Race report Dijon Motors Cup, 4-6 october
Qualifying: hares and hounds
Frank Weidema opened proceedings with a gravel trap excursion. After a Manitou pulled him out and sent him on his way, qualifying proper could get underway. A couple of Sports 2000 hares kept the SuperSixties drivers eager. Kennet Persson was fastest in the Ford GT40 in 1:35.5 with Sautter/Newall in the E-type 0.6 of a second behind. Bob Stevens and Luc de Cock were next up, followed by the Rappange father and son team in the Porsche 904-6. Christophe Germain in the TVR, Adriaans/Adriaans in the Shelby Cobra, Jos Stevens in the Lotus Elan, Oliver Douglas/Simon Ham in the Cobra Daytona and Van Maarschalkerwaart/Izaks in the Shelby Mustang GT350 rounded out the top-10. In GTS11 it was Porsches before MG’s as usual, with the Van Gammerens ahead of Erwin van Lieshout, then series debutants O’Reilly and Young in the first of no less than 8 MGB’s. In touring cars it was close. Jaap and Jack van der Ende just pipped Bart-Jan Deenik/Jaap Sinke, both in Ford Falcons with the Colinet Alfa GTA only just behind. Then it was more Falcons with Henk van Gammeren and Hemmo Vriend. Smokin’ Jop Rappange’s Mini was faster than Bernd Horlacher in the other Cooper, but would not attempt the 300 km race. Magnus Lillerskog/Uno Johanssen were fastest of the Lotus Cortinas but with a lot of panel beating to be done it was questionable whether they would be able to race.
Race 1: poster boy does it again
Kennet Persson’s Ford GT40 once again featured on the event poster of the Dijon Motors Cup. So he did what was expected of him and won the race. At first it did not go well for him. After the start he dropped to 18th with gearshift problems. He found a way around them and started moving up the order. Meanwhile Andy Newall (E-type) and Bob Stevens (Elan) were contesting the lead. Jack van der Ende made a great start in the orange Falcon and led he touring cars from the Deenik/Sinke Falcon and the Colinet family’s Alfa GTA. In GTS11 there was heartbreak for the Van Gammerens as their Porsche 911 expired on the opening lap. Erwin van Lieshout duly took the lead from the O’Reilly/Young MGB with fast starting Brian Lambert quickly moving up to third in class, helped by the fact that Egbert Kolvoort and Holger Felske were in the pits with various issues. After the first series of pitstops Bob Stevens was in the lead, Persson second, the Douglas/Ham Cobra Daytona in third, then Luc de Cock in the Elan while Sautter/Newall had dropped to 5th. The Van der Ende Falcon gave up the ghost after 30 minutes, leaving Deenik/Sinke with a healthy lead from the Colinet GTA which was being harried by Hemmo Vriend and Henk van Gammeren in their Falcons. Dominique Raffin and Hanna Grade in the two remaining Lotus Cortinas were quite close until Hanna had to abandon ship after 22 laps. Bernd Horlacher was the only Mini driver to attempt the 300 km … he lasted only 3 laps. Frank Weidema’s Mini Marcos did much better and ticked off 59 laps – proving that it can be done with an A-series! There were various pitstop infringements and the most affected was Bob Stevens. He was just 0,2 of a second too fast on his third stop, but the 5 second stop-and-go dropped him to third behind Newall/Sautter. Oliver Douglas and Simon Ham were the last unlapped finishers in 4th. Next up were Luc de Cock and Armand and Sam Adriaans in the Cobra on 66 laps. Frans van Maarschalkerwaart/Jasper Izaks were first of the Shelby GT350’s, ahead of Jos Stevens (Lotus Elan) and Regis Devis (Shelby GT350). Erwin van Lieshout was never threatened in GTS11, with Darley/Gronfier second in the first of the MGB’s, then Brian and Barbara Lambert and Fabienne and Tiziane Mütschler. The small GTP class went to Mark Dols in the Marcos 1800 from the Rappange Porsche 904-6 and Nigel Winchester in the Ginetta G4R. Bart-Jan Deenik and Jaap Sinke were victorious in touring cars, with Hemmo Vriend in second, beating the Colinet Alfa GTA by just 6 seconds. The invitation class went to Rob Bergmans in his Iso Rivolta. With just one short safety car interlude to retrieve the Ek/Hillebrink Lotus Elan from the T9 gravel trap it was a clean race.
Race 2: the final episode
After two days of sunshine, Sunday started foggy. Naturally the sun came out for SuperSixties! Kennet Persson led away from the start in the GT40, followed by Simon Ham in the Cobra Daytona and Luc de Cock in the little Lotus Elan. Dijon is hard on Porsches; this time it was Erwin van Lieshout who retired his 911 on lap 1. That turned GTS11 into an MGB only battle, with the exception of Steven Tonneman ‘s Triumph TR4. Basile Gronfier led this train, from Didier Bourdot and Tiziane Mütschler. In touring cars Bart-Jan Deenik was in the lead but Thijs van Gammeren was closing in. The Colinet Alfa GTA was the first non-V8 in third, with Hemmo Vriend in hot pursuit in the third of the Ford Falcons.
With Persson and Ham secure at the front, Bob Stevens took over third in his Lotus Elan with fourth being contested by De Cock, Armand Adriaans in the Cobra and a certain TVR that failed the post-race weight check and therefore will not be mentioned. In GTS11, Gronfier was now being chased by Brian Lambert and Holger Felske. Meanwhile, Mark Dols exited the stage in a cloud of steam from his Volvo engine. The race was now in its final stages. Behind Persson, Ham, Stevens and De Cock it was Jop Rappange in the Porsche 904-6 who snatched 5th from Adriaans. Malivai Castelli took 7th in his Lotus Elan with Thijs van Gammeren 8th in the big Falcon. Jos Stevens (Lotus Elan) overtook Frans van Maarschalkerwaart (Shelby Mustang GT350) for 9th. A pit visit for Gronfier handed the GTS11 win to Brian Lambert, with Holger Felske in second and none other than Egbert Kolvoort in third. Behind Van Gammeren, Deenik was second touring car home, while Colinet reclaimed third when Hemmo Vriend retired to the pits 5 minutes before the end. Rob Rappange was next up in the first of the Mini’s, followed by Bernd Horlacher. The Lotus Cortinas were no match for the Colinet Alfa GTA in CT08. Dominique Raffin took second, Hanna Grade third. Finally, in the invitation class, Rob Bergmans was first in the 5.3 litre Chevy-powered Iso Rivolta and Frank Weidema second in the 1.3 litre Mini Marcos.
Results: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/results/
More news from Dijon in SuperSixties Magazine 2024#6: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/supersixties-dijon-magazine-v2/
Points after 12 of 12 races: https://www.supersixtiesracing.com/standings/
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