SuperSixties Zandvoort report and magazine

Qualifying

SuperSixties was pleased to back at the Historic Zandvoort Trophy for the next instalment of our 2023 season. Sander van Gils was the fastest guy on track in qualifying, but he was too eager, going all out before the session had actually started. It would give him something to do in the afternoon, as he was docked 5 places on the grid as a result. We still had an all Lotus Elan front row, with Luc de Cock on pole and Jos Stevens second. Roelant de Waard claimed third on the grid in his Shelby Mustang with Peter Brouwer in yet another Elan alongside. Henk van Gammeren and Hemmo Vriend were first of the touring cars in their Ford Falcons, while Armand Adriaans (Shelby Cobra), Jaap Sinke (Big Healey) and Wilhelm-van Gelder (Jag E-type) completed the top-10. Quickest in GTS11 was the Van Gammeren Porsche 911, just ahead of more touring cars, Rob Rappange fastest in CT07 in his Mini ahead of the Van Leenen/Du Toy van Hees CT08 Lotus Cortina. Next up was the oldest car in the field, Dennis Bron in his FabFifties MGA twincam, followed by guest driver Onno Vlaanderen in a LateSixties Davrian Imp. With 29 cars on the grid we looked forward to an action packed pair of races.

Race 1: van Gils unbeatable

Sander van Gils dominated Saturday’s SuperSixties race at Zandvoort in his Lotus Elan. From sixth on the grid, he took the lead on the first ascent of the Hunserug. Luc de Cock held second for most of the race until his engine lost power towards the end and he slipped back. Jos Stevens had been shadowing him and duly took second in his Lotus Elan while Roelant de Waard came third in the Shelby Mustang. Peter Brouwer was fourth in his Lotus Elan with De Cock fifth. First of the touring cars was the Van Gammeren Falcon in sixth, ahead of Armand Adriaans (Shelby Cobra), Ed van Dijk (E-type), Hemmo Vriend (Ford Falcon) and Jaap Sinke (Austin-Healey 3000). There was plenty of Mini action with some great scraps, and it was Rob Rappange who came out on top, with Alexander Schlüchter in second while Jop Rappange misfired his way into third and Bert Mets dropped out after 16 laps. GTS11 was initially led by Niek van Gils in the MGB, but after the pitstops it was the Theo/Thijs van Gammeren Porsche 911 that took the class win, from Van Gils and Egbert Kolvoort in their MGB’s. The Team Korle Lotus Cortina turned into a starting money special (if only we had starting money…). It only just made it across the line before expiring, which was a shame as the team had spent a fortune on duct tape patching it up after a qualifying mishap. So the win in CT08 went to Van Leenen/Du Toy van Hees, although Magnus Lillerskog actually finished ahead of them. He was going so well that he did not want to spoil his fun by making a pitstop. He was penalized two laps, even though he proposed to compensate by making two pitstops in Sunday’s race…

Race 2: Jos Stevens against the odds

Jos Stevens overcame a couple of penalties to win the second SuperSixties race at Zandvoort in his Lotus Elan. He braked after moving before the lights changed, so gained nothing and it was in fact Roelant de Waard who took the lead. Stevens realized he was going to be penalized, so quickly passed the blue Shelby Mustang and started to build up a lead. Meanwhile De Waard was harried by Peter Brouwer and Luc de Cock. When he outbraked himself going into Tarzan the two nimble Lotus’ took their chance and passed him. Unfortunately they both dropped out with ignition trouble later in the race. Meanwhile Stevens had gained another time penalty for a pitstop infringement, but he kept his foot down and finished far enough ahead of De Waard to hang on to first place. Armand Adriaans drove a steady race and claimed the final podium spot in his Shelby Cobra. Fourth past the flag was Jaap Sinke in the Healey, just ahead of a storming Ed van Dijk in his Jaguar E-type. He was being cheered on by a crowd of Jaguar Club members to great effect! The Van Gammeren family again took the spoils in the touring car class in their big Ford Falcon Futura. Seventh fell to the French Jaguar team of Erwin van Gelder/Bernard Wilhelm who just managed to hold off Mats Ek in his Lotus Elan. There were some fierce midfield battles involving a lot of cars. Dennis Bron came through to finish 9th in his MGA. Rob Rappange, Alexander Schlüchter and Jasper Izaks were in the middle of the mayhem in their Mini’s. In the end Schlüchter was victorious while the other two dropped out. All the MGB’s also suffered various problems giving the Van Gammeren Porsche 911 an easy ride in GTS11. The Lotus Cortinas were in combat with Bert Mets in his Mini Cooper. Van Leenen-Du Toy van Hees again came out on top after Magnus Lillerskog suffered a broken halfshaft two laps from the flag. So ended another great weekend of action packed SuperSixties races. Everything went smoothly, thanks to a great bunch of well-behaved and friendly drivers! Yes there were loads of retirements due to mechanical problems, so there is plenty of wrenching to be done, but we expect everyone to be back for the Red Bull Ring on June 9-11. See you there!

Results: Results – Super Sixties Racing

Read all the paddock gossip in our online magazine: https://www.nkhtgt.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NKHTGT-Zandvoort-magazine-final-version-klein.pdf