In the weekend of 3 and 4 August we had our 5th Dutch National in Apeldoorn – what I think is – the most wonderful track in The Netherlands. The weather forecast promised to be hot for Dutch concepts. On Friday the weather forecasters even said it could be the hottest day in Dutch history but we missed the records on just a couple degrees. But with temperatures over 36 degrees it was still hot at least. In the paddock temperatures raise well above 45 degrees!
On Friday we tried to find a basic setup for the engine and car, the track was really hard to drive because of the temperature. The engine was getting hotter as normal so performance did drop a bit. At the end we were happy with the basic setup and lap times were around 14,3
The next day it was more pleasant weather. We could do faster lap times because it was much cooler. At the end of the day we were doing lap times between 13,7 – 13,8 and the pace, compared to the rest of the field, seemed to be very good. The car needed little setup changes from the previous race in Gouda. We only put on some softer front springs (from 9.0 to 8.0) and we placed the rear shocks more upright for more grip in the chicanes. Because the Apeldoorn track has a shorter straight with slow begin and end corners we also shortened the gear ratio. Overnight we checked the car and we were ready for race day.
On Sunday the temperatures we again somewhat lower, and we figured we could do even faster lap times in the morning. And our thoughts were confirmed when in the first qualification run I put the fastest lap of the day with a lap of 13,45. I was in pace for the pole position when I clipped the curb at the end of the straight and my car just lifted the front end eventually ending in the wet grass. The marshal needed to put my car back in and I lost 6 seconds, still I had 22 laps in 5:13.
In the 2nd qualification I had a clean run and 22 laps in 5:09.9 improving my time. Good for 2nd place.
In the 3rd run the track was allot hotter than before and therefor I made some minor setup changes to get more steering and cornering speed. Again a clean run with 22 laps, this time in 5:09.4 improving my time on a hotter track but just not fast enough to get the pole. Then again who needs pole when all need to get past the semi finals. |