Belgian & British championship, Maasmechelen

Action and variety as British and Belgians meet on the Devil’s Hill.

The combined British and Belgian championship event at Maasemechelen’s Duivelsbergcircuit gave Jochen Coox a welcome home victory just month before the European championship round in Belgium. The Skoda driver set the pace almost all day, fastest in the first and second heats to earn pole for the Supercar A final which he led from start to finish. The only time that Coox was beaten came in the third heat where Julian Godfrey made good use of the Joker Lap to get ahead of Coox and set fastest time, earning the English engineer five bonus points in the British championship.

The Joker Lap was a key part of this event, the newly extended ‘alternative route’ in use here for the first time and proving to be quite different in its nature from the previous Joker which was often criticised for its tight entry. The new version has an entry point further away from the exit of the second corner, is longer, and exits at the left-handed hairpin after the first loose section. A stoney and unconsolidated gravel surface was not universally popular, but the revised Joker appeared effective.

While Coox led the A final from the start, it was Andy Scott who moved up from the second row of the grid to lead the challenge, Patrick Van Mechelen coming from the back of the grid to run third. Jos Kuypers found himself eased out wide in the first corner and, running last took the Joker Lap early before working his way back up to fourth place, ahead of Godfrey and B final winner Steve Hill. Scott held on to second place until, with the power steering having failed in his Focus, he fell victim to Van Mechelen in the last lap and dropped to third.

British and Belgians raced together during the heats in a large and competitive Supernational field, but the two nations were separated for the finals. James Bird powered ahead of pole starter Patrick Ryan at the start of the British race and never looked back. Michael Boak also got ahead of the Irishman and took second with his Audi TT TDi, Ryan placing third.

The Belgian A final became a family affair after Kristof Bex spun in the first corner. Luc Maris led but son Steven was ever present and took his Joker in the penultimate lap. When Luc Maris passed through the alternative in the last lap, it was the younger of the two Volvo driver who went ahead to take the win.

The Super1600 and TouringCar classes each produced quite clear cut winners, Andy Martin ahead in the former, Koen Pauwels best of the rear-drive field.

The addition of the British championship to the event, combined with good weather, brought a bigger than average crowd to Maasmechelen and they had plenty of good racing to watch in an event that ran until 1945. The BRC classes brought extra variety, close racing, such as the duel between Ollie O’Donovan and Leo Forster at the head of the RX150 championship A final that O’Donovan won, as well as the drama and action from the start of the Suzuki Swift A final in which Chris Mullen and B final winner Tony Lynch were ejected from the pack and set skidding into the first corner sand trap. The incident split the pack and allowed Dave Bellerby to take a clear win.

On his first visit to the Belgian track, Irish Hot Hatch racer Michael Duke added his third victory of the year, leading home Russ Simpson and the three BMW Minis with which they shared the track all day, Keifer Hudson best of the group in the final.

The British Junior championship did not make the trip to Belgium, but the RST class in action, Jim van den Heuvel taking the win ahead of Tom Jonkman and Tom Robertz.

In the first of two events in its annual trip to the lowlands, the Minicross field was led home by Richard Wakeling who got the better of Ben Clark in the final. This group, together with many of the Belgian racers, move on to the Eurocircuit at Valkenswaard for a Dutch championship event this weekend.

• Supercar
• 1 Jochen Coox (Skoda Fabia)
• 2 Patrick Van Mechelen (Subaru Impreza)
• 3 Andy Scott (Ford Focus II)
• 4 Jos Kuypers (Ford Fiesta VII)
• 5 Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta VI)
• 6 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E10)
• TouringCar
• 1 Koen Pauwels (Ford Fiesta VII)
• 2 Louis de Haas (Opel Astra G)
• 3 Patrick Mertens (VW Polo IV)
• 4 Mandy Kasse (Opel Astra G)
• 5 Christ Moeland (BMW 1)
• 6 Ivo van den Brandt (Mitsubishi Colt)
• Super1600
• 1 Andy Martin (VW Polo IV)
• 2 Peter van de Wege (Toyota Yaris)
• 3 Dennis Remans (Ford Fiesta VI)
• 4 Davy van den Branden (Citroën C2)
• 5 Pedro Cokelaere (Honda Civic)
• 6 Marcel Snoeijers (Renault Clio II)
• Supernational (British)
• 1 James Bird (Renault ClioSport V6)
• 2 Michael Boak (Audi TT TDi)
• 3 Patrick Ryan (Vauxhall Nova)
• 4 Chris Langley (Ford Escort RS Cosworth rwd)
• 5 Neil Wade (BMW Mini turbo)
• 6 Ash Simpson (Citroën C2 VTS)
• Supernational (Belgian)
• 1 Steven Maris (Volvo 242)
• 2 Luc Maris (Volvo S40 II rwd)
• 3 David Vannijlen (Volvo 242)
• 4 Davy Leysen (BMW M3)
• 5 Steven Stressens (Vauxhall Corsa)
• 6 Kristof Bex (Volvo S40 rwd)
• Suzuki Swift (all 1.6 Suzuki Swift)
• 1 Dave Bellerby
• 2 Adam Clark
• 3 Jonny Bean
• 4 Tristan Ovenden
• 5 Dale Cousins
• 6 Graham Rodemark
• Hot Hatch/BMW Mini
• 1 Michael Duke (Peugeot 106 GTi)
• 2 Russ Simpson (Citroën C2 VTS)
• 3 Keifer Hudson (BMW Mini)
• 4 Kris Hudson (BMW Mini)
• 5 George Edwardes (BMW Mini)
• no other starters.
• RX150
• 1 Ollie O’Donovan
• 2 Leo Forster
• 3 Marc Scott
• 4 Jake Harris
• 5 Brett Harris
• 6 Steve Harris
• Minicross (all 1.3 Mini)
• 1 Richard Wakeling
• 2 Ben Clark
• 3 Mark Griffin
• 4 David Bell
• 5 Samantha O’Flannagan
• 6 Ian Clarke
• RST
• 1 Jim van den Heuvel
• 2 Tom Jonkman
• 3 Tom Robertz
• 4 Bart Andersen
• 5 Jordi van Weert
• 6 Jasper van de Heuvel

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