On Sunday January 6th, we where invited to experience the annual New Year’s Race at
Circuit Zandvoort in The Netherlands. With a sunny weather forecast, and a 90 – 92% humidity, it promised to be a good racing day although a bit chilly.The New Year’s Race is a yearly held event under the Dutch Winter Endurance flag. It features a one-day event with a four hour race. For the sixth time in history, the last part of this race is held in the dark. The beautiful skyline of Zandvoort in the back, and the lights of the car on track give a special atmosphere to this event.
Our host for the day was
Musch-Motorsports. Musch-Motorsport is established in 2003 and is specialized in making "custom made" BMW-sportcars. For this race, they brought their
BMW E92 M3 GT4, a 1325 kg car, which produces about 493 bhp. Although Zandvoort is very strict in the sound regulations, the sound of this car is fantastic when it races through the dunes.
After assembling on the grid, and some last photo’s with the Snapon Toolcenter Hansma Pitgirls, it was time for the start. From the monitors in the pitbox, we followed the start procedure. When the two warmup laps were completed, the tension in the pitbox was very high. The start was good, and three positions were rapidly gained. Rest returned in the box. Suddenly, in lap four, the team got called for an unplanned pitstop. A competitor had tried to overtake the BMW, but choose a very bad moment to do so. This ended in a small contact, but with large consequences as something in the car did not feel right to the driver anymore.
The car came in, and immediately it was inspected. No significant damage was visible, so after checking the tires, the
beemer went back on track again. That was, for about 15 meters, and then the driver pulled over again and stopped. The team got the car back into the pits, and from that moment on, the search to the cause of this “strange feeling” started. Unfortunately, the damage was not repairable in the pits. Alignment of the wheels was off, which made the car pull to the right to hard during breaking. The team has worked very hard to get it fixed. Several times the car was send out after yet another part was changed, but unfortunately not successful.
On the track, the four different divisions each had their own fights and excitement. At the finish it was the Equipe Verschuur Renault Megane taking victory in division 1. In second division, three BMW’s battled for victory. When the checkered flag was raised, it was the BMW 320d WTCC who claimed the number 1 spot. In division three the BMW from Groenewoud and Robijn took the price. After a solid, and strong race, they managed to keep the lead till the end. Division 4 featured one of our Dutch Lady Racers. Liesette Braams, driving the 24hrs of Dubai this weekend, and Duncan Huisman claimed their win.
Although it was sad that our host did not make it to the finish, we would like to thank them for their hospitality! We have enjoyed our stay a lot, and it was a pleasure to talk with the people who are active on the track, something most of us simracers can be very jealous about.
A little impression of the field.
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