Champ on course

Isachsen wins tough Dutch event. Bakkerud and Castoral takes classes.

At the end of a truly dramatic weekend that seems to thrown just about everything at the drivers, the track and the officials, Sverre Isachsen emerged with a clear victory in the A final in which the order was not settled until the very last; Ludvig Hunsbedt and Mats Lysen trading places as the former took his Joker Lap. Hunsbedt then repassing Lysen in the last corner where the young Renault driver became the last of the weekend to sink into a sandtrap. And as Lysen wrestled his car, Andy Scott grabbed the opportunity to take third place and climb on to the podium for the first time – the Scotsman having come to the main event via victory in the B final. Pole starter Michael De Keersmaecker was embroiled in a duel with Jean-Luc Pailler, the pair fourth and fifth at the finish.

Isachsen was not the only one to steer his championship campaign back on course; victory in the Super1600 A final cemented Andreas Bakkerud’s position at the head of the points chart. The race needed two starts, the first halted after Ildar Rakhmatullin and Julian Godfrey both aimed for the Joker Lap, Rakhmatullin running out of room and smiting the barrier. The Russian was allowed to take the restart which lost Krzysztof Skorupski after he jump started. So, at the third time under starter’s orders, Bakkerud led the pack to turn one and never looked back. Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme rode shotgun all the way, assisting Bakkerud by taking points from third placed Ulrik Linnemann. Godfrey again showed the value of his Ford in the class, fourth place here ahead of Rakhmatullin’s Renault Twingo.

The TouringCar A final had the most dramatic climax. Lars Øivind Enerberg led from the start and looked to be cruising to another victory when he took his Joker Lap late in the race. By this stage, however, the Norwegian was struggling with broken steering. Exiting the Joker Lap he struggled to control the car and had to slow down, at which point Roman Castoral pounced, taking the lead and the win. Enerberg continued slowly along at the exit of the Joker, where Anton Marklund hit him. The drama was not yet over, Marklund and Eneberg’s cars stopped on the track were struck by Koen Pauwels who, in the last lap, happened upon the scene. “There was a yellow flag but it was so late that I hardly saw it and when I braked to avoid Enerberg’s car I got on the wet stuff and slid into Marklund,” said Pauwels.

Marklund and Enerberg were, needless to say, unhappy, but Enerberg was distraught at situation. “I can’t talk about it,” he said before saying, “The steering broke the lap before. I had to slow down here and then he [Marklund] hit me.”

Marklund was more accepting of the incident. “I was passing Enerberg and his car suddenly swerved so I hit it. Then Pauwels came along and hit my car and his,” said the Swede.

There is always someone who benefits, and this time, after a rough patch, it was Tohill who got a lukcy break and picked his way through the trouble to grab second place while Per Magne Røyrås survived hitting the stationary cars to collect third.

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