GT4 Championships

Dutch GT4 Championship: Bleekemolen wins race 1

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

The opening round of the Dutch GT4 Championship was won by Jeroen Bleekemolen on Saturday afternoon at the Zandvoort circuit. Having started from second place the Certainty Racing Team by Day V Tec Corvette driver beat all his rivals in the 25 minutes long race.

At the start pole sitter Bas Schothorst and Jeroen Bleekemolen were passed by Phil Bastiaans in the PS Autosport Porsche 997 GT4 as the cars went into the Tarzan corner. Bleekemolen and Schothorst made contact, but kept racing. The two Porsches took the lead but were never able to get away far from the chasing Corvette C6.

While the Porsches kept close together Bleekemolen moved closer and closer, taking Menno Kuus in his Ginetta G50 with him in his slipstream. Halfway through the race Bleekemolen made his move and passed the leading Porsche of Bastiaans.

After that Bleekemolen kept his Corvette C6 on the pace and despite tyre wear he was able to keep the rest of the field behind him. After completing 14 laps Bleekemolen passed the checkered flag, winning the opening round of the season.

But behind Bleekemolen it was far from over. Despite a lack of power compared to the Porsches Menno Kuus’ Ginetta was still in fourth place as the cars went on their last lap. Kuus closed in on Schothorst and after the Scheivlak corner he started an attack on the Porsche, which had suffered some damage at the start. The attack lasted all the way to the final corner where Kuus was side by side with Schothorst. At the same moment second placed Phil Bastiaans lost power on his Porsche and almost came to a stop right after the final corner. Kuus and Schothorst closed in next to each other but Schothorst admitted defeat and did not take out Kuus when he had to move to the left to avoid the slow Porsche.
Kuus crossed the line in second place, followed by the Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven Porsche 997 GT4.

Bleekemolen’s victory in the Corvette C6 was not only the first in the Dutch GT4 Championship, it also marked the first win ever for a Callaway Competition built and Corvette MotorSport supported Corvette C6 in the world.

The Dutch GT4 Championship will be back in action on Monday for a second 25-minute sprint race as well as the feature race (50 minutes).

Result Race 1:

1. #64 Jeroen Bleekemolen – Certainty Racing Team by Day V Tec – Corvette C6
2. #14 Menno Kuus – Match Racing – Ginetta G50
3. #1 Bas Schothorst – Team Bilderberg Porsche Eindhoven – Porsche 997 GT4
4. #8 – Paul Vahstal – Rhesus Racing – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
5. #3 – Mikko Heino – Madeno Racing – Aston Martin N24
6. #10 – Jan Lammers – Racing Team Holland – Mustang FR500C
7. #20 – Danny van Dongen – Gravity Racing – Corvette C6
8. #18 – Ricardo van der Ende – Ekris Motorsport – BMW M3 GT4
9. #88 – Simon Knap – KTG Racing – BMW M3 GT4
10. #19 – Sebastiaan Bleekemolen – Team Bleekemolen – BMW M3 GT4
11. #27 Phil Bastiaans – PS Autosport – Porsche 997 GT4
12. #63 – Henry Zumbrink – Certainty Racing Team by Day V Tec – Corvette C6
13. #9 – Hans Hugenholtz – Racing Team Holland – Mustang FR500C
14. #22 – Jan Joris Verheul – KS Motorsport – Ginetta G50
15. #15 – Mathijs Bakker – Match Racing – Ginetta G50
16. #50 – Lev Fridman – JAR Motorsport – BMW M3 GT4
17. #11 – Harry Stoeltie – Speedlover – Aston Martin N24
18. #2 – Michiel Campagne – Tachyon Motorsport – Mustang FR500C
19. #7 – Pim van Riet – Rhesus Racing – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
20. #12 – Ardi van der Hoek – Cosmo Hairstyling – Porsche 997 GT4
21. #21 – Mickey Bertram – KS Motorsport – Ginetta G50
DNF #16 – Richard van den Berg – deheeg.nl – BMW Z4