AS ERIC TAKES EURO TITLE
Superb finale at Zandvoort sees Jake Cook snatch a last-lap victoryDuratec class honours for the weekend for local hero Bas Schouten
The Formula Ford EuroCup boys saved the best until last at Zandvoort, providing a thrilling and upbeat end to a tricky weekend beside the Dutch seaside. After dire weather on Saturday forced the abandonment of race one, and race two was curtailed by an accident, this mornings finale was a real fillip.
Jake Cook snatched victory on the final lap from his Jamun Racing team-mate Eric Lichtenstein after a superb race-long battle between the two Mygale EcoBoost pilots, with Lichtenstein claiming the overall EcoBoost EuroCup crown thanks to his Saturday win and two fastest laps. In the Duratec class, Dutch veteran Michel Florie took a narrow win today over Bas Schouten, with Schouten taking the Duratec EuroCup honours for the weekend.
Races 1 & 2After a frustrating day of race stoppages and rain delays at Zandvoort on Saturday, EcoBoost Mygale driver Eric Lichtenstein was rewarded for his patience with victory for Jamun Racing. But it was not the sort of win that the Argentinian would have liked, coming as it did after a crash which befell his team-mate, Luke Williams.
Williams was rounding the Arie Luyendijk curve at the end of the second lap when he ran wide, hit a bump or an obstruction in the infield and rolled his car. Luke extricated himself from the wreckage and was taken to hospital in nearby Haarlem for precautionary checks, where he was given a clean bill of health and released.
Williamss accident inevitably brought out the safety car, which led the field in procession for a further three laps, at which point the race was halted.
It was a disappointing end to a difficult day for all the Formula Ford teams who had made the trek to the Netherlands. The morning opening race had had to be abandoned due to torrential rain after just half a lap of action. The grid was led around the Dutch seaside circuit by the safety car for two laps before being released to race moments before the rain worsened; the red flag was the only option for officials, who abandoned all track activity for a further two hours, severely impacting the timetable.
Race two was dry, and Lichtenstein made an excellent start from the pole - I think it was the best start of my life, said the 17-year-old afterwards - to lead Cook into the Tarzan corner to take control. Eric was struggling to find grip, however, despite two green flag laps: The tyres were so cold and the track was so clean after all the rain, so I had to take it easy for a lap. Then when the tyres caught, I pushed a little more and kept it up until the safety car.
Lichtenstein was under big pressure from Cook. Me and Eric were quite similar on pace on the first lap, said Jake. I had a go at him around the back, but he stayed with me and was on the inside for the next corner, so I couldnt really go anywhere.
Williams was a fighting third when he went off, hauling his way up from fifth on the grid. JTRs Julio Moreno was in hot pursuit; the Ecuadorian had started ninth after suffering with unfamiliarity with the track in Fridays torrentially wet qualifying session. Moreno was lucky not to be involved in the accident. It happened right in front of me, said the 17-year-old, who inherited third, and I didnt know which way Luke was going to go. I was lucky not to hit him.
Dutchman Michel Flories demise with gearbox problems on the first safety car lap handed Duratec class victory to his countryman Bart van Os, but the GEVA Racing driver was later penalised three places for passing under yellow flags.
Thus the Duratec win went the way of Provilys Bas Schouten, who finished ahead of GEVA man Max van Splunteren and Enigma Motorsports Norwegian, Falco Wauer. Van Os was classified seventh.
All the cars carried Get well soon Jos stickers as a fond wish to Jos Kiekens, the young Dutchman who broke his leg in the Spa EuroCup races and who is recuperating in hospital. Sam Roach, of Formula Ford promoter RacingLine, paid tribute to all the competitors for their sportsmanship and forbearance: Its been a very difficult day for everyone, and this mornings rain was unbelievably bad. To lose one race to the weather and have the second shortened due to poor Lukes accident is a bitter blow. Its more than pleasing that all the drivers concerns after the event were with Luke and not their own disappointments.
Race 3Pole position man Cook lost his start advantage to Lichtenstein away from the line on the run down to the Tarzan right-hander, the Argentinian lighting it up from P2 to slot ahead and then establish a small advantage on the opening lap. But Cook came back at him quickly to reduce his team-mates lead to 0.3s by the end of lap two.
Jake challenged Eric at almost every corner, but the leader was not for being passed. Eric was braking pretty late into every corner, and the problem here is that if you try to go around the outside you can be pushed wide quite easily, said Cook. Its quite easy to defend here if you position yourself right. I tried to get him pretty much every place.
It was not until the penultimate lap that Cook achieved his goal, nosing in front briefly at turn eight before Lichtenstein outbraked him to repass at the S-bend. By this stage it was beginning to rain, and both drivers started to struggle on their slick Dunlops.
Going into the final lap Cook was perfectly positioned for the long right-hander at Tarzan, where Lichtenstein ran wide and opened the door for Cook to nip through on the inside. He went wide into Tarzan - I think he outbraked himself a little bit - and I just stuck my nose in there and kept it this time, said Jake. It was quite tricky that last lap; the rain was heavy around the back. I really enjoyed it, it was a good race. We were really close together the whole time; its one of the best races weve had all season. Eric drove really well.
Lichtenstein, who was a tenth behind his rival at the line, was far from disappointed: It was amazing, fighting the whole race with my team-mate. I was pushing very hard to try to take a bit of an advantage but we had a headwind so it was impossible to get away and he was right behind me all the time.
I had to defend the whole race and then unluckily it started to rain at the end and it was difficult to keep the car on the track. I went a little wide into turn one and he was ready to overtake me. Congratulations to Jake; we had a very good race, and I won the EuroCup and that is what counts for me. The team worked very hard for me.
Though Cook and Lichtenstein collected a win and a second apiece at Zandvoort, Eric set fastest lap in both races to outpoint Jake for the EuroCup Champion of Zandvoort title.
Some way off in third was JTRs Julio Moreno, the Mygale EcoBoost pilots hopes of challenging for victory hampered by his ninth place grid slot. By the time the Ecuadorian 17-year-old had untangled himself from the Duratec class runners and made it to third, the leaders were long gone. Said Julio: It was a good race but I started really behind the others so it was hard; before I could chase the Jamun cars I had to pass a lot of Duratecs.
Bart van Os led the Duratec Dutchmen for four laps but lost his class lead, and fourth overall, to Florie on lap five. After slipping to third in class behind Schouten on the next lap, van Os compounded his misery by spinning off at Tarzan on lap seven.
Florie, who retired with gearbox problems yesterday while leading his section, crossed the line two seconds clear of Saturday class victor Schouten. It doesnt really make up for yesterday when a small part broke in my gearbox; as you get older it is harder to take such disappointments. But today was good and now I am looking forward to the Festival, said Michel.
Danish Fluid Van Diemen driver Nicolai Sylvest snatched sixth on the final lap, leading home Enigmas Norwegian pilot Falco Wauer. Zetec pilot Sander Mortensen joined van Os in retirement when he hit a tyre wall on lap seven.
Formula Ford EuroCup - Zandvoort (NED)Provisional results Race 2 14/7/20124 laps / 10.70 miles
1 Eric LICHTENSTEIN/ARG Jamun Mygale EcoBoost 8m 27.608s / 75.80mph2 Jake COOK/GBR Jamun Mygale EcoBoost +4.317s3 Julio MORENO/ECU JTR Mygale EcoBoost +6.871s4 Bas SCHOUTEN/NED Provily Mygale Duratec +10.548s5 Max van SPLUNTEREN/NED GEVA Mygale Duratec +11.043s6 Falco WAUER/NOR Enigma Mygale Duratec +13.714s7 Bart van OS/NED GEVA Mygale Duratec +13.891s (three place penalty)8 Nicolai SYLVEST/DEN Fluid Van Diemen Duratec +14.200s9 Wouter BOEREKAMPS/NED GEVA Mygale Duratec +4m 04.762s10 Frank MORTENSEN/DEN SuperSonic Ray Duratec +4m 05.658sFastest lap Lichtenstein 1m 44.174s / 92.48mph
Race 3 15/7/201210 laps / 26.76 miles
1 COOK 17m 36.093s / 91.29mph2 LICHTENSTEIN +0.108s3 MORENO +15.331s4 Michel FLORIE/NED Provily Mygale Duratec +20.636s5 SCHOUTEN +22.878s6 SYLVEST +29.504s7 WAUER +30.003s8 BOEREKAMPS +53.798s9 van SPLUNTEREN 9 laps10 Frederik VERGOTE/BEL FLV Spirit Duratec 9 lapsFastest lap Lichtenstein 1m 43.239s / 93.32mph Rec
Full times mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=807190
Next rounds (British & EuroCup) 28/29 July Nrburgring (GER)
