NEC: Series Zandvoort summary

Battle for the Northern European Cup heats up during the Masters at Zandvoort

Five different drivers on the two podia of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup made the competition for the Northern European Cup absolutely fierce. The third round of the NEC during the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort was one of extremes: Van Amersfoort Racing ruled on the fairly hot Saturday, KTR conquered the drizzly rain on Sunday.

Jeroen Mul was the man to beat during the first days of the event that started on Friday 4th of June. The nr 13 for Van Amersfoort Racing qualified as fastest driver of the day (1.38.272) under warm and sunny conditions. Young Belgian driver Sam Dejonghe also performed remarkably well, with a fourth time on the starting grid.

Ludwig Ghidi, the leader in standings after the first four races this year, completed the first starting line on Saturday. After a clean start, Ghidi was able to take the first position from Mul who subsequently also lost the second place to teammate Stuart. In the second half of the first race it was Mul who was the absolute fastest driver on track and got back the second position in the field.

With 4 minutes left on the clock, Ludwig Ghidi encountered some problems with his car and was losing significant speed. Both Van Amersfoort drivers were catching up fast and managed to overtake the Belgian KEO driver. The flag dropped and the crowed could not have wished for a better podium with a Dutch team and two Dutch drivers on the highest steps of the podium.

The second race on the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 started off with the opposite settings for the previous days at Zandvoort. The rain caused wet track conditions, promising an interesting race to come. That promise was definitely fulfilled, with a continuous fight for first position.

Ghidi started in front, and was able to defend his lead. Meanwhile Danish Mikkel Mac was fighting his way up to the front and managed to be on Ghidi's tail starting lap number six. Mac attempted in many ways to overtake the car in front of him, but had to wait until the ninth lap for the perfect opportunity to pass. Mikkel Mac can be very proud of his first win in the Northern European Cup, which was truly well deserved. Ghidi and guest driver Kelvin Snoeks earned some good points for KEO Racing on place 2 and 3.

Tony Kowalewski had a great event at Zandvoort, and scored his first win for the Formula Renault 2000 cup. Next to him Dear Schilling, securing his lead in these standings. Third on this podium was Austrian Johann Ledermair, who is Dear's closest competition at this moment.

The next race of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup will take place at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany, on the 10 and 11th of July 2010.

-source: nec