Bastian Buus and Jan Kasperlik have taken their second overall GT4 European Series victory in a row in the first Zandvoort race. The Allied Racing drivers took their fourth consecutive Pro-Am class win of the season. Valentin Hasse-Clot and Theo Nouet took the Silver Cup victory and the championship lead, with AGS Events teammates Nicolas Gomar and Gilles Vannelet extending their Am lead with their third win of the season.
The two V8 Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.Rs started the race from the front row and it was pole-man Duncan Huisman in the #99 Chevrolet who led the field into turn 1, with teammate Jop Rappange in the #17 Chevrolet acting as a buffer between Huisman and the rest of the field.
Huisman rapidly pulled a five-second gap to Rappange and then managed what seemed like comfortable lead until the pit stops. Despite pressure from behind, Rappange managed to keep the Porsche of Kasperlik and the #27 AGS Events Aston Martin of Theo Nouet behind him until the pit window had opened.
At the end of lap 15, Kasperlik came into the pits as the German squad tried to undercut the V8 Racing Chevrolets. That call turned out to be very successful, as Buus returned to the track ahead of the Chevrolet of Thijmen Nabuurs. Huisman’s teammate Cabezas joined in front of the Allied Racing Porsche, but the Spanish driver was unable to keep the young Dane behind and on his outlap Cabezas dropped to second place.
As Buus pulled away from Cabezas, CMR’s Gael Castelli and Nabuurs battled for third place overall, with AGS Events’ Valentin Hasse-Clot right behind. Nabuurs managed to pass the Toyota and he was followed by Hasse-Clot. Hasse-Clot ultimately passed Nabuurs and the two went after Cabezas to fight for the Silver Cup lead. Hasse-Clot quickly closed the gap to the #99 Chevrolet and on lap 25 he passed Cabezas to take the Silver Cup class lead, with Nabuurs also passing his teammate to take second place.
Buus controlled the race at the front, but a safety car period less than five minutes from the end of the race bunched up the field again. The young Dane, however, did not crack under pressure and went on to win the race. Hasse-Clot crossed the line in second place to take the Silver Cup class honours. Nicolaj Møller-Madsen came home third, after passing Nabuurs on the final lap, with Jorge Cabezas completing the overall top five and Silver Cup podium.
Sixth overall was the #8 CMR Toyota, ahead of the #111 RN Vision STS BMW and the #66 CMR Toyota. The #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes and the #89 AGS Events Aston Martin completed the overall top 10, with the latter also claiming the Am class win. Bob Herber took second in Am with 11th overall. A post-race penalty for Centri Porsche Ticino resulted in the Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMWs taking third in Pro-Am as well as in Am.
DRIVER QUOTES
Bastian Buus, #22 Allied Racing Porsche: “We made an undercut on the Camaro. He came out right behind me. Then I caught the other Camaro, he made a mistake on the outlap and then I could easily go through.”
Jan Kasperlik, #22 Allied Racing Porsche: “I cannot describe this. I had a real good start. However, I could not overtake the Camaro without risk. The Camaro driver made no error, so I could not pass. That is why I was saving tyres and handing over to Bastian, in the hope that we could overtake him in the pits. This worked out and then Bastian simply had to finish.”
Valentin Hasse-Clot, #27 AGS Events Aston Martin: “This feels good. We know we had to push hard today, as we will start from the back of the grid tomorrow. The most important thing was to take the lead today. We have the pace every weekend, a good car and a good team, but we had some unfortunate results. So, this one feels really good. From now on, we have to extend this lead.”
Theo Nouet, #27 AGS Events Aston Martin: “It is an amazing feeling to win and take the lead. It was good to watch Valentin. He did an amazing stint. I was struggling with the car, but we did it and that is amazing.”
