Holland's Speedtec Racing on Track to Win 2012 Dutch Supercar Challenge
- 23 May 2012
"I think it's very possible for us to win the championship again this year," Peter van Vliet told K&N. "But as you know in motorsports anything can happen. At the moment we are the runner-up in the championship and only 17 points behind. When you win in the Supercar Challenge you get 20 points. So, as I said, anything can happen." Last season Speedtec Racing took the championship battle down to the last race weekend at TT Circuit Assen, located in Assen, Netherlands. This year the second race weekend of the season got underway at Circuit Park Zandvoort, located in Burgemeester van Alphenstraat, along the Netherlands North Sea coastline. Saturday afternoon Robert de Graaff started the first race of the weekend behind the Wheel of ETEC-Viper. Earlier during qualifying de Graaff remarked, "This circuit is very bumpy and the Viper's handling is suffering as a result." Adjustments were made and the Viper immediately began running faster lap times, providing de Graaff with the confidence to go racing.
At the halfway point de Graaff brought ETEC-Viper in third place with the Ferrari 458 GT2 driven by Peter Versluis breathing down his back. Philippe Ribbens took over the controls for the second half of the race, and he held on to finish Saturday's race in a very solid fourth place. "We lost some time during the pit stop," said Ribbens, "But then I was able drive a strong consistent race. We were one of the fastest cars on the track, the race was just too short otherwise we would have caught up," he added with a grin. "Our pits stops in the Supercar Challenge can't be over one minute, including the drive through time in the pit lane, so normally a pit stop is just a little more than one minute. In our class it's not possible to change the tires. So we as a team can only check and double check things on the car," explained van Vliet. "We didn't really change anything on the car from last year, and the reason for that is quite simple- our race organization feels our class was becoming too fast," continues van Vliet. "The only changes we made are ones to create more down-force to the car. We added a small wing under our back wing and we added on some other wing-end plates. We also installed a more efficient intake to use with your K&N air filters. It's working great!" The next race weekend for Speedtec Racing will be in Nürburg, Germany at the famous Nürburgring motorsports complex. "The Viper will of course be competing, and this time it's also my turn to race the Zilhouette BMW Z4," said van Vliet, "along with my brother (Nico)." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
