Hockenheim Race Report

No less than 36 cars went out in qualifying on the brilliant Hockenheim track. We were extremely happy to welcome a large number of NKHTGT newcomers from all over Europe: Marc Morawietz and Ralf Wagner from Germany, Bengt-Åke Bengtsson from Sweden, Antoine Darley and Basile Gronfier from France, Christophe Germain from Switzerland and Steven Tonneman from the Netherlands.  Pole position on this power track went to Kennet Persson in the Ford GT40, with Rhea Sautter and Andy Newall just 0,3 seconds behind in the E-type. Michiel Campagne claimed third on the grid in the Corvette Grand Sport. Next up were the Cobras of Armand Adriaans and Oliver Douglas, while Norbert Gross was fastest of the touring cars in 6th. The first non V8 on the grid was Luc de Cock in 7th in his Lotus Elan, then Mark Dols in the Marcos 1800 and Alexander Schlüchter and Bob Stevens in more Lotus Elans. 

Race 1: Campagne macht richtig Dampf

As soon as the lights turned to green, Michiel Campagne took the lead of the race to hold onto it for the full 45 minutes. Polesitter Kennet Persson kept the Corvette Grand Sport in his sights, but had to retire his Ford GT40 at half distance. Cobra drivers Armand Adriaans and Oliver Douglas had a great scrap for second, Douglas eventually taking the place. Mark Dols took fourth in his GTP Marcos, although GTS10 winner Alexander Schlüchter came very close to passing him on the last lap in his Lotus Elan. Next up was a train of GTS12 cars, with Roelant de Waard in the Shelby Mustang finishing just ahead of Christoph Germain and Rhea Sautter in their E-types. More Lotus  Elans followed, Bob Stevens taking second in GTS10 from his Father Jos, while Mats Ek beat Bengt Åke Bengtsson to come home first of the Swedes. In GTS11 there was a lot going on. Runaway leader Niek van Gils retired with gearbox trouble, while Theo van Gammeren and Frank Veenstra had a pas de deux, which necessitated a pit visit. Thus Basile Gronfier and Barbara Lambert came through to take first and second in class in their MGB’s. The touring car class was won by Henk van Gammeren (Ford Falcon), 3 seconds ahead of Bart-Jan Deenik in another Falcon. Ralf Wagner was the third touring car home in his Lotus Cortina, with Bert Mets (Cooper s) and Magnus Lillerskog (Lotus Cortina) next.

Race 2: Newall der Regenmeister

Sunday dawned wet and miserable at Hockenheim. Things had not improved when the NKHTGT field lined up for the 10:20 start, so it was rear lights on and an extra formation lap. Andy Newall immediately took the initiative in the Jaguar E-type and used his exceptional car control to build up an enormous lead. Michiel Campagne did well to hang on to second in the big Corvette Grand Sport, until Roeland de Waard found a way past, displaying some very tidy driving in the GT350 Mustang. The battle for fourth was highly entertaining with Oliver Douglas (Cobra Daytona), Norbert Gross (Ford Falcon), Mark Dols (Marcos 1800) and the Lotus Elans of Bob Stevens and Alexander Schlüchter. The nimble cars had an advantage over the V8’s and it was Bob Stevens who took fourth at the flag, as Schlüchter and Dols lost time with a couple of off-track excursions. Thijs van Gammeren drove an impressive race from the last row to sixth overall and a win GTS11 in the Porsche 911. Brian Lambert and Frank Veenstra took second and third in class in their MGB’s. Bengt-Åke Bengtsson was best of the Swedes this time, beating Jos Stevens to take third in GTS10. Bart-Jan Deenik was the first touring car driver home in his Ford Falcon, from Henk van Gammeren, with Bert Mets in his Mini third overall and first in CT07. Ralf Wagner drove spectacularly in his Lotus Cortina and survived an off-track excursion to win CT08 from Magnus Lillerskog.

 

Full results are here: https://raceresults.at/Results/organisator/2022?evenement=Auto+Rennen&race=Preis+der+Stadt+Stuttgart++Hockenheimring

 

You can read all the paddock gossip in our online magazine: https://www.nkhtgt.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/NKHTGT-Hockenheim-2022-editie.pdf

 

Next race: Zandvoort, June 4-5.

NKHTGT Magazine 2022 #1 – Hockenheim

The first issue of the NKHTGT Magazine 2022 can be downloaded HERE. In the next few days we will update the website with full results, info on forthcoming races and the 2022 points standings.

Four weeks to go….

NKHTGT, the Dutch historic racing series for touring cars and GTs built between 1947 and 1965, will kick off in four weeks at Hockenheim.

Over 40 drivers have already registered for the 2022 season. Among them are more than 30 package deal drivers who will compete the full season. We are particularly pleased to welcome a good number of new participants. Among them are of course Dutchmen, but also racers from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It looks like we’re going to see a lot of competition in the GTS10 class this year, as a record number of Lotus Elans have been entered. On the touring car front, we are looking forward to the return of the Ford Anglia. Probably not a candidate for the podium, but it is driven by a former champion so never say never! On the sponsorship front, the news is mixed: we have secured four sponsorship deals, but the best place, prominently displayed on our windscreen streamer, is still vacant. A unique opportunity to advertise internationally.

The NKHTGT calendar for 2022 is as follows:

Month Day Format race Event
April 22-24 Qly 30 – 2×45 Preis der Stadt Stuttgart, Hockenheim
June 4-5 Qly 25 – 2×40 Zandvoort Whitsun races
June 24-26 Qly 30 – 1×61 Spa Summer Classic
Aug 5-7 Qly 30 – 2×30 Jack’s Racing Days Assen
Aug 26-28 Qly 2×15 – 2×30 Anderstorp, Sweden
Oct 7-9 Qly 45 – 1×120 + 1 x 30 Dijon Motors Cup

Want to join us? We welcome drivers with an FIA specification pre-’66 touring car, GT or GTS. Is your car’s HTP not quite finalized yet? No problem, we have an invitation class. Registration for the 2022 package deal has already closed, but there are still entries available for most races. The entry fee is a very reasonable € 845 per event. All information can be found on our website www.nkhtgt.nl. Do you have questions, do you want to participate, or become a (main) sponsor? Mail us: race@nkhtgt.nl.

Ready to go!

The 2022 NKHTGT regulations have been approved by the Dutch motor sport authority KNAF. There are no surprises, they are very similar to those of previous years. But it can never hurt to read them of course! You can find them on the competitors information page.

Its oh so quiet at NKHTGT

Its oh so quiet at NKHTGT. Or is it? On the contrary, we are very busy processing registrations for the 2022 season! Quite a few package deals have already been sold, as well as a large number of individual entries for various races. We are pleased about the many Swedish racers who have not only signed up for their home race at Anderstorp, but will also travel south to Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium for our races at Hockenheim, Zandvoort, Assen and Spa-Francorchamps. Some of them are as yet undecided about Dijon-Prenois in October, but we are sure they will come around once they have raced with us!

Thanks to the popularity of our NKHTGT corporate sponsorship deal, we’ve already collected a nice array of sponsor logos for 2022. However there is always room for more, we can still offer you the opportunity for your company to team up with NKHTGT as our title sponsor. With your advertising on our windscreen streamers as well as on our national and international media communications, you can be assured of exposure throughout Europe, from Sweden to France.

This is the NKHTGT calendar 2022:

22-24 April        Preis der Stadt Stuttgart, Hockenheim

4-5 June             Pinksterraces, Zandvoort

24-26 June        Spa Summer Classic, Spa-Francorchamps

5-7 August          Jack’s Racing Day, TT-Circuit Assen

26-28 August     Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp

7-9 October        Dijon Motors Cup, Dijon-Prenois

For more information and to register, click here: https://www.nkhtgt.nl/en/race-with-us/