GT4 Championships

Dutch GT4: Junior Strous wins at Zandvoort

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

Junior Strous was the man in form in the first race of the Tango Dutch GT4 at the Profile Tyrecenter Pinksterraces (Whitsunday Races). Despite losing the lead on the opening lap Strous fought his way back to take back the lead on the final lap and win the fourth race of the season.

It was Tim Buijs in the Raceplanet Team Bleekemolen BMW M3 GT4 who had a great start as he rapidly moved into the lead ahead of Strous. Christiaan Frankenhout in the PS Autosport Porsche 997 GT4 had a superb start, moving from ninth into third place. Jan Joris Verheul however dropped down from second to fifth when his Ginetta failed to get away properly.

Buijs, Strous and Frankenhout then went on to race each other, leaving the rest of the field behind. Strous put the pressure on Buijs but on lap four he made a mistake under braking for the Audi S corner. Strous ended up on the dirty part of the track and rather than passing Buijs, Christiaan Frankenhout was able to pass him and relegated Strous into third.

Strous was soon catching up with Frankenhout again and when the Porsche driver made a mistake the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 moved ahead again and started the hunt for the leading BMW. Frankenhout accepted it and settled for third, a good decision for championship-wise. Strous seemed to get closer after every corner increasing the pressure on the BMW. Strous was on the bumper of Buijs as the two went into the final lap. At the back of the circuit Strous made his final move when Buijs suffered a moment of oversteer. He succesfully passed Buijs to take the lead with only a handful of corners left.

The HTP Racing driver crossed the line in first place, just over half a second ahead of Tim Buijs with Frankenhout finishing exactly one second behind Strous. The BMW M3 GT4s of Huisman and Knap completed the top five (after Jan-Joris Verheul was given a 30-second time penalty).

Result Race 4 Tango Dutch GT4 Championship (Zandvoort):

1. Junior Strous, Aston Martin GT4
2. Tim Buijs, BMW M3 GT4
3. Christiaan Frankenhout, Porsche 997 GT4
4. Duncan Huisman, BMW M3 GT4
5. Simon Knap, BMW M3 GT4
6. Paul van Splunteren, Porsche 997 GT4
7. Pim van Riet, Aston Martin GT4
8. Robert den Otter, Corvette C6
9. Bernhard van Oranje, Mustang FR500C
10. Menno Kuus, Ginetta G50
11. Mikko Heino, Aston Martin N24
12. Mickey Bertram, Ginetta G50
13. Henry Zumbrink, Corvette C6
14. Pieter Christiaan van Oranje, Mustang FR500C
15. Richard van den Berg, BMW Z4 GT4
16. Jan Joris Verheul, Ginetta G50
17. Lev Fridman, BMW M3 GT4
18. Mark Kroes, Ginetta G50
19. Michiel Campagne, Mustang FR500C
20. Paul Vahstal, Aston Martin GT4
DNF Peter van der Kolk, Corvette C6

The race weekend will continue on Monday with another 25-minute race as well as the feature race over 50 minutes.