Difference between revisions of "Circuit Park Zandvoort"

Revision as of 11:49, 28 September 2011

Circuit Park Zandvoort

Track details
Location	Zandvoort, Netherlands
Time Zone	GMT +1
Type	Permanent racing facility
First held	2009
Times held	3
Major events	{{{Major_events}}}
Lap details
Length	4.307 km (2.676 miles)
Turns	13
Lap record	(, , )

Circuit Park Zandvoort is a circuit in Zandvoort, Netherlands. It is on the calendar since 2009. it is also the base of Racing Team Schroten.

2009

Joe Consiglio earned himself a place in the history books as the 2009 GPVWC World Champion after a confident drive saw him finish second in the Dutch Grand Prix last night, the Maltese ace thus scoring the 8 points that put him out of reach of his main rival Janne Tanskanen with one race to spare.

On a race won by Lee Morris, now on his 4th win on 4 races, Consiglio made sure the excellent performances of Mark Wicks (3rd) and Adam Rouse (4th) didn't get in the way of his finest day of simracing since his debut in the GPVWC 2002 season and celebrated wildly after crossing the finish line. "I still can't believe it" were Joe's first words out of the car "I am World Champion, baby!"

The race itself saw very good battles on the spectacular, old-style track in the dunes of the Netherlands. The much-feared turn 1 didn't produce any casualties, and as the leaders took flight, some fierce battles ensued in mid-pack. Kieran Ryan, Nick Rowland and Chris Allen were just some of the names tangled in some tough fights for points, occasionally joined by the likes of Wayne Mullins, Jason Muscat and William Ponissi.

Returning Mark Stanton was the victim of a high-speed crash as he spun in the fast right hander past the hill, and a spectacular crash was the conclusion of Dan Rusu's race as well: neither of the drivers reported any injuries as an outcome of their shunts.

Unlucky Jason Muscat was victim of a brake failure that deprived him of some well-deserved points, and left P8 to Ryan McConkey. Mullins was 7th, preceded by Kieran Ryan in 6th and Rowland in 5th.

As Mark Wicks held Rouse at bay for the last step of the podium and Lee Morris sped to another win, celebrations erupted in the Nordsjoen pits: their man, the man they fought so hard to have in the team after the inaugural tests in Norway, has finally done it. Joe Consiglio is World Champion.

2010

In qualifying, Tanskanen was on top of the timesheets once again, followed by the Woods Racing pair, never to be divided as usual. Jason Muscat, winner in Belgium, kept his great form going with P4.

At the start, the Maltese ace was able to leapfrog Kieran Ryan for 3rd, while in the back his team-mate Leontin Nemet fell victim of a collision with CSG Racing's Jyri Lylykorpi, both drivers falling to the bottom of the group. Adam Smith, starting last, made the best of others' misfortunes to find himself 9th at turn 1. Muscat's 3rd place was to be short-lived however, as a braking mistake allowed Ryan to pass him again.

Up front, Mark Wicks set himself hot on the heels of Janne Tanskanen, trying to put the Nordsjoen driver under pressure and force a mistake. Behind them Ryan followed closely, ready to take any opportunity that might have arisen. In the fought-on midfield, the race saw the retirement of Mark Bullivant, who could not avoid a spinning Smith and retired with a written-off chassis after collecting the Williamson Dynamics car and the wall.

The first few laps saw a ferocious battle between Jyri Lylykorpi, William Ponissi and Sam Millar, all competing for P8. The Finn and Millar were able to overtake Ponissi, only for the first to spin and fall to the bottom of the group and for the Italian to have a contact with the wall.

A race of attrition claimed Phil Perkins and Smith through mistakes, before engines started letting the drivers down as Millar, possibly as a consequence an off in lap 2, and Chris Williamson both see their power plants let go in big puffs of smoke, and David Jundt is late victim of the same fate.

As Janne Tanskanen claimed yet another win from the season and Mark Wicks failed to finish for the first time in almost two seasons, Kieran Ryan and Jason Muscat confirmed their position as some of the most in-form drivers at this stage of the Championship by filling up the remaining positions on the podium.

2011

The 2011 race will be held on 12th and 13 October.