2015 Houwerzijl Auto Race

The 2015 Houwerzijl Auto Race was a SUPRAC Cup race held on October 4, 2015 in Houwerzijl, Zuidgelders. It was the ninth race of the inaugural SUPRAC Cup season, second Super Speedway race of the season, and was the first ever race to be run in Zuidgelders. It was won by Knud Nielsen, marking his, and Arcuri Motorsports, first ever win.

Background

With Ross McRae still suspended by Lehmann Technik, all three Whistler Motorsport drivers held the top three spots in the Drivers Championship, with Benoît Douay holding a slender 5 point advantage over Boris Visser, who scored 11 points more in the previous race. Bill Redhead moved ahead of Ross McRae by two points, with Frans van Schooten rounding out the top 5.

In the Team Championship, the top 5 remained unchanged, with Whistler Motorsport holding a massive 222-point advantage over Super Nova. Cubley Racing and Emerald sat third and 4th respectively, with just 3 points separating the two. Team MRT moved ahead of Red Bull Racing into 6th, following the last race, 8 points behind Lehmann Technik who had amassed 193.

Qualifying

Championship leader Benoît Douay (pictured) clinched his second Pole of the season – and Whistler Motorsports third – with a time of 26.399, for an average speed of 272.739 km/h (169.472mph), to edge out Emerald’s Blake Gilmartin by 1/1000th of a second. It was Gilmartin’s highest ever qualifying position so far this season. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Whistler Motorsport, who had difficulty on Bill Redhead’s car. It was later confirmed the number 44 had misfiring issues, causing Redhead to qualify 19th.

Super Nova had a day to forget, with Frans van Schooten the highest-placed qualifier from the team in 10th. Francis Forestier finished the day in 31st, with television cameras catching some of of his pit crew fighting during the Practice session earlier on in the day. Super Nova boss Billy Mitchell confirmed one team member had been sent home and Forestier’s car setup had been compromised for Qualifying, but a substitute was flying in to be at the track in time for the race the following day.

The stand out of the day was undoubtedly Oryx’s Sten Freese, with the Koanian putting his car into the top 10 with a time of 26.517, enough for 8th place. The result smashed his previous highest qualifying position of 22nd. The same could not be said for his team-mate Stefan Nørgaard, with the number 91 failing to qualify for the third straight week, and seventh time this season.

Sovereign’s Noel Jernsten failed to qualify for the second straight week – becoming the highest placed driver to not make the grid – along with Theo Sell and Ricard Hansson.

A major talking point though was rookie Thijs van Dalsen, filling in for the suspended Ross McRae, failing to make the Top 40 in timing and finishing last of the 48 cars. With Lehmann Technik Crew Chief Tobias Wagner openly criticizing Oliver McGuyver’s performances, and mentioning last week that van Dalsen could replace him, it came as a surprise to see McGuyver qualify on the last row, ending his consecutive streak of failing to qualify at 5 races.

Race

Knud Nielsen and Arcuri Motorsports both won their first ever SUPRAC Cup race, retaking the lead with 15 laps to go and hanging on to beat Lars Peter Wiktorsson. Jeppe Passer came third for his highest ever finish. There were a total of 24 lead changes during the race, with just one caution which appeared on lap 13 after four cars got caught up in an incident along the backstretch.

Race Report

Polesitter Benoît Douay led the first three laps on the swelteringly hot race day before being overtaken by team-mate Boris Visser who led the next 30 which included the only caution of the race thrown on lap 13 when Ferdi Arnold, sitting 13th, came together with Earnest Carter, Henrik Krook and Fred Gleeson along the backstretch. The latter two were forced to retire, and the damage sustained to Earnest Carter forced him to finish the race unclassified after pitting out of turn on lap 101 with brake issues, whilst Ferdi Arnold recovered to finish 25th.

On Lap 33, Charles Legrand moved into the lead when he beat Visser off pit lane, but handed the lead back to the number 82 twelve laps later. This saw Visser, Douay and Legrand swap places multiple times until on Lap 81 when Sten Freese undercut the squabbling trio and took the lead of a race for the first time this season. At the same time, Elliot Lindvall and Fabian Schroth, sitting 6th and 7th, both picked up drive-through penalties for speeding on exit and improper lugnut installation, respectively, which saw them tumble down the order and finish 17th and 30th by the end.

A major turning point of the race came on lap 108 when Benoît Douay’s radiator grill got covered by a plastic bag whilst running 2nd. The Whistler driver pitted, unlapping himself 6 laps later, before powering back through the field to finish a respectable 5th.

Riding high with his first laps led of the season, Ulrik Wiklund was sitting in third prior to Douay’s early pit, bringing the Team Mercury driver back into second place behind Boris Visser, when Wiklund was forced to retire on lap 125 with radiator damage. The unlikely event happened again just four laps later, with Sten Freese running near the front in 5th, in a widely-regarded slower car, before pulling into pit road and retiring with engine overheating issues.

Despite a few notable incidents such as Dario Heinrich forced to pit for a second time after picking up a pit commit line violation when running 19th, and Gabriel Wöstmann retiring on lap 146 with engine trouble meaning all three Cubley Racing drivers retired during the day, the race remained relatively drama-free. That was until lap 181 when Boris Visser was penalized for un-sportsman like conduct to a competitor for impeding Austin Parkin in the pit lane. The drive-through penalty put the Whistler Motorsport driver down a lap in 33rd, handing the lead to Lars Peter Wiktorsson. However, at the same time, Benoît Douay was forced to fix some minor bodywork issues, which saw Knud Nielsen emerge from pit lane in second place. Having led his first 6 laps of the season earlier on in the race, the Arcuri Motorsport driver took the high line through Turns 3 and 4 with 15 laps remaining to take the lead from Lars Peter Wiktorsson and hold on for the checkered flag, handing himself and Arcuri their first ever win. For Wiktorsson, it was another missed opportunity, having finished second the week before.

It wasn’t just Arcuri and Nielsen who celebrated a milestone, with Martijn van Poppel placing 4th for his highest ever finish as two of the three Adams Motorsport drivers finished in the top 10. Oryx picked up their first ever top 10 finish with Sander Israel coming home 6th, after failing to qualify for the last two races.

Championship Standings After the Race