Success at DRDO M3 Cup

Circuit Zandvoort, 27 June 2018.

Cor won Race 1 and came second in Race 2, taking over the lead in the championship after 3 of the 7 scheduled race meetings.

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!

 

Maks van Meever and Cor Euser dominate Race 1

In difficult conditions, wet and dark, Maks van Meever was able to go from 6th position on the grid to P1 after just 2 laps. Most of his advancement was due to a great start in Cor Euser Racing’s Lotus Evora GT4, and with Cor Euser starting from pole in his new BMW M3 DRDO Cup car, it became a battle between the two teammates that Maks elegantly solved without drama and then made the rest of the race look easy as he drove away from the field, taking overall and SP+ class victory and also setting the overall fastest laptime of the race (2:00.600)!

Although Cor had started from pole, he was up against fierce competition from the title contenders in the M3 class and indeed some of the other drivers showed very good speed in the wet conditions. Nevertheless, the new car held up well and Cor crossed the finish line as second overall and winner of the M3 class including the fastest race lap of the class (2:01.835). Unfortunately, a 40 seconds post-race time penalty was issued and Cor therefore dropped to third in class.

We look forward to seeing Maks continue to win races with us and we are pretty sure Cor will be a contender in the DRDO championship next year!

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!

Two races – two wins!

Cor Euser is unbeatable in a Praga R1 during the Prototype Challenge at Zolder.

Race 1 story (in Dutch) here: http://www.supercarchallenge.nl/…/ruime_overwinning_voor_sm…

 

See the video here!

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

Full race report here…

Successful preparation for Nurburgring 24H!

The first VLN in 2017 took place on 25 March in perfect weather for the season, and Cor Euser shared Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport’s #669 BMW M235i Racing Cup with Simon Trummer (Switzerland) in the 4 hour race.

Cor had put the #669 on P18 of 22 in the class, P111 of 188 total, and although it was 4 years since Cor was last driving the Nordschleife, it says quite a bit about the level of competition in this series! Cor took the start and could stay out of trouble and work his way up the rankings to P9 in class during his 8 laps while many accidents caused Code 60 and difficult driving conditions.

Simon (simontrummer.ch) took over the car as planned and started off in P13 and could also climb in the rankings to P11, but a radio misunderstanding forced him to pit two laps early and Cor had to rush to get ready for his second stint, but fortunately no time was lost and he was still P11 after his outlap. The track was now almost free from accidents so he could find a better rhythm and set the car’s fastest race lap at 9:28 and advanced to P9 in class. Having started the stint too early, it was clear that he had to come in for fuel before the end so after 7 laps he did the splash and dash with 3 laps to go.

 

The race result of P9 in class and P72 overall must be seen as very respectable, but most importantly Cor got 18 VLN race laps and a top 75% class finish which is a significant milestone on the way to being qualified for the 24H race in May!

For more details, please see the Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport race report.

Success for Cor Euser and Cees Lubbers in Assen!

Often competitors fighting for the podium places, this time sharing Cees’ BMW E46 M3 GTR and running away from the competition – winning with 2 laps lead after 5 hours.

The car ran like clockwork and with Cees improving his fastest laptime at Assen with 3 seconds to 1:56, Cor set the fastest laptime during the race with 1:53.3 and running steady at 1:54 pace, the victory could not be taken from them.

 

Wow – what a race – and Cor Euser wins again!

Together with Henk Thuis in the Pumaxs RT, expectations were high for a repeat of the overall win in the first race of the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship (Zandvoort 500) in November, and they did not disappoint! But this was far from a start to finish victory, on the contrary, three cars were fighting it out lap by lap, changing positions both on track and by different pit stop strategies. The last 45 minutes could not have been more of thriller if it had been scripted; Cor Euser had lost the lead once more to the BMW M4 Silhouette of Ward Sluys and Bas Schouten at his last pitstop, but the M4 was hurting from a broken rear spoiler and Cor was 2-5 seconds faster per lap, but would it be enough? With one minute left of the race, the spectators could see the Pumaxs overtake the M4 across the start/finish line and leading into the Tarzan corner – job done!

Having qualified P2 on a wet Zandvoort, only beaten by Danny van Dongen’s brilliant last lap in the Mercedes SLS GT3, Cor and almost all the other top teams started on rain tyres. The one exception was the BMW M4 Silhouette with Bas Schouten that started on slicks; a high risk gamble, but it paid off! The two Porsches on P3 and P5 could jump the start and took the lead into the first lap, but when the cars returned to the start/finish straight, Cor had already taken over the lead and could pull away only followed reasonably well by the Mercedes. However, when everybody had to come in for slicks after ca. 20 minutes, the M4 could continue full speed and immediately got a healthy lead. The first regular pit stop was done during a Code-60 after 70 minutes, but all top cars came in so the only difference was that the Mercedes could continue in P2 as the Pumaxs pit stop took ca. 40 sec longer. The next hour saw the Mercedes lapping fastest and getting closer to the M4 while the Pumaxs remained ca 1m20s behind. With 80 minutes left, Cor took over the Pumaxs for the last stint and was 2 minutes behind the other two. Then drama for the Mercedes; it came to a halt out on track and after having been pulled into the pits they had to retire the car due to a drive train issue. Then not much later, drama for the M4; it pitted with the rear spoiler out of position! After a makeshift repair with generous application of tie-wraps, it was sent back out, but it was soon clear that it no longer could make the same lap times as before – the message went to Cor: If you can do 1:44 laps from now, we have a chance! Well, the rest is history – what a race!!!

Overall victory for Cor Euser!

Pole position, fastest race lap, overall victory – that is the ultimate result for Cor Euser that together with Henk Thuis (NLD) drove the Team Intrax’s Pumaxs RT perfectly in very difficult conditions. Challengers in Division I were a number of Porsche GT3, but none could match the pace of Cor in the Pumaxs.

Solid performance by Einar Thorsen and Johan Jansen saw them secure a fine 3rd place in Division IV where the 318ti could not match the speed of the many E30 325’s.

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Success during ACNN 2016 Season Finals in Meppen!

Cor Euser, Willem Meijer and Peter Willemse scored podium finishes in all three races, driving the BMW 120d (Willem) and BMW 318ti (Peter/Cor) in the DTC 2 class.

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Race 1:
1. Willem Meijer
2. Johan Hoogenwerff
3. Peter Willemse

Race 2:
1. Cor Euser
2. Johan Hoogerwerff
3. Willem Meijer

Race 3:
1. Cor Euser
2. Willem Meijer
3. Johan Hoogerwerff

Fastest race laps and Race win; success!

Cor Euser and Willem Meyer (NLD) participated in the DRDO races at Assen 25 September with the BMW E46 M3. Only beaten by a very quick BMW M3 GTR to the pole position, starting from P2 in Race one Cor could quickly take over the lead and drive away from the rest of the field setting the fastest laptime of the race. After the driver change, Willem, first time in this car, held the position perfectly until a slow puncture put an end to the good run. Race two saw Cor advance from P6 to the lead with another fastest race laptime and with no bad luck this time, Willem crossed the finish line as the winner of the race!

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We dusted off old Herbie – and won!

It is old and it is not very fast, but never think it cannot win races! Cor Euser, Pieter Euser and Willem Meyer drove a perfect strategy race with the little BMW 120d and could after 12 hours just snatch the victory 12 seconds in front of a much faster Renault Clio!

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