Posterholt 13-7-2008.
Many thanks to Edwin Clout for the report.
26 cars came to the Posterholt Raceway for the last meeting prior to the big
speed weekend in august. There were several drivers who got into trouble on
Saturday during the training session. Piet Huussen who was out in a 2008
Randall with a brand new engine had problems with the flywheel. Erwin
Peeters stroke of bad luck continued with a broken gearbox and Frank van
Uden had his share of engine trouble. All three of them were out on race day
however, with Huussen having a car loaned to him by Willie Peeters. Notable
absentees were Jan and Sjors Bekkers and Jelle Kurstjens, who were all at
the Skegness speed weekend. Former 1300 and Saloon stox driver Frankie van
Riet brought the Emiel Janssen owned car out for the first time, as Janssen
now seems to be retired.
All 26 cars came out for heat one which had a chaotic start to it as several
drivers jumped the start. Once the green dropped van Riet took the lead from
his far too generous white grade start. Peter Schut and Christiaan Weyenberg
hooked up and went into the fence. Hans Gielen went flat out into the turn 4
fence hitting Roy Maessen along the way. Maessen rejoined the race just
behind van Riet and the two engaged in a battle, both of them putting the
bumper in allowing Milou Mets to close in and have a go at the lead. Van
Riet however managed to hold on to the lead but he now had the big guns to
deal with. The waved yellows came out for Helmut Laumen who had his rear
bumper rubbing on his tyre. After the restart it was Willie Peeters who took
the lead only for van Riet to have go at Peeters, which didn’t affect the
latter at all. Henk Peeters took second and Danny Smidt third, with van Riet
again trying to put in a hit, on Smidt this time. Willie Peeters took the
win from his brother Henk and Danny Smidt.
26 cars out for heat two with once again a jump start which produced a crash
on the rolling lap. Once again the offenders got away unpunished and in
doing so this problem will never be solved. It was van Riet who took the
lead again and this time the waved yellows came out for no apparent reason.
After the restart it was van Riet who took the lead but the Peeters train
was already on its way and they moved their way up towards the leader. Just
as Willie tried to make his move on van Riet the latter’s engine broke down,
causing him to retire for the rest of the day. Willie Peeters went on to
take the win from Henk Peeters and Roy Maessen.
Only 21 cars came out for the third and last heat with van Uden retiring
from the rolling lap. After the green flag it was Peter Schut who put the
bumper in hard and shunted Jan Vervuurt into Christiaan Smidt. On the back
straight there was mayhem when Toon Schut ended up partly on the safety
fence and partly on the roof of the Sander v/d Heuvel car. The reds came out
immediately and there was called for the medical team, but by the time they
were in there van and at the scene the drivers were already out of their
cars. After figuring out how to untangle the cars it was a complete restart
and v/d Heuvel was allowed to take part in it as well. Willie Peeters
climbed all over Roy Maessen and retired while Henk Peeters also retired.
The race turned into a roundy round affair with Danny Smidt taking the lead
and the win from Milou Mets and Patrick Kessels. Erwin Peeters took a good
fourth, hoping his stroke of bad luck comes to end now.
Total points were won by Danny Smidt from Willie Peeters and Patrick Kessels.
Edwin Clout.
8th June Warneton Speedway
CAMSO V8
Many thanks to Kelvin Hassell KAM Racing for the
report (as Melissa is busy elsewhere) and Xavier at the
TeufTeuf Team for the pictures.
Gary Ellis made the 60 lap CAMSO cup
his own with a victory despite a shootout to the flag bought about by a late
caution period!
The first caution period of the day came in heat one when Clyde Williams
from England and American Bruce Andrews had a coming together. Both were
able to continue. Kelvin Hassell led the cars away from the restart but was
shuffled back to third by Frenchman Jean Vasseur and Ellis late in the race.
Former Superstox racer Tony Roots won the second heat despite the best
efforts of Ellis, who was second. Porsche GT racer Franz Lamont was third.
The 60 lap final saw a cautious start for the front end of the field with
nobody wanting to risk the high line so early in this marathon of a race.
Before the race Ellis had said “I don’t want to win this race, I want to win
the 75 lap race in July!” But Ellis was first to move his Dodge Charger to
the high line and start picking off the opposition. Three Caution periods
broke up the race. The first was Rookie driver Dirk Vervecken who spun on
his own. Later Vasseur would collect Belgium driver Jos Jansen in turns
three and four. Five laps from the end the yellows flew again for debris on
the track possibly left from the previous accident. This gave Roots who was
in second place, another chance to beat Ellis as he moved his Pontiac to the
outside in the final laps but couldn’t find the drive off of the turns.
Ellis strengthened his championship lead with Roots a valiant second. Lamont
was docked one place for driving conduct which promoted Vincent Lehouck to
third place.
Posterholt 8-6-2008.
Many thanks to Edwin Clout
for the report.
27 cars raced at the third meeting at Posterholt Raceway. Notable absentee
was Willie Peeters who was over in England with his F1 stock car to race at
the Peter Falding testimonial meeting. Dirk Albrecht brought his new Randall
out for the first time.
All cars came out for heat one in which lady racer Milou Mets had a brief
spell in the lead before Christiaan Weyenberg took over. Jelle Kurstjens
climbed onto Sjors Bekkers. The yellow flags came out for a brief period of
time, but before the whole field had slowed down the greens came out again
and the confusion that followed allowed Henk Peeters and Toon Schut to close
in on Weyenberg and relegate him from the lead. Whether it was by a
sideswipe from Roy Hendriks or his own mistake but Randy Wederfoort brought
the race to a premature end when he rode the home straight fence and rolled
the car on its side before sliding along the Armco for quite a distance.
Randy was ok but the car can be deemed written off as the chassis was all
bend. Henk Peeters took the win from Schut and Danny Smidt.
24 cars came out for heat two and it was Weyenberg who took the lead. Schut
spun Danny Smidt, before the race turned into a procession. The only driver
making up a lot of ground was H. Peeters but he got caught underneath the
Helmut Laumen car when he tried to shift it wide, the Laumen car lifting his
wheel of the ground under braking which caused the mishap. This all gave
Weyenberg enough breathing space to take the win from Mets and Patrick
Kessels.
Also 24 cars for heat three which started with Christiaan Smidt following
Jan Bekkers into the turn two fence, which put them both out of the race. A
good battle for the lead developed between white graders, Mets, Wyenberg and
Tony Henraath, with the bumper going in on occasions. The three of them
traded places for quite some time, until Weyenberg managed to open up a gap.
Kessels arrived and took second before the train of Schut, Henk Peeters and
Danny Smidt arrived. Mets got caught up in the fight between the three of
them and had to give way. Smidt was trying to force Schut wide but couldn’t
quite shift him and it was Peeters who took advantage of this by spinning
Smidt. For some reason the reds came out for Smidt, which actually saved
Weyenberg who had just spun and with the race being over, he was the winner
from Kessels and Schut.
Total points were won by Weyenberg from Schut and Henk Peeters.
Edwin Clout.
CAMSO 11/05/08 Warneton
Many thanks to Melissa for the report and pictures.
The sun shone at Warneton Autospeedway in Belgium
last weekend (11/05/08) for the third round of the CAMSO V8 Championship.
The crowds piled into the stands to celebrate the arrival of summer with
cold beer, ice cream and the thundering sound of V8 engines!
The first race saw Raptor Racing’s Jos Jansen on pole with Kelvin Hassell on
the outside; Vincent Lehouck and Wim Moonen both sat on the second row. As
they reached the first corner, Jansen had edged ahead of Hassell to take the
lead; Moonen darted to the inside, beating Hassell and Lehouck to second
place. As they exited turn four during the first lap, Lehouck squeezed down
the inside into third place.
At the back of the grid Gary Ellis, who started on row five, was picking off
his opponents one at a time; he dived past Jean Vasseur and Tony Roots,
improving his position to sixth within the first three laps. At the front of
the field, Moonen was catching Jansen with Hassell claiming back one place
as he passed Lehouck on the exit of turn four.
As Ellis went to pass Andy Andrews into turn one, he lost traction and slid
up the track, allowing Roots to dart down the inside. As Roots looked down
the outside of Andrews, Ellis was back on the pace and they both passed the
#17 on the outside.
Moonen had closed in on Jansen and was just nosing down the outside when the
yellow flags were brought out for rookie driver Clyde Williams. Williams,
driving the #04, had spun in turns three and four. No damage was done and
the cars were gridded for the restart. Jansen took pole with Moonen
alongside; Hassell and Lehouck filled the second row.
At the restart, Jansen and Moonen sped into turn one side-by-side, but with
Jansen having the inside line advantage, he managed to edged ahead and take
the lead. Midway down the grid Vasseur, Ellis and Lehouck were fighting for
position, heading down the back-straight three-abreast. Roots was making the
most of the restart and was cautiously looking down the outside of Hassell.
Vasseur, storming through the field, caught up with Roots and took advantage
of his hesitation, powering down the inside in turns one and two.
As Moonen began looking down the outside of Jansen for the pass, the #73 got
loose on the exit of turn four and spun into the path of the oncoming
drivers. With nowhere to go, Vasseur, Roots and Andrews all spun into a
messy heap. Roots and Moonen suffered bodywork damage but were able to
continue the race. The #07 of Vasseur received more serious wounds and was
forced into retirement.
At the restart, Jansen remained on pole with Hassell on the outside; Roots
and Ellis filled the second row as Moonen was sent to the back of the field.
As the green flag dropped, Hassell slipped up the track, allowing Roots,
Andrews, Ellis and Lehouck through on the inside. Andrews then got stuck on
the outside line; Moonen, Williams and Hassell took advantage of this and
sped down the inside.
As the crossed the finish line, Jansen was in the lead with Roots just
snatching second from Ellis by an inch.
Race two saw Jansen pull back into the paddock during the warming up laps
after cutting the front right tyre on debris. The cars were lined up with
Williams taking pole and Lehouck on the outside. Hassell sat on the second
row on his own with Andrews and Vasseur in row three.
As the green flag flew, Lehouck passed Williams around the outside of turn
one to take the lead. However, his stint at the front was short-lived as
Williams pulled back to the front of the field. As they came around for the
second lap, Lehouck slid up the track in turns one and two, allowing the
pack through, led by Vasseur. Vasseur began chasing Williams for the lead;
as he closed in on him, he took a wide line into turn one in an attempt to
drive around the outside but he was unable to complete the pass. Vasseur
edged back alongside the hard-charging #04 and as they exited turn four,
Vasseur managed to get his nose in front and pull away from Williams.
As Vasseur began to create a good lead from the rest of the pack, Hassell,
currently running in third place, was black-flagged due to smoke caused by
an oil leak. With Hassell out of the race, Roots was promoted to third place
and was soon on the tail of Williams with Ellis not far behind. Roots
attempted a pass in turns one and two but didn’t have quite enough grip, but
as they powered onto the straight, Roots managed to get his nose in front of
the rookie. With Roots past, Ellis drew alongside and got through on the
exit of turn four.
Behind, Moonen was catching the #04 in fourth place but couldn’t find enough
grip in the corners to pass. With only two laps left, Vasseur was coming up
to lap back markers and as the chequered flag was waved, he crossed the line
first, followed by Roots and Ellis. It was a great race for Vasseur who has
been struggling with the handling of the #07 Profil+ car since the beginning
of the season.
The final took place without the #88 of Hassell, who had not managed to fix
the Chevrolet Monte Carlo’s oil leak in time to compete. Lehouck took pole
with Williams on the outside; Andrews and Moonen rounded off the top four.
At the start, Lehouck took the lead. Roots slipped down the inside of Moonen
in turn two to take fourth place, followed by Vasseur. However, Vasseur got
loose in turn two on the following lap and Moonen reclaimed his place in the
field.
During all this, Williams had managed to slip past Lehouck to claim the
lead. Lehouck was holding second place with Andrews in third. In the middle
of the field a battle was taking place between Vasseur, Roots, Moonen and
Ellis. The four drivers were racing two-by-two around the track when Vasseur
spun in turn four, causing a caution.
At the restart, Vasseur was sent to the back of the field. Williams took
pole alongside Lehouck with Andrews and Roots behind. As they ploughed into
the first corner, Williams nosed in front of Lehouck. When they entered turn
three, Andrews tried to get down the inside of Lehouck by couldn’t complete
the manoeuvre.
Roots was steaming around the track and passed Andrews on the exit of turn
four to claim third place. Moonen was also looking to pass Andrews but was
still struggling with grip. Meanwhile, Ellis has caught up with the #73 and
nipped down the inside of Moonen in turn four.
At the front of the field, Roots had caught Lehouck and was looking to the
outside for the pass, managing to inch past on the exit of turn two. He then
began to claw towards the leader. He edged alongside the rookie but could
not find enough grip in the corners or grunt down the straight. Roots and
Williams continued to battle alongside each other as Ellis caught the #66 of
Lehouck. The front of the field saw two tussles for position as Williams
fought off the #77 of Roots and Lehouck battled to keep his position from
Ellis.
With four laps to go, Roots slipped back slightly but then in a last ditched
attempt, managed to claw back besides the #04. Ellis had just managed to
grapple his way around Lehouck, when with one lap to go, Williams made his
final lunge and pulled away from Roots to take the win. Roots came home
second with Ellis in third and Lehouck in fourth. For his first round in the
CAMSO V8 Championship, Clyde Williams didn’t do bad!
Posterholt 4-5-2008.
Many thanks to Edwin Clout for the results.
28 cars booked in at Raceway Posterholt for the second meeting of the
season. Milou Mets didn’t race as she broke her gearbox in the Saturday
practice session. Sjors Bekkers hit engine trouble on Saturday but managed
to get it all repaired, including a drive home, only for the engine to break
down again in the second heat. Toon Schut did his first 2008 meeting at the
Posterholt track while Christiaan Weyenberg made his track debut. Erwin
Peeters was back in a different car for this meeting, after wrecking his at
the first Posterholt meeting, and he drove like a man possessed, putting the
bumper in hard on every occasion he could.
27 cars came out on track for heat one with Frank van Uden retiring even
before the rolling lap. It was Weyenberg who took the lead from Tony
Henraath and Sjeng Smidt. Henraath took over but S. Smidt was closing in
rapidly, while brothers Robert and Roy Leenhouts briefly hooked up on the
home straight with Roy coming to rest in front of race control. S. Smidt
took the lead with Jan Bekkers now in third and closing on Henraath, while
further down the field the bumpers were put in by Willie Peeters, Henk
Peeters and Danny Smidt, with no love lost between Peeters brothers. Bekkers
managed to spin Henraath out of second but ran out of laps to challenge for
the win, which went the way of Sjeng Smidt with Bekkers in second and third
going to white top Weyenberg.
24 cars came out for heat two in which the red top train prevented Mr.
starter to wave the green flag after they jumped the start big time. Toon
Schut retired from the second try and it was Weyenberg who took the lead
when the green finally dropped. Sjors Bekkers retired with engine trouble
and didn’t appear in the last heat. Hans Gielen blew the engine, while in
the back of the pack there was a battle going on between H. Peeters, Erwin
Peeters, Roy Maessen and Danny Smidt. On one occasion E. Peeters put Maessen
full steam into Smidt, but the four of them only managed to halt each others
progress through the rest of the field. Henraath and Weyenberg were changing
the lead a couple of times with W. Peeters now closing in, but the race
ended in dramatic fashion when the bumpers went in. Once the dust had
settled it was C. Smidt who had spun, J. Bekker had hit the Armco and
retired and S. Smidt had a flat right rear tire, which put him retirement as
well. Weyenberg to his credit held onto the lead while Patrick Kessels
dished the bumper out to Jelle Kurstjens, the latter going very wide.
Weyenberg held on for the win from W. Peeters and Roy Hendriks who took full
advantage of the carnage that went on in front of him. Kessels came in
fourth with Henraath in fifth and Kurstjens in sixth.
23 cars came out for the final which had to be red flagged instantly when
H55 C. Smidt went over the bonnet of the H40 Piet Huussen car before doing a
balancing act on his front bumper and then falling back on all fours. All
this happened on the infield and Smidt got a huge amount of dirt in his cab
and it took him while to come to his senses. The paramedics rushed to the
scene but after a couple of minutes Smidt got out of his car unharmed. There
were only 19 cars left for the restart in which Weyenberg took the lead and
it looked he was going to perform an upset and take another win. S.Smidt was
battling with Henraath for second while from the back the red top train came
thundering through the pack with W. Peeters and Kurstjens leading the way.
Henraath spun himself when he landed a hit on S. Smidt who now had W.
Peeters closing in on him. W. Peeters reeled Smidt in and put him wide for
second. With only two to go W. Peeters was getting ready for a last bend
lunge and it came in a big way. Weyenberg spun after the hit and Willie took
the win from Kurstjens and Hendriks who took full advantage once again. J.
Bekkers and D. Smidt were battling sixth with the two of them going in hard
with the bumper, with Bekkers retiring with a left front flat tire.
Total points were won by Willie Peeters from Jelle Kurstjens and Christiaan
Weyenberg.
Edwin Clout.
Warneton 13th April CAMSO
Many thanks to Melissa Wicks for the report and
to Teufteufteam for the pictures.
CAMSO dodged the April showers to squeeze 4
action-packed CAMSO V8 races into the Warneton schedule for Sunday the 13th
of April.
American Bruce “Andy” Andrews headed up the first group with Kelvin Hassell
on the outside. Behind them were Vincent Lehouck and ‘The Flying Dutchman’
Wim Moonen. Tony Roots and Xavier Vandermeersch queued behind with Gary
Ellis and 2007 Champion Jean Vasseur completing the grid.
As the green flag fell and they entered the first corner, Hassell managed to
edge in front of Andrews. However, the #88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo wouldn’t
stick and Andrews took the lead. Lehouck made an unsuccessful attempt to
follow Andrews down the inside, then tried moving to the outside, but
Hassell managed to fend him off.
At the back of the field, Ellis and Vandermeersch were jostling for
position; Ellis in the #95 managed to pass the #4 of Vandermeersch on the
inside of turns one and two. On the following lap, Vandermeersch attempted
to claim his position back; a manoeuvre that nearly resulted in a spin for
Jean Vasseur in the #07, as he attempted to avoid what appeared to be an
imminent collision.
Roots picked his way through the field, passing Lehouck on the exit of turn
two to claim fourth place. Ellis and Vandermeersch were not far behind and
Lehouck slipped through the field.
Meanwhile, Andrews was making good headway at the front of the pack and had
created a reasonable lead. Hassell, currently in second place began to claw
back some of the distance, which proved difficult with Moonen on the chase
in third. As Hassell took a wider line into turns three and four in an
attempt to pass the #17 Chevy, Moonen caught him, attempting to make room
down the inside as they entered turn one, but he was unable to complete the
manoeuvre.
The second pack, consisting of Roots, Ellis and Vandermeersch, were in
fighting spirits! Ellis managed to slip up the inside of Vandermeersch on
the exit of turn four, leaving him to fall back down the pack. With four
laps to go, Ellis lunged to take fourth place from Roots, but Roots held
firm alongside.
Andrews sprinted across the finish line to take his first victory of the
year, with Hassell taking second and Moonen third. Ellis took fifth after
missing out on fourth by less than the length of Root’s bonnet!
In Race 2, both Jos Jansen and Anton Gonnissen joined the grid. Jansen in
the #222 took pole with Hassell on the outside; Lehouck filled the second
row with Gonnissen and Moonen behind. As the V8s fired into the first
corner, Jansen took the lead with Lehouck passing Hassell to take second
place. Both Gonnissen and Vandermeersch, who was on the row behind, beat
Moonen into the corner.
With the clouds threatening to burst at any minute, Ellis picked his way
through from the back of the field, passing Gonnissen on the outside line to
take fifth place. Vandermeersch clawed his way into a podium position as he
passed Hassell who held third place. Ellis was not far behind; managing to
find the grip on the outside of the track, Ellis passed Hassell in turns
three and four.
With Jansen coming up to pass back-markers, those in the leading pack were
given the opportunity to close the gap between themselves and the lead car.
Vandermeersch passed Lehouck on the exit of turn four, followed shortly by
Ellis on the next lap.
At the back of the field, the 2007 Champion, Jean Vasseur was not having the
best of luck. After engine problems at the beginning of the day, handling
problems were now preventing his attempts to pass Moonen.
As the race drew to an end, Jansen was still struggling to lap Andrews.
Vandermeersch and Ellis soon closed in on the Rookie. Vandermeersch lunged
for the inside line but was held off by Jansen. As the #04 moved to the
outside, Jansen was caught once again by Andrews and as they crossed the
line, Vandermeersch had managed to edge alongside the #17 to take the win
from Jansen in second and Ellis in third. In the ensuing pack, Lehouck took
fourth with Hassell in fifth and Gonnissen in sixth.
The final saw Hassell take pole with Lehouck on the outside. Moonen and
Andrews lined up behind with Jansen and Gonnissen on their tails. With the
green flag shown, Hassell made it first to turn one; meanwhile, Moonen edged
in front of Andrews for third place. Lehouck was having trouble making the
car stick on the outside line and he slipped down through the field as
Moonen, Andrews, Jansen and Roots passed on the inside line.
Moonen, looking for a win, moved to the outside to pass Hassell but couldn’t
quite find enough grip to complete the move. For three more laps, Moonen
fought for first place, but the #88 managed to just edge in front. Then, the
yellow flags were brought out for a collision between Jansen and Andrews in
turn three that saw the #17 spin into the wall. Jansen was sent to the back
of the grid for the restart.
At the restart, Hassell managed to creep past Moonen with Andrews following
him through on the inside. Meanwhile, Ellis had dashed around the outside of
Moonen and Andrews and was hard on the tail of Hassell. As they exited turn
four, Ellis took the lead and sprinted away from the pack towards the finish
line. As the chequered flag dropped, Ellis had a fantastic lead. Hassell
came home second with Andrews in third, Moonen in fourth and Gonnissen in
fifth.
Due to the appalling weather at the Easter meeting, a fourth point-scoring
race was arranged for the afternoon, weather permitting of course! Before
the cars had made their way onto the track, Gonnissen was forced to retire
with a radiator leak.
In this fourth race, Lehouck took pole with Moonen on the outside. Jansen
and Hassell filled the second row with Andrews and Roots behind. As the race
began, Lehouck and Moonen were side-by-side and remained so until Moonen
finally passed in turns one and two on the second lap. Hassell, stuck on the
outside line, was swallowed up by the field, falling down to seventh place.
At the front of the pack, Moonen pulled away a good lead. Lehouck and
Jansen, in second and third, were also spread out, followed by a tight pack
consisting of Andrews, Vandermeersch and Ellis. As Vandermeersch tried to
drive around Andrews, Ellis tried the inside line. Neither were successful
this time, but Ellis managed to claim fourth place from Andrews on the
following lap. As Vandermeersch attempted the pass again, he got loose,
allowing Roots to fly down the inside. As Andrews took turns one and two too
wide, Roots sneaked down the inside in pursuit of Ellis. Vasseur and
Vandermeersch also took advantage of Andrews mistake, both passing the #17.
As they came around for the last lap, Moonen was in first place with Jansen
and Lehouck in second and third, followed by Ellis, Roots and Vasseur.
Posterholt 13-4-2008.
Many thanks to Edwin Clout for the report.
The First Posterholt BriSCA F2 meeting of 2008 took
place on Sunday April 13. With Venray without meetings expectations on a
bigger turnout of drivers were high and this came true when 28 cars turned
up for the meeting. There were new cars for Henk and Willie Peeters, both in
Randall cars, Jelle Kurstjens in his good looking homegrown machine, Sjeng
Smidt and Tony Henraath in DK cars and Christiaan Smidt in a Randall. Among
the drivers that debuted in the F2’s was ex Hotrod and long time races
Helmut Laumen and lady racer Milou Mets who graduaded from the Juniors and
went straight for the F2’s.
All 28 cars came out for heat one although Francois Damen retired in the
rolling lap with electrical problems. It was Martin Janssen who took the
lead but Sjeng Smidt took full advantage from his generous awarded yellow
grade and took over at the front. Among the red tops the bumpers went in and
it was Willie Peeters who showed first with Erwin Peeters hot on his heels.
Roy Maessen, who also started to far up the field at blue, took second and
E. Peeters. went for the inside of W. Peeters. It all ended into tears for
Erwin however as he hit the back straight wall very hard and came to rest in
turn four. Willie climbed all over Christiaan Smidt in turn 2 and lost a lot
of ground. Sjeng Smidt went on to win from Roy Maessen and Roy Leenhouts.
Erwin Peeters had a checkup by the first aid but was cleared to race.
27 cars out for heat two with Laumen missing and Erwin Peeters also
retiring. He later told me the chassis was bend and he was feeling pretty
sour after his first heat shunt. The action started straight away when
Christiaan Smidt put Jan Vervuurt into Maurice Verstappen and the latter
both spun. Mets briefly led but it was Sjeng Smidt who took over. This time
it was Jan Bekkers who made a very good start and showed into third behind
Sjeng and Christiaan Smidt, with Willie Peeters closing in on the three of
them. Bekkers put Christiaan wide for second and set off after Sjeng Smidt,
with Willie Peeters following through as well. Bekkers reeled Sjeng in and
went for it to take the lead. Bekkers however went wide allowing Sjeng back
through with Willie now on the back of Sjeng. Sjeng allowed Willie through
on the inside on the last lap, so Willie Peeters took the win from Sjeng
Smidt and Jan Bekkers.
26 cars out for heat three in which things went a little rougher. Ron
Janssen span in the rolling lap and because several drivers made a jumpstart
the green never came out. When the dust had cleared it were Roy Leenhouts
and Sjeng Smidt who had their bumpers tangled up and it took quite a while
to get them untangled. Sjeng Smidt took the lead when the green finally
dropped but it was Willie Peeters who had a great start and he already
showed in fifth. Peeters than briefly tangled with Hans Gielen and lost two
places. The bumpers went in hard in turn two and it was Maessen who half
spun in front of Jelle Kurstjens which cost them both some places. The order
at the front was now Sjeng Smidt in the lead from the 2007 track champion
Danny Smidt and Willie Peeters. Robert Leenhouts got himself into all kinds
of trouble with Vervuurt, sideswiping Kurstjens onto the infield on the back
straight. W. Peeters took second from D. Smidt but Smidt fought back tapping
Peeters wide to retake second but going wide allowing Peeters through again.
Peeters reeled Sjeng Smidt in and took the lead after a very subtle tap on
the back of Smidt, with just one to go. Willie Peeters took the win from
Danny Smidt who put his dad wide for second with just half a lap to go and
Henk Peeters who also got through.
Total points were won by Sjeng Smidt from Danny Smidt and Willie Peeters.
Edwin Clout.
CAMSO V8 23/24 March
Many thanks to Melissa Wicks for CAMSO report.
Lehouck takes first blood
After an unblemished record of holding V8 meetings despite Warneton’s
challenging and changing weather conditions, even CAMSO fell foul to Mondays
snow showers. They did however manage to squeeze in two all action races on
the Sunday!
#222 Raptor Racings Jos “The Boss” Jansen sat on the pole spot with the
Kelvinator Kelvin Hassell in the #88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the outside
sporting a new nose! The car, not Kelvin. Vincent Lehouck sat behind the
pair in the #66 Ford Taurus.
#77 Tony Roots headed up the next group with Dutchman Wim Moonen on his
outside. Behind them the second Raptor Racing car of Kurt Dyjardyn and
Xavier Vandermeersch in the #4 Ford. Vandermeersch is using the Ford until
repairs to his usual steed, the #19 Dodge Intrepid, are complete.
Next up was the number one championship contender #95 Gary Ellis in the
beautiful and brand new 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and behind him in the
#07, 2007 CAMSO V8 champion Jean Vasseur.
At the green Jos The Boss took the lead with the
Kelvinator hanging on to Lehouck on the high side of the track. Ellis
started to move forward passing the #4 car of Vandermeersch.
Lehouck got the better of Hassell and then Tony Roots began to mount an
attack on the #88 car. Now clear of the battle behind him, Lehouck moved to
the outside of Jansen for the lead. It was a challenge that went on for a
further three laps or so before Lehouck finally managed to take the number
one spot.
Meanwhile, Roots, now up to third had over cooked it going in to turn one
allowing Hassell to slip back through followed by Dyjardyn and Gary Ellis,
who was on a mission to get to the front. Ellis passed Dyjardyn into turn 2
and Hassell into turn 4. The #88 car would slip further down the order with
an over heating problem caused by a leaking radiator. Dyjardyn passed
Hassell but Vandermeersch got trapped behind the #88 car as Vasseur did the
pair of them. Vandermeersch cleared Hassell and then started chewing on the
back bumper of the #07.
Up at the front Ellis had taken second place away from Jansen who was coming
under pressure from his Raptor Racing teammate for the number three spot.
The fight was cut short with the first yellow flags of 2008 for a collision
between Vasseur in the #07 and Vandermeersch in the #4. Vandermeersch was
sent to the back of the field as they formed up for the restart.
At the green Ellis tried to move around the #66 but Lehouck was on top form
and kept the former champ at bay. Wim Moonen, who had been having an
uneventful race until the restart was able to put the bumper on Jansen and
move the Raptor car down another spot. The race to the flag though was
between Lehouck and Ellis with Lehouck taking the win by the smallest of
margins. Dyjardyn came home third in the #2 car.
Race 2
The Kelvinator was now on the inside of row one with Jos The Boss on the
outside. Tony Roots and Wim Moonen made up the first group. It was single
file after them with Dyjardyn, Vandermeersch, Ellis, Lehouck and Vasseur.
Hassell took the lead and looked like he would have the whole race sewn up
from the off as he sped away leaving Jansen to fend off the attacking Wim
Moonen. Roots got a bad start and dropped in behind Dyjardyn who had moved
into third.
Moonen muscled his way past Jansen with Dyjardyn and Roots following him
through. Hassell was galloping away out in front and had pulled out half a
straight on the pack behind him when the yellow came out for Jos Jansen
spinning the #222 car in turn 3.
At the restart Hassell again drove away from Moonen. Roots tried to get
around Dyjardyn but instead left himself open for Ellis and Vasseur to sneak
through. The yellow came out again as Vandermeersch spun coming on to the
backstretch.
On the restart the Kelvinator again got the drive on Moonen and this time
Dyjardyn stuck the nose of the #2 car down the inside of Moonen before
Moonen could block him. The #73 car got hung out on the top of the banking
as the field filtered through. Ellis then threw the #95 around the outside
of Vandermeersch . Roots did the same manoeuvre on Vasseur who had cunningly
slipped into third place after the restart. Dyjardyn began to reel in the
#88 car and was alongside for the pass when the yellow flew again. This time
it was the #73 and the #07 parked at turn 2. They both got going again for
the restart.
Dyjardyn led the restart and Roots slipped into second. This time it was
Hassell who was hung out to dry slipping back down the order on the high
side of the track.
Ellis was trying to take second off of Tony Roots when a power steering hose
burst on the #95 car sending Ellis across the track. Moonen spun trying to
avoid Ellis before the yellows came out. Vasseur, Lehouck and Hassell all
crashed out on the oil so the race was ended under caution. Dyjardyn was
declared the winner and official results for the other places are yet to be
released by CAMSO. As soon as we know them, we will let you know.