good hopes for a good start to the season. The weekend started of great with the fastest lap in practice. We had a minor fuel issue that was sorted out quickly. This meant that we went into qualifying with minimal practice.
After practice on Friday morning, we got ready for qualifying in the afternoon, with the rising temperatures we knew that it wouldn’t be too easy. We started the qualifying session with some quick laps to put us in a quite decent P3 position. P3 and a start on the second row wasn’t ideal but nothing was lost. We knew that in the races we would be on our best.
The first race started at noon on Saturday, with Ian starting we wanted to put on as much pressure as possible on the cars in front. When we started our formation lap there immediately was a big issue for the polesitter, this meant that they wouldn’t be able to start the race. At this point Ian just had to try and keep up in the first stint with LMP3 so I could finish it off in the second stint. While keeping behind the GT’s at the start Ian managed to create a gap to them and keep the LMP3 within range. During our pitstop window we kept out as long as possible to hope for an Safety Car. And luck was on our side with a Safety Car at the perfect moment. I went into the car and after a quick move into T1 at the first lap after the safety car we were right behind the LMP3 car. I managed to overtake them at the first lap after the restart and then we just had to bring it home for an commanding victory. At this moment we were already happy to take phenomenal first win of the season at the first race of the season. There was only a little space for celebrations because we had to focus on race two on Sunday.
On Sunday I started the race, starting at the same height as the GT’s meant I had to concede a place due to their superior straight-line speed. With our quick cornering speed I could stay real close behind them and eventually overtake them. After clearing the GT’s I was pushing to close the gap on the cars in front and doing this successfully. After a puncture and a spin of the car in front of me we gained a place in the overall classification. With a FCY we still weren’t able to close down the gap. When the pit window opened another FCY came out, this meant a free pit stop for us. We weren’t the only ones who got to benefit from it. The leader of the race did the same. So after the pitstops were done nothing changed. At this point our superior race pace showed itself while chasing the leader. Ian managed to quickly hunt them down and overtake them.
The lead in class and overall was now back into our hands and we definitely weren’t going to let it slip away. We bought our second victory of the weekend home, and the big celebrations could start.
A fantastic job of the team during the whole weekend gave us the perfect baseline to hand us two victories in one weekend. With this perfect start to our Supercar Challenge season we left Germany as championship leaders. It may be a whole new competition but we haven’t lost our strong pace. Let’s continue this form into the next race at Circuit Zolder. Thank you all for your trust and confidence. Let’s keep up the good work and fight for the championship.
