Marijn van Kalmthout feels like Sebastian Vettel every now and then
Bluffing a bit
“Ahead of the weekend in Zandvoort, I was just hoping to stay close to Klaas Zwart. He’s not only a great driver, but has excellent material, too,” says Van Kalmthout. “After a disappointing free training session, my mechanics made some outstanding adjustments to the car. I immediately knew things were just fine then. I told my team over the radio that I’d be four seconds faster in qualification than during the free training. I was just bluffing a bit, but I eventually managed to live up to my own words. I drove a superb lap in 1.26,458 and won pole position in the first race with an average speed of 180 kilometer per hour.”
Every millimeter
Van Kalmthout started the first race high on morale in his Benetton. “I’ve been driving here at Zandvoort for several years and I know every single millimeter of the circuit. That knowledge, in combination with my fast car worked out excellent during the race. I even created a huge gap with Klaas Zwart, winner of numerous BOSS GP titles and the winner of all the previous races this season. However, I was hit by bad luck in the seventh lap. I steered through the Kumho-curve and noticed how one of my tires ‘disappeared’. Again! The same thing had happened to me in Spa. The Masters weekend is the absolute highlight of the season for me and my sponsors, so I was devastated. I would have won the race 100 percent sure and the victory slipped away from me just like that.”
A lucky stone
Van Kalmthout was forced to start the second race at Circuit Park Zandvoort from the sixteenth – and last – position following his mechanical problems in the first race. The man from Hoofddorp then opted to use his ‘secret weapon’ to record a great result after all. “Some Buddhist gave me a jade stone when I visited Thailand last winter. He told me that it would bring me luck if I kept it with me. I put this green Buddha stone in the pocket of my racing jumpsuit and I hoped that it would help me,” explains Van Kalmthout.
