The Dutch round of the Rallycross Challenge Europe saw Belgian Patrick Van Mechelen winning SuperCars while Czech Stanislav Šusta claimed Super1600s and Dane Jakob Teil Hansen made TouringCars his.
One week after the Belgian RCE round at Maasmechelen the Dutch event of the new series took place at the Eurocircuit near Valkenswaard in Holland. A total of 43 drivers had entered for the three different car categories, however, 10 of them did not show up at the venue to bring the starting field down to 33 competitors. The weather was mixed, while there was rain on Sunday morning in the afternoon it was cloudy but for most of the time dry.
Since Patrick Van Mechelen had not reached a place on the podium of his home RCE round the weekend before it was Pavel Koutný who was leading the point standings in SuperCars. In timed practice the Belgian beat the Czech to second place, third fastest was Belgian Ronny Scheveneels. Jochen Coox, who experienced turbocharger problems with his VW Scirocco Mk3 on Saturday, was back to business on Sunday and claimed the fastest time in Heat 1. Koutný finished in second place, Van Mechelen made it to third. Heat 2 was dominated by the man from the Czech Republic, Koutný setting the fastest time here, followed by the two Belgians Scheveneels and Van Mechelen. Heat 3 fell also prey to Koutný, the Ford Fiesta Mk7 campaigner thereby ensuring himself the pole position for the A final. Coox retired here after finding his way blocked by the cars of two other competitors, while Van Mechelen was a non-starter in the third runs as his team was busy to repair the defective steering of his Fiesta.
In the last race of the weekend Pavel Koutný had to give in for Patrick Van Mechelen, the Belgian producing a superb start and subsequently being too strong for the Czech here. There was a fierce battle for third place between Marcel Ottink and Jochen Coox, the Belgian trying hard to beat the Škoda Fabia Mk2 driver on his home soil. Ottink and Coox changed places during the final lap, but eventually the third place remained in Holland after the Dutchman was able to pass the Belgian once more. Behind Coox in fourth place German Škoda Fabia Mk1 driver Bernd Schomaker finished fifth overall, Ronny Scheveneels in sixth place and the in Belgium living Dutchman Jan Langenberg as seventh overall.
In Super1600s Stanislav Šusta is well on his way to claim the first ever RCE title. The Škoda Fabia Mk2 driver made the Valkenswaard A final his, winning ahead of fellow Czech Václav Veverka Jr. in the Peugeot 206. Third place was bagged by Frenchman Eric Guillemette in the Renault Clio Mk2, while unlucky homeboy Peter van de Wege did not make it to the rostrum. The Toyota Yaris Mk1 was leading the main event, but lost it during his Joker Lap when the winning trio was able to pass by.
Belgian Filip Baelus claimed the pole position for the A final of the TouringCar contenders, looking able to repeat his home victory at Maasmechelen a week earlier. However, eventually it was Jakob Teil Hansen who picked the laurels at the Eurocircuit. The Ford Fiesta Mk7 driver from Denmark attended his first RCE of the year race to claim overall victory from both the Belgian Volvo C30/4 campaigners Baelus and veteran Rallycrosser Jos Sterkens, the latter still in a quite safe lead of the TC point standings.
52 minutes RCE Round 5 programme with English commentary.
- FINAL RESULTS SUPERCARS:
- 1. Patrick Van Mechelen (B) Ford Fiesta Mk7
- 2. Pavel Koutný (CZ) Ford Fiesta Mk7
- 3. Marcel Ottink (NL) Škoda Fabia Mk2
- 4. Jochen Coox (B) VW Scirocco Mk3
- 5. Bernd Schomaker (D) Škoda Fabia Mk1
- 6. Ronny Scheveneels (B) VW Scirocco Mk3
- 7. Jan Langenberg (NL) Seat Leon Mk2
- Point standings after Round 5:
- 1. Patrick Van Mechelen (B) 70 Points
- 2. Pavel Koutný (CZ) 70 Points
- 3. Marcel Ottink (NL) 39 Points
- FINAL RESULTS SUPER1600S:
- 1. Stanislav Šusta (CZ) Škoda Fabia Mk2
- 2. Václav Veverka Jr. (CZ) Peugeot 206
- 3. Eric Guillemette (F) Renault Clio Mk2
- 4. Peter van de Wege (NL) Toyota Yaris Mk1
- 5. Sven Seeliger (D) Ford Fiesta Mk6
- 6. Pavel Vimmer (CZ) Škoda Fabia Mk1
- 7. Thijs Heezen (NL) Ford Fiesta Mk7
- 8. Dave Van Beers (B) Renault Clio Mk2
- Point standings after Round 5:
- 1. Stanislav Šusta (CZ) 89 Points
- 2. Eric Guillemette (F) 71 Points
- 3. Dorian Launay (F) 68 Points
- FINAL RESULTS TOURINGCARS:
- 1. Jakob Teil Hansen (DK) Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD
- 2. Filip Baelus (B) Volvo C30/4 RWD
- 3. Jos Sterkens (B) Volvo C30/4 RWD
- 4. Louis de Haas (NL) Opel Astra G RWD
- 5. Nick Snoeys (B) Ford Fiesta Mk6 RWD
- 6. Mandy Kasse ♀ (NL) Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD
- 7. Helmut Rössl (A) Škoda Fabia Mk1 RWD
- 8. Ivo Van den Brandt (B) Mitsubishi Colt CZT RWD
- Point standings after Round 5:
- 1. Jos Sterkens (B) 85 Points
- 2. Louis de Haas (NL) 69 Points
- 3. Filip Baelus (B) 67 Points
