NLS 9, P2 another podium!!
It didn’t take long before we were back racing for the 9th round of the NLS. After a successful doubleheader, we’re ready to push hard again and go for the top step! Upon arriving at the circuit, we quickly notice that He, Max Verstappen is also here. This time, he’s right next to us in the pit box. It’s hard to miss, especially with the crowd barriers already in place to keep the fans at a distance. It promises to be a busy weekend.
Friday:
The weekend kicks off on Friday morning with a coaching session from our head engineer, Nico. His coaching doesn’t focus so much on racing lines or braking points, but rather on the how. How can I improve my braking? How do I achieve more acceleration without losing grip? How do I use the car’s weight to make my corners better? The coaching goes so deep that it comes down to hundredths of a second per corner. On such a large circuit, those hundredths add up to full seconds over a lap.
Armed with several areas to improve, I enter the training session with the goal of working on these points. We had already started on this during the previous race weekend, but now we push further. The training session goes really well. I feel I can apply the points we discussed very effectively. And fortunately, later in the evening, the data confirms it (data never lies). Looking at the impact on my lap time, we’re amazed. I was fast in the previous race, but now, even with a passenger, I’m only one second slower over the full lap. WOW!
With this in mind, I go to bed satisfied, ready for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday:
The day starts early again with qualifying. Just like the previous weekends, it’s foggy and the track is wet. Piet-Jan goes out first to set a lap for our car. It’s always valuable to gain mileage in the rain. Great for experience, and you never know when it might come in handy during the race. The weather here can bring anything. After this, the track dries very quickly and lap times keep getting faster. It becomes a matter of waiting and timing the right moment to go out on track. When I go out on wet tires, there’s still some doubt about staying on them. The track is wet in spots, but not enough to justify wet tires.
Max also gets new slicks for the final qualifying run.
We decide not to complete the lap and head straight back into the pits to switch quickly to slicks. As I leave the pits, I’m told we have one, maybe two laps to set a fast time. Unfortunately, it’s just one lap because we’re about 40 seconds too late for an extra lap. My opponents, however, time it slightly better and set their fastest laps eight minutes after mine. That means the track had eight more minutes to dry, which unfortunately shows in the final results. I qualify 3rd, but just one second off P1. Knowing they drove on a drier track, pole position would definitely have been possible, but unfortunately not. On to the race!
Just after qualifying, we get a visit from Bedrijfsunits. It’s great to have support along the track, it gives us extra motivation to deliver a strong result. Together, we walk through the pit lane, past Max Verstappen’s pit box, and even across the grid. You can immediately see where Max is, there’s no getting close. Still, it’s amazing to see all the impressive GT3 and other cup cars on the grid. Once we reach our car, it’s time to leave the grid as the start procedure begins. Quickly, we head to the roof where we have the best view of the start.
The race starts well with Piet-Jan taking the start. He begins in 3rd, but after the first lap, he’s in 1st!! Amazing. After the second lap, he drops to 2nd. At the end of a strong first stint, he pits in from P2 and hands the car over to Marius. His stint goes well too. He holds 2nd place, but due to circumstances, we aren’t in contention for P1 at that moment. P2 is still within reach. I get in the car last and do my utmost to push as fast as possible.
With four new tires, I get the green light to go flat out, because the race isn’t over until you cross the finish line! During my stint, the speed is there; with new tires, I’m up to seven seconds per lap faster than P1 and by far the quickest in our class! Unfortunately, due to a pit stop offset, we come out more than 40 seconds behind P1. After my “splash and dash” (refuel and go), it’s no longer possible to close that gap.
In the end, we finish the race in a strong 2nd place, and as a team, we can be satisfied. Yet it doesn’t feel quite enough, because I really want to stand on the top step of the podium. But with heads held high, we move on to the last race of the year, where we’ll make another attempt to grab P1. On to NLS10!
