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2 out of 2 for Ermen in Dutch Nationals (07/05/2007)
- By:
- Laurant
John Ermen made it two wins from two events over the weekend when he won the second round of the Dutch 1:8 National Championship at Rupchen.
Having won the opening race of the season at the same track last month, the Team Serpent Netherlands racers was again in top form.
Ermen used his Novarossi powered 960 to top qualifying for his second TQ position of the season before going on to claim his second win of the season over former Serpent team driver Rick Vrielijnck and extend his championship lead.
Below you can read John Ermen's own personal account of the event.
Report by John Ermen
On the weekend of 5th and 6th of May the 2nd National of the Dutch championship was held (again) in Rupchen. The weather forecast for this race was good except on Sunday evening when the final was going to start. And unfortunately the weatherman was right this time…. But still all 2 days of the weekend were dry racing days except for some threatening rain just before the final.
On Saturday I just used my setup of the last national and I didn’t change a thing. Although the car felt the same as on the first national the lap times were a lot slower. But I wasn’t the only one that had this problem. Everybody’s lap times were slower. On Saturday I ran in a new engine and tested the 5 minutes fuel consumption “problem” Everything seemed ok so I just quitted about 3 o’clock and prepared my car for the next day.
On Sunday the temperature was a bit colder. Witch was better for the fuel consumption “problem” I didn’t had anyway… In the first heat I managed as the only one to drive 23 laps in 5:13,7. 6 seconds slower that the first national. But is was enough to set the pace and the pole. In the 2nd heat I tried another engine/exhaust combination but it was not any faster than the 1st heat. The last heat I prepared the car for speed and not for fuel saving reasons… Although the track was slower than the first round I was the only one to set a faster time. 23 laps in 5:13,4. 0,3 seconds faster.
In the NOMAC class my nephew Miquel managed to take the pole with 22 laps in 5:10
After the semi’s Rob Kuijper, Danny Leewis, Michiel Renting, Ronald Schouten, Marcel Schouten and Maurice van den Ijssel joined the final. And around 5 o’clock the NK final was about to start. Just a couple of minutes before the warm-up it began to rain and it was panic all over the place. Everybody searching for balloons, rain tires, grease etc. I decided to put in the quick change levers just in case, but the rain stopped just before the start and we could start on a dry track. At the start I had a clean start and was away with a lead of 5 or 6 seconds. After my first pit stop on the 5 minute barrier, my fast refueling buddy Vincent managed to gain me another second or two! And because Rick was refueling on 4:30 I had a fuel stop less witch gave me about a 5 seconds advantage during the final.
After the 2nd refueling I was still in the lead with almost a lap in front, and I reduced the pace to save tires and fuel. After the 20 minute barrier I ran into Rob’s rear end because his engine died. My body shell was stuck behind the front wheel and I needed to make a quick stop to resolve the problem. So the advantage of the fuel stops was now officially gone… Rick was now 2 seconds behind me but still had to make 2 stops and I only had to make 1. When I came out of the pits for the last time with still 5 minutes to drive, I was in second position 3 seconds behind Rick. He pitted for the last time 2 laps later and I took over the lead again. He had a last fast refueling and was now 1,5 seconds behind me with still 4:30 to go. In this last 4 minutes I had some problems with overtaking some other drivers. Because of this Rick was able to close the gap to 0,8 seconds but was never a threat for me to take away my victory. So I brought home the 2nd national before Rick Vrielijnck and Rik Veenma.
In the NOMAC my nephew Miquel had some problems with a broken bearing in his steering block and had to retire while leading the race.
I would like to thank my sponsors for the support: Serpent Motorsport, Novarossi Micromotori and Tornado Fuel. I would also like to thank my dad and of course Vinni Dupont for the (very) fast refueling AGAIN!
In about 2 weeks we will leave for Slovenia for the EC-B.
Until next time.
Regards,
John Ermen
John on the podium at Rupchen
John on the way to victory with his 960
Two out of two - John with his winning car and trophy
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