ZOLDER - This weekend I raced my third race of the season in the European VW Fun Cup with DRM. This time on the #299, our main objective was to score high points and even a podium to snatch away points in favor of our sister car the #199. The #199 had raced all the races this season and was still in contention for the overall title. I of course wanted to bounce back at Zolder after the disappointment a week earlier in the Belcar. I didn’t only have a bone to pick with Zolder itself but also with the European VW Fun Cup, my last race didn’t end particularly well so I wanted to prove myself even more.
The weekend started of like usual with practice on Friday, at the start of the session the track was still very wet after all the rain that fell prior to it. The conditions did improve but not by much. Despite the tricky conditions we got a hold of the situation and finished the session in P1.Qualifying on Saturday took place in the same difficult conditions. A 90-minute session meant we had enough time to adjust and find out what faster times we would run in the dry. After qualifying, we were in fourth place with good pace. The pole positions were yet to be decided by "the game". A few games of shuffleboard would decide who would start in Pole Position. Apparently, we were good at it and won the game to claim Pole Position for Sunday.
I took the start on Sunday, track conditions were all around different. The first sector was almost completely dry, while the second sector was still very wet. The race organizers opted for two formation laps instead of one to reduce the water on the track and get used to the conditions. I tried to anticipate the green lights at the start, but it didn't work out the way I wanted. I was overtaken in the first corner and lost a few places. My lines were compromised throughout the first sector, and I had to fight hard to keep my place. This fight continued for a few laps and meant I lost connection with the leading group of the race. Eventually, I was able to rejoin the leading group. This did not last long, as the first pit window appeared in which it was mandatory to pit and change drivers. For the first hour, we were able to maintain the same pace as our competitors and towards the end of the second hour, we started getting closer again and settled on P2. We showed our pace as the fastest on the grid on a consistent basis. My teammate hit a cone as he drove wide into the "Villeneuve", resulting in a stop-go penalty that cost us about 40 seconds. That penalty dropped us back to P7 and we stayed there for almost the whole race. Things got worse when a bit of damage to the right front caused a lot of understeer in all the corners of the first sector. Two safety cars helped us initially, but we couldn't quite close the gap due to the crazy traffic. We stayed on and around P7 until the sixth hour. Then, during one of the pits stops, we decided to change our bonnet. It turned out to be a sensational move, as it almost completely removed our understeer and only in the first sector, we gain about half a second. Within an hour, we went from P9 to P2. We pushed hard and were completely in the battle for the lead. We tried to help the #199, our sister car that was still fighting for the championship. The gap was too big, so we decided to go all-out for the win. With one hour to go, we were right behind the leading car, and we tried to wait for a long time by not making any crazy moves and waiting for the perfect moment. That was exactly the last hour of the race. We went for the move and got them, we extended our lead without any problems and brought the car home from an insanely great win. We did what seemed impossible two hours earlier. A hard and fair fought race by the whole team, just amazing.
I want to thank the team for the opportunity they gave me with a great car and with great teammates
The season now has really come to an end in the best possible way. A big thankyou to everyone that has supported me this season. The support I felt this year was amazing and drives me to further improve myself and to get even better results than this year. Let’s now recharge the batteries to go again next season. Thankyou!
