A scorching weekend at Zolder, 10-11 July 2010

Qualifying

The Saturday was a busy day: one qualifying in the morning and a qualifying and a race in the afternoon. I had set-up the car in Delft and the only thing I had to do was go fast in it. Competition would come from the Deans, Chris Stones and Tony Krumbach who had changed his FF2000 for a rent-a-drive in the van Diemen RF88 for Hess. My first qualifying wasn't very tidy. I made a lot of efforts to brake really late for the Paddock Chicane and only a few attempts were successful and quick. The majority was only fun to watch, I suppose. I finally managed a 1:47.8 which was good enough for 3rd overall in FF1600 (C&D Class, no B Class competitors). Matthew Dean was quickest with a 1:45.8, followed by Chris Stones with a 1:47.0. Tony Krumbach celebrated his return to the real Formula Ford with a creditable 1:48.7 just before Rebecca Dean with 1:48.9. I knew I could go faster. I just had to be a little bit bolder in Bianchi. In the second qualifying the temperatures had soared to well in the thirty degrees which isn't a recipe for very fast times. This proved to be the case as almost nobody was able to improve on his lap times. The top five did not alter after the second qualifying.

I wasn't completely happy with my gears which were far too long for Zolder. I had hoped to run some corners on torque like had worked for me quite well in Dijon but here that didn't work. There was however little time between qualifying and the race so I left everything the way it was.

Race 1

I was on the 7th row on the grid and in front of me were Chris Stones, Harry Franz in his Zetec, Frank Ludwig in FF2000 and Matthew Dean. I had good start but I was blocked by Chris Stones and Frank L who driving to close to get through. Chris was on the left and there was a little gap on the inside for the first left hander. I dived in the gap just as everybody started to brake. I brake very little and shot past everybody missing the apex and I came out in front of the afore mentioned in full lock. I kept control of the car and as I crossed everybody's line I messed up there progress more than my own with the oversteer moment. I was leading the FF1600 race just by one mad dash!!!

In the turmoil I had created behind me Chris had managed to pass Matthew as well. Going to the Paddock Chicane I took a defensive line and stayed up front. From there I could ease away a little bit. By the end of the first lap I had a little gap to Chris and Matt who was on his tail. I concentrated on my own laps and I could keep in front while sticking to my own lines. By lap 3 Harry Franz in his Zetec passed me and I could see Matt closing in fast. At the Villeneuve Chicane I defended my line a little but I could still maintain a little gap. Towards the start and finish Matt came closer still. In the First Left I braked very late and missed the apex completely. Apparently - as some fans told me - he followed my line and missed even more of the apex and spun on the marbles. I saw him spin in my mirrors. I continued and on the next lap I saw the marshals digging him out of the gravel trap. As I had a comfortable gap behind me I started concentrating on following the Zetec of Harry Franz. This lasted till lap 7 when I was quite close he spun in front of me in Bianchi. From that point on I just concentrated on driving fast. There was no indication on how many more laps there were or how much more time so I could take any chances as now Tony followed by Chris were still not that far away. Finally just as I was lapped by the front-runner of the FF2000 Stefan Scho, the flag was dropped. This happened very late, actually after Stefan passed the line, but I was flagged off as winner!

Race 2

The grid positions for the second race were results from race 1. This meant I was in 7th position on row 4. I don't think I've been this far up in a combined field with FF2000 and FF1600. The main competition in Class was Matthew who was starting from the last row so I thought I was in a pretty good position to make it two wins out of two races which would also get me in a very good position for the championship. I had changed my gears so I figured I'd be faster than the first race and I could keep Tony and Chris at bay. I just hoped everybody behind me would give Matt a hard enough time to get to the front.

At the start I again got a clean get away and I used the inside of the corner to get ahead of the FF2000 of Felix Haas. He re-passed me in Bianchi. Then Chris was quite close after the chicane. He missed a gear going for the Villeneuve Chicane and I was in clean air. I got down to it and found the new gear working very well. I could keep up with Peter Richards who was now the FF2000 in front of me. I managed to create a pretty good gap to Tony and Chris. Then my engine started to misfire just before the completion of lap 4. I passed the line with a very sick engine and before Bianchi it stopped altogether. I parked my car at the gate at the back straight and my race was over. Matt passed everybody and drove to a well deserved win. If my engine had survived he probably would not have been able to catch me as I had a very good speed and already quite a gap by the time my engine let go. In lap 3 I did a 1:46.7 which was a new record for me and only 0.5 s slower than Matt's fastest lap.