Fuel allowance compensation for class move

Cor Euser Racing had entered the BMW E46 M3 in the A3 class, but being the only car there, it was moved to the much stronger SP3-GT4 class. Clearly suffering an on-track lack of speed against the faster GT4 cars, the car was given a larger fuel allowance during any eventual Code-60 than its class competitors. The team’s strategy was adjusted accordingly, but would of course need quite some luck with Code-60 being called at times where the extra fuel allowance could be exploited.

Drivers at 24H COTA were Cor Euser himself and 24H world record holder Jim Briody (USA) – this would be his 90th 24H (or longer) race! Not only has he raced a lot, his finishing statistics coming into this race would impress anyone: 23 wins and 49 podiums in 89 races!! Joining them this time were the Ducate family; father Wayne and sons David and Chapman, all very fast and experiences US drivers – this was looking good!

Spending the free practice sessions to get familiar with the car and the track, studying data and getting faster and more confident lap by lap, things are looking good for the start of the race. Jim takes the start and keeps it clean for two hours and brings the car back in P5 of 6.. Then it’s Wayne’s turn, all is well, and he brings the car back after two hours in P4. Then David, all is still well, and after his two hour stint we are still P4, on the same lap as P3, only one lap behind P2 and only two laps behind P1! Then Chapman, who unfortunately have to pit after 30 minutes with a broken gearbox…:-(

Changing the gearbox takes quite some time so we are now basically out of the running for a podium. Nevertheless, and in the 24H spirit of #nevergiveup, we get going again, but the gremlin that ate the first gearbox hasn’t stopped chewing so we keep struggling with getting the car change gears in a smooth and non-destructive manner. In consultation with the drivers, we eventually decide to park the car to avoid more damage. Game over.

Before the gearbox gremlin attacked, the car was great; here is Chapman having a few good laps:

Sharing the pitbox with Manthey Racing was rather cool:

Rubbing shoulders with slightly newer models…

Packed up and ready to go directly to Dubai 24h!

Pat and Jim getting ready for his 90th 24H+ race = a world record!

When in Texas…

Texan steakhouses can definitely be recommended!

 

A roller coaster race on a wet roller coaster track!

The #70 Lotus Evora GT4 was driven by Cor Euser, Peter Klutt (CAN) and Antonio Polito (CAN). The crew this time was Eloy, John, John, Fred and Ruben.

P8 in qualifying was not quite where we had hoped, but the GT4 class was particularly strong this weekend; 12 entries including 3 new Mercedes-AMG GT4.

The race was split into 3 hours on Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday. It started very well, with Peter taking the start and making up ground very nicely to P5. Antonio took over after ca 1.5h, but somehow the car ran out of fuel and stopped on track. We were towed back to the pits and could get the car going again, but obviously lost a lot of time and dropped to the bottom of the class.

The re-start was done by Cor, and in the tricky conditions he was the only one in the entire 48 car field that could match the lap-times of the Mercedes-AMGs! Peter’s morning stint also went really well, and when Cor took over the car again for the 3rd stint on Sunday, we were glued to the timing screens watching him make everybody look like they were beginners. Consequently, we were again climbing in rankings and were now in a group of GT4s fighting for P3-P8.

The track dried up so when Cor came in, we gave Antonio slicks and sent him out to continue the charge. Unfortunately, the weather turned to more rain, so we had to look at his lap-times getting slower and slower – until we suddenly saw “Car 70 stopped in Turn 15” and immediately thereafter a Code-60. Oh no! Fortunately, the car had not been involved in a big accident; instead a huge body part from another car had jammed itself into the rear wheel-arch and eventually managed to destroy the gearbox – game over.

Despite great driving, brilliant car and outstanding crew effort as always, we had no luck this time and left Spa empty handed. We now have unfinished business here, so we will be back!!!

From Last to First – Herbie never ever gives up!

Creventic recounted the race in a single sentence: “The Cor Euser Racing BMW 120D (#71, Cor Euser / Jim Briody / Carel Krieger / Stan van Oord) came out on top in A2, despite running last in-class after early delays”. So, what happened and how was it possible to win with such a bad start?

A good start saw Herbie climb from 37th to 26th overall, but after ca. 2 hours the turbo gave up. Luckily a spare was at hand and the team got the car back out really quick, but inevitably places were lost so Herbie had to start all over from P36. During the night it was steady going, but not for the class competitors! No less than three of them either retired or lost so much ground they could never catch Herbie again.

The team was settling in for a good 2nd place as the race drew towards then end, but then suddenly the P1 car also stopped! …and Herbie kept on lapping so when the checkered flag came out WE WON!

Some times you need to be lucky to win and obviously this time we had our fair share of that. Mind you, Herbie really likes Barcelona 24H – now 2 wins and a 2nd and a 3rd!

Something tells me will be back for more podiums here!

DNF and “only” P3 after leading most of the race!

Full race report here…

P3 in qualifying, but early DNF in race

The heading says it all, we had a great car, fast drivers, brilliant crew, but a technical issue meant we had to retire the car after only three hours of racing.

Here is a video from qualifying, when all was going our way!

For more details, please have a look at the trip report by our data engineer Einar Thorsen.

We will be back!

 

 

Great effort, but no podium in Barcelona

With 10 entries in the A3 class, the Cor Euser Racing’s BMW E46 M3 had some serious competition from a great variety of cars; Peugeot 208 GTi, Honda Civic Type R, BMW 32oD, Seat Leon Supercopa, and BMW M235i. Drivers Cor Euser (NLD), Dirk Schulz (DEU), Dom Bastien (USA) and Meisam Taheri (TUR) were quicker than most (2nd fastest race lap), and were for a long time holding P2 and catching P1, but when the gearbox gave up in the early morning hours it was game over and only a P7 in the end.

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Lotus Evora GT4

Drivers:

  • Cor Euser
  • Dom Bastien
  • Sam Allpass

Result:

P6 of 11 in SP3 class, P29 of 44 overall.

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BMW M3

Drivers:

  • Cor Euser
  • Dom Bastien
  • Craig Wilkins
  • Tom Webb
  • Derek Bennett

Result:

P7 of 14 in A3 class, P19 of 41 overall.

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Lotus Evora GT4

Drivers:

  • Cor Euser
  • Bas Barenbrug
  • Sam Allpass
  • Einar Thorsen

Result:

P5 of 8 in SP3 class, P37 of 60 overall.

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Respectable effort, but no podium finish at 24H Dubai 2016

IMG_1133Cor Euser brought his Lotus Evora GT4 to the 24HDubai with high expectations. IMG_1164The 2015 season finale in Brno had shown that the pace and durability was there, and only a small electrical gremlin had gotten in the way of a fantastic end of year result. Having secured a fine driver line-up with Vic Rice (USA), Dom Bastien (USA), Richard Verburg (NLD) and Einar Thorsen (NOR), his premier mechanics crew Eloy Garcia Castillo, John Kristof, John Meijers, John Reedijk and Khan Shah, and filled the shipping container with essential spare parts, what could go wrong?

The car ran like clockwork during Wednesday and Thursday practice and qualifying while the drivers got faster and more confident with the car and track. Qualifying had seen Cor put the car in P6 with a good run, so obviously there were other fast cars and drivers in Dubai.

Cor took the start as usual, and in just half a lap had advanced to P2! Once the Code 60s started, and there were many of them, different pitstop tactics meant that track positions no longer accurately reflected the standings, but we nevertheless were more than happy to see #70 as P1 in the SP3 class for a while!

Einar Thorsen was our second driver, and although new to the car he put down steady and acceptable laptimes in between the many Code 60s he had to be part of. IMG_1145Our first unscheduled stop came towards the end of his stint and was caused by a failure in the gearbox system, but was quickly fixed. IMG_1140Next driver was Dom Bastien who drove into the long Dubai night and being inexperienced with night driving and new to both car and track, put safety over bravery and brought the car back in one piece. Then Richard Verburg took over and we could witness an outstanding performance where laptimes were very close to Cor’s daylight times and we climbed on the ranking getting back into contention. Then it was Vic Rice’s first turn in the Lotus. He and Richard were actually double-starting on a Speelover Porsche so Vic had already driven a daylight stint there. Again we could see how it matters to have experienced night-drivers as fast-Vic was continuing the climb up the rankings.

Unfortunately, a technical gremlin decided to strike and in the next 8 hours we had several unscheduled pitstops all related to a failing fly-by-wire throttle system. Eventually we ran out of spare parts and could not avoid declaring a DNF result. The 24H Dubai is a hard race and this time we could not celebrate a podium finish there. However, we had a great time and learned a lot, so we will be back!

For more details, please have a look at Einar Thorsen’s race report.

 

The best qualifying of the season in 24H Series final!

Pole position, with a margin, for both the SP3 Lotus Evora GT4 and the A5 BMW E46 M3 after the qualifying sessions in the final race of the 2015 24H Series in Brno 10-11 October.

The starting point could not have been better for Hal Prewitt (USA) who was the strongest contender for the overall driver’s championship title behind Chantal Kroll of Kroll Racing. Both Hal and Chantal were doubling their chances by driving two cars at this race, and with Hal only 1 point behind Chantal having pole in both his classes, the outlook could not have been better for the Cor Euser Racing star driver.

10291726_724081444391635_2881597917355633152_nTeamed with Cor Euser (NLD) himself and pro-driver Danny van Dongen (NLD) on the Lotus Evora and with pro-drivers and brothers Jacky and Ricardo van der Ende (NLD) in the BMW M3, Hal Prewitt had very good cards on his hands and in the first 20 minutes of the race the two cars pulled away confidently from the class opponents. The Motors TV and Internet broadcasts were filled with the two cars making excellent progress and following each other as if they were connected by an invisible cord – until suddenly the BMW’s rears locked up and it span out of the  picture; ABS failure. However, it was quickly fixed and with more than 11 hours to go, the team soon got back into fast laptimes and started reeling in the competition.

1781937_724160591050387_8029302818768878309_nPrecisely after 2 hours, Cor came into the pit for the first driver change, but was held at the penalty area for having driven too fast! Very harsh, but rules are rules. Danny got into the car, but did not get away smoothly; a reset was needed. Unfortunately, this was to be the first of a series of throttle body issues causing the car to stop on track repeatedly and tumbling down the standings. Eventually an electrical gremlin was identified in a connector and once fixed the car run fine, but could not salvage more than P4 of 8 in SP3.

In the meantime, Murphy had struck the M3 and sent it backwards into the barriers. Repaired, but no longer able to outrun the competition, the car finished P7 of 8.

Obviously disappointed by not having been able to convert the brilliant qualifying into podium finishes, the team had to concede both overall driver’s championship title as well as team titles in the 2015 24H Series.

Read the full race report and his reflection on the season in the press release published by Hal Prewitt.

Cor Euser Racing will be back even stronger for the 2016 edition of the 24H Series, starting with the 24H of Dubai 14-16 January. Do get in touch if you want to be part of a winning team driving the Lotus Evora GT4 or the BMW E46 M3!

In the meantime, we are rounding off the season with the world record 32H MaxiEndurance race in Portimao 20-22/11! We are bringing the BMW 120D, last year class winner and overall P3, as well as the M3. There are still last minute driver seats available – do get in touch if you want to win with us!!!

Podium finish after flawless performance during 24H Barcelona!

10455767_710383069094806_1616238619513205077_nTeam owner and racing legend Cor Euser with racing ace Hal Prewitt and young talent Huub Delnoij took home P2 (of 9) in the SP3 class and P11 (of 74) overall after a very tight battle for victory that lasted till the chequered flag.

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Read the full race report in the press release published by Hal Prewitt.

 

Next up is 24H Oschersleben 25-27/9 with the BMW 120D – driver seats available!

Cor Euser Racing wins with Lotus while BMW is faster

#IMG_1322Following up the great result from 24H Silverstone, Cor Euser Racing secured another triumph at the 12H Zandvoort. Hal Prewitt, Sam Allpass, Huub Delnoij and Cor Euser did everything right to bring home the SP3 class win in the Lotus Evora GT4. For a long time the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Speedworks Motorsport and the Porsche 997 Cup GT4 of APO Sport gave the Lotus really hard competition, but a brilliant pit-stop strategy, highly efficient pit-stops and refueling, and of course faultless performance by all drivers gave Cor Euser Racing the upper hand, crossing the finishing line 4 laps ahead of the Aston Martin. Amazingly, this was also enough to land a 9th overall, in a field with 10 GT3s, 7 Porsche Cups and 3 Silhouette cars, all rated faster than the GT4s!

#IMG_4694Cor Euser Racing’s new A5 class BMW E46 M3, driven by Hal Prewitt, Simon Atkinson, Huub Delnoij and Cor Euser also made quite a debut! Having struggled a bit in the tests leading up to the race weekend – race cars don’t like standing still for years – nobody really knew what the car could do. That was before Cor Euser took it out for the final push during qualifying, and put in a 1:50.303 – even squeezing in front of the Lotus (1:50.611)!

Unfortunately, a few more gremlins popped up during the race, so to avoid the risk of damaging sensitive parts, the team decided to retire the car after 203 laps. A pity, as the qualifying P2 was clearly an indication that the car has podium potential!

All in all a very successful weekend, thanks to the team and drivers, our fans and sponsors for making it fun and possible!

Next up is 24H Paul Ricard 10-12/7; we have all intentions of winning again!

We have driver seats available on both cars – do you want to win with us?

Cor Euser Racing is leading SP3 with two laps!

PT1B1131This was the good news from Mugello after part one (4 hours) of the race. Part two of the race saw the team protect the lead and occasionally swapping it with Optimum Motorsport’s Ginetta G55 GT4. However, after another 4 hours of racing, the Lotus Evora GT4’s lead had increased to 3 laps! Then, disaster…

It was reported by the organiser: “The SP3 class was led for a long period by the #160 Cor Euser Racing Lotus Evora until it was stranded on course during the second half of the race.”. Behind this sober statement lies much frustration in the team, as the incident that sent the car into the gravel pit was caused by another car. From P1 to P6 (of 11) was the result.

Eric Teeken0543With the D1 class cancelled, and the three registered cars transferred to the A2 class, the team’s BMW 120D was up against too strong competition and despite a clean run was unable to bring home more than P9 (of 10).

Next race in the 24H Series is the 12H at Zandvoort 29-30 May 2015.

See you there!
PS – driver seats are still available on both cars.