Team Magic boys finished 2, 3, 4 and 5 at Netherlands Nationals round 3 !

Last week-end was third round of dutch nationals. Many drivers participated this race, from Netherlands and also Belgium.

Team Magic boys finished 2, 3, 4 and 5 at Netherlands Nationals round 3 !

Team Magic drivers, Rob Janssen, Richard Arts, Ronald Arts and Stefan Rommens finished 2, 3, 4 and 5 ! Very nice job.

Original report from Rob Janssen:

Last week-end we had our third round of Nationals.

Again a lot of people came to race. Again 45 people, that is very good for here in the Netherlands. In stock classe there even was a C main, we didn’t had that in a while.

On Saturday me, Ronald & Richard did some good testing and worked together really wel. So we all were able to make a good car to start the Sunday with.

On sunday morning we now always begin with a controlled practise to give everybody the space to do a run and test a little. I mounted my new race tires to test a few laps. After 5 laps I noticed they were dialed in and ready to race. Unfortunately Q1 was a little crazy as the heat started before the marshalls and 4 drivers (including me) were not yet at the line. I waited a little as I expected a restart but it didn’t happen, afterwards I found out I even passed the line so my first lap was a really slow one.
Sybrand took TQ this round. I also noticed my pace was not good enough and made some small set-up changes.

Too bad it wasn’t enough as Sybrand also did a TQ run in round 2. With 2 out of 3 to count there was nothing more I could do to make TQ. So again I made some changes in oil and springs to test in Q3. It didn’t worked well so changed it back before the finals.

Final 1 was a lonely one for me as Sybrand drove away a little and behind me there was nobody to make it very difficult for me.

The start of final 2 was a good one for me as Sybrand rolled over once and I was in the lead now. Sybrand made his way back upfront by hitting Ronald off the track and also made contact while passing Richard. Eventually he came close to me but could not make a nice pass. He did hit me twice and needed to give back the spot to me. I finished first. So it came down to final run 3.

In this final Sybrand made no mistakes, neither did I, but didn’t had the pace to catch him. Honestly I needed to look in my rear mirror as Richard was staying really close. Some laps he came really close, other laps I drove away a little. This continued for the entire run which of course is fun as I like close racing !

At the end, there was 4 TM cars in top 5 !!

Team Magic boys finished 2, 3, 4 and 5 at Netherlands Nationals round 3 !

Original report from Richard Arts:

Round 3 of the Dutch Nationals was at the MAC Baanbrekers track in Rucphen. It was forecasted to be a warm and dry weekend with temperature up to 30 degrees C. Starting the first run we noticed strange grip conditions, this was probably due to the 1/5 scale race in the weeks before. With high grip on corner entry and exit, but remarkably little inbetween, it was a bit of a struggle to find a consistant setup. After testing lots of setup changes with Rob and Ronald, I had the feeling we found a setup that was quick, and also stable enough to attack, or defend.

The next morning we arrived in a busy pits, as quite a few people stayed overnight on the track’s camping site. Quickly setting up the pittable, prepping the 1 set of race tires and installing the race moter. I used the timed practise round to rub in the new set of race tires, and was happy with how the car felt.

First qualification it was clear from the start that the top runners were very close on pace. With Sybrand staying in front, I was able to stay close to Rob, but with a couple of small errors I lost connection. At the end of the run I was able to gain again a little bit on Rob, but not enough to be a real threat. Second qualification I decided to not change the car, but concentrate a bit better and try to make less mistakes. This time Ronald also caught up with a better run, and I could just stay ahead of him, again with the 3rd time.

For the third qualification, I decided to change a little on the setup, to anticipate on the changing track conditions. The racingline was getting more consistant, but the rising temperature made the surface more sticky and slower with the coating of 1/5th scale tire rubber. The car responded great to the change, and I was able to be faster than my time from round 2. With Sybrand not starting to save his tires, and Rob pulling out of Q3 with a setup change that went backwards on him, I was able to set the quickest time followed by Ronald. With times being close in qualifying, it was sure going to be close racing for the finals.

The first final I was able to stay close to Rob and Sybrand in the beginning, but after a small error coming onto the back straight I lost connection. This brought Ronald closer, so I had to do my best to stay ahead of him and finished in 3rd.

The second final started the same as the frist, until Sybrand had a bobble over the curbes forcing him to rejoin at the back of the field. I could stay close to Rob again until I had to start defending my position to Sybrand who impatiently nudged its way back to the front. Concentrating to drive clean lines I could stay in front for a couple of laps, but a dive from him on the inside curbe created the room to pass me. With a quick reaction I could avoid spinning out, but still lost a couple of meters. I finished 3rd again, just in front of Stefan.

The last final I changed again a bit on the setup, and this allowed me to put some pressure on Rob, right from the start through to the end. Being a little bit quicker on pace, but not as clean on the driving lines, I finished 3rd again…

With such close racing, I really enjoyed the weekend. The car was great, but still some things to learn and improve in the hot weather conditions.

Stock Overall Results:
A – 1. Sybrand De Boer
A – 2. Rob Janssen – Team Magic E4RS III Plus
A – 3. Richard Arts – Team Magic E4RS III Plus
A – 4. Ronald Arts – Team Magic E4RS III Plus
A – 5. Stefan Rommens – Team Magic E4RS III Plus
A – 6. Thijs Van Mourik
A – 7. Michel Van Der Velden
A – 8. Patrick Prinsen
A – 9. Jari Van De Wal
A – 10. Pieter Netten
B – 11. Roel Jongenelis
B – 12. Remco Mutsaerts
B – 13. Roy Visser
B – 14. Jos Remmerde
B – 15. Donny Van Der Kogel
B – 16. Marc Joosens
B – 17. Maarten Coenen
B – 18. Matthijs Zandbergen
B – 19. Theo Kroon
B – 20. Bert, De Winter
C – 21. Jan Van Goor
C – 22. Dyon Meinema
C – 23. Dillon Cleiren
C – 24. Ivan Klaasen
C – 25. Rick Arendsen
C – 26. Thomas Vennekens

Modified Overall Results:
1. Mitchell Van Es
2. Athan De Witte
3. Sidney Blokker
4. Rick Van Den Akker
5. Dave Lunenburg
6. Govert Verbeke

Formula 1 Overall Results:
A – 1. Martijn Van Der Heijden
A – 2. Patrick Jongenelis
A – 3. Bjorn Frederickx
A – 4. Ron Van Bergen
A – 5. Nick Snieder
A – 6. David Joos
A – 7. Jannick Rommens
A – 8. Axel Kleingeld
A – 9. Robert Wolf
A – 10. Orfeo Tremour
B – 11. Edwin Neijenhoff
B – 12. Bernard Stienstra
B – 13. Han Stein

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