Marijn van Kalmthout ends Klaas Zwart dominance in Zolder
Pushing it hard
Meanwhile, Zwart set a fastest lap of 1:19,724 to put the pressure on Van Kalmthout. The driver from Hoofddorp was still leading, but had to push it hard in order to hold on to his lead. The racing Ford dealer and Tom Coronel’s father in law were a good match for each other and the 12.500 spectators were thoroughly enjoying the race.
Becker doing the business
In the meantime, Becker is doing the business in the Masters Class. The German driver gets past Charveriat, who is also racing in the Dallara Nissan WS, in the fifth lap. Becker, who is a bit of a Sean Connery look-a-like, is the new leader following this maneuver. The two rivals stay really close to each other though, exactly like they did during the Masters of Formula 3 weekend in Zandvoort last month.
Klaas Zwart’s race comes to an end
Klaas Zwart’s race came to an end in the sixth lap. Things went wrong when he tried to get past Van Kalmthout. He lost control of his car and his race came to an abrupt halt in the Bianchi curve. With Zwart out of the race, all excitement at the lead of the race seems to be over. Marijn van Kalmthout now has a huge lead on runner-up Ingo Gerst, who trails the leader by ten seconds in his Dallara GP2.
Without the pressure of his biggest rival Zwart, Van Kalmthout looks like he can take it easy in the remaining laps of the 20 minutes race. His lap times go up very quick, but this appears to be not too much of a problem following his big lead on the number two.
Excitement at the lead returns
However, Van Kalmthout is taking it too easy and Gerstl approaches the lead rather quick. The gap has been narrowed to only 4,6 seconds after ten laps. That’s three seconds less than one lap before and the gap has been reduced to only 1,7 seconds one lap later. Van Kalmthout is having problems on the left side of his car and he can no longer push his car to the max. Gerstl could possibly take advantage of this.
Close finish
With only four minutes of racing left, Gerstl closes the gap with Van Kalmthout. The difference is exactly one second after 12 laps in Zolder. Three exciting minutes are expected. Van Kalmthout realizes the danger of the situation just in time and puts the pedal to the metal again. Henk de Boer is driving around in third position six seconds behind the leading duo.
Becker has a 2,5 seconds lead on Charveriat in the Masters Class. Van Kalmthous is very happy when he crosses the finish line in first position after 14 laps. He wins the race with only 0,543 seconds lead on Austrian driver Gerstl, while De Boer completes the podium. Winner Becker, runner-up Charveriat and number three Tavares form the podium in the Masters Class.
