Donington Park - 26/08/2001   SR1 Race Report   The wheel almost literally came off Jan Lammers' best shot yet at a race win in the Racing For Holland Dome at a hot and sticky Donington Park. The hugely popular Dutchman had dominated the meeting throughout the weekend and smart pit tactics, coupled with a furious race pace from both Lammers and team mate Val Hillebrand looked to have sealed a well deserved victory. It was not to be however, as the Dutch team’s bad luck crossed with some well earned good luck from the fast improving Ascari team, which took their maiden win. A sparse crowd, perhaps as a result of the clashing BTCC round at Oulton Park and the Silverstone Historic Festival, would however be well entertained throughout the two and a half hour race. From the off Lammers made his intentions clear, hammering away from the chasing pack, 1.4 seconds ahead at the end of lap 1. He set what would prove to be the fastest lap of the race (1:25.205) on Lap 3 and then pulled away by at least a second a lap until the first pit stops. Behind the charging #8 Dome, a fine battle for second place was raging. John Nielsen in the #5 Den Bla Avis Dome was running a more conservative pace than Lammers, a pace which left him fending off the attentions of Ben Collins in the #17 Ascari A410. Collins had made a blistering start, relegating Sam Hancock in the rumbling Kremer Lola at the first corner and then harrying ‘Super John’ for lap after lap, rarely much more than half a second behind the Danes’ rear spoiler. Collins’ pressure eventually told. On lap 13 Nielsen ran slightly wide at the Old Hairpin, the Ascari pounced and was now second, but could he begin to make an impact on the leader? Traffic trouble for Lammers and a mighty push by Collins pulled the Ascari a full three seconds closer next time round but it would prove to be a false dawn (for now at least) as Lammers began to pull away at a second a lap once more. There were mixed fortunes for the remaining SR1 runners. Sam Hancock was successfully defending his fourth position from the impressive Jean-Marc Gounon in the #1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 333SP. Giovanni Lavaggi was also on a charge in the #3 GLV Brums Judd powered 333SP, passing both the second #2 BMS car and Mauro Baldi’s R&M Riley and Scott. Mark Smithson in the #7 Redman Bright Reynard had a dreadful start however, a spin at Goddards on lap 2 dropped the car almost to the tail of the field. Worse luck still was to befall Lavaggi. He pitted at the end of Lap 6 with clutch trouble. Several laps passed before it was traced to a bolt missing from the pedal assembly and by the time the problem was fixed and the car rejoined, this time in the hands of Christian Vann, 13 laps had been lost to the leaders. Baldi too would soon find his challenge blunted: the Riley and Scott was handed a 10 second stop and go penalty (too many mechanics on the starting grid), enough for the Italian to lose touch with the leading pack. 17 laps in and Lammers pitted for the first of his three compulsory stops, an 18 second lead and a slick fuel fill would still not be nearly enough for the #8 Dome to rejoin in front and Collins stormed though to lead for Ascari. The close battles behind the leading car meant that Lammers would rejoin in fifth position, 14 seconds down on the Hancock / Gounon battle and 34 seconds back from the new leader. The SR2 polesetting #52 Lucchini would have a part to play in the SR1 race too. First the car was parked, quickly and backwards, into the pit entrance wall by Pierguiseppe Peroni at the end of lap 19. There it would remain as Sam Hancock, Enzo Calderari (#2 BMS Ferrari), Mauro Baldi and Jean-Marc Gounon all threaded their way past to pit. Lammers was now up to third (lap 26) which would become second a lap later when John Nielsen also jinked by the stricken Lucchini into the pit lane. Two laps later and Collins finally pitted from the lead. Lammers now retook the lead and next time around would head the Ascari by 24 seconds. Time once more for the Lammers Hammer and the gap began to grow, 30 seconds up by lap 35. But then Act 2 in the Pit Wall Opera by Lucchini took to the stage as the stewards decided that the #52 car posed a significant hazard and would need to be removed. The Audi TT safety car emerged, efficiently picking up the leader, but instantly slashing Lammers’ hard won 30 second lead to just 5 seconds. Five cars were in the train between the Dome and the chasing Ascari and with quick work by the marshals, the crumpled SR2 car was trailered away and, after just two laps behind the Audi (shades of next season perhaps) the field was released once more. If the Ascari was to challenge, the time was now and sure enough by Redgate just two cars were left to play rear gunner for Lammers. That would become one by the Esses and Collins now closed rapidly on Enzo Calderari in the #2 Ferrari with the gap still just 6 seconds. Lammers wasn’t in the mood to be caught just yet though, and as Collins struggled with a seemingly very wide #2 Ferrari 333SP the hammer was down once again. The gap was soon back up to 10 seconds with Collins in even more Ferrari trouble as Christian Vann caught and passed the Ascari to unlap himself at least once. Lap 42 and a no doubt hugely irritated Collins finally found a way around Calderari, and not a moment too soon as John Nielsen closed to within a second of the Ascari with the Hancock / Gounon battle just a second further back. The five cars battling at the front of the race would temporarily become four as Hancock made his second stop (for fuel and tyres this time on lap 45); he would rejoin in sixth. Next of the frontrunners to stop would be Lammers from a 24 second lead - fuel, tyres and a driver change for the Dome as Val Hillebrand headed for the fray. Gounon too now pitted handing over to championship leader Marco Zadra (below)with John Nielsen following suit just a lap later, passing the #5 Dome S101 over to Hiroki Katoh. All of this left Ben Collins back in the lead, now just over a minute ahead of Hillebrand with Katoh a further 30 seconds back. At this stage the Ascari’s lead looked comfortable but the car’s tyres were not, its pace was dropping dramatically and first Katoh and then the Sam Hancock unlapped themselves. Lap 58 and a relieved Collins finally pitted, still 47 seconds up on Hillebrand. Werner Lupberger rejoined with an hour of the race left to run, in fourth spot clearly keen to reel in the leading trio (#8, #5, and #10). Back in the pits, Ben Collins explained that he had been suffering with a severe vibration from the very start, after locking up his front right wheel. Lupberger’s charge would be delayed, however, by an inspired Sam Hancock. The Kremer Lola driver was not in the mood to surrender his third place easily and an excellent four lap dice ensued. Once through however, the Ascari stormed clear and closed rapidly on Katoh’s Den Bla Avis / Team Goh Dome. This 2nd / 3rd battle would soon become a 1st / 2nd affair as Hillebrand made the final scheduled pitstop for the Racing For Holland Dome on lap 70. With 40 minutes left to run, Katoh’s lead from Lupberger was less than a cars length, with Hillebrand just six seconds further back. Lupbergers’ pressure on the leader would soon tell however: as the Dome rounded Goddards on lap 73, Katoh positioned himself to defend the inside line, where his left rear ran over a large piece of rubber causing the car to step out and half spin just before the pit entry. Lupberger was through and clear and with Katoh struggling to rejoin, Hillebrand was now back up to second. The unfortunate Japanese driver would eventually lose almost a full lap as the car stalled and would not restart. The lead battle was now a 2 car affair with a distant 3rd place now in the hands of Marco Zadra, the #1 Ferrari was having a quiet but effective race. Lupberger was fully aware that the Ascari still had to make its third compulsory pit stop and was striding away at the front. At the two hour mark he was 15 seconds clear of Hillebrand, who would not have to stop again - the race looked in the bag for the Racing For Holland team. But no! Lap 78 and it was Hillebrand and not Lupberger who pitted, the Dome seemingly suffering from a loose rear wheel. On the pit wall, Lammers looked on in disbelief, the team changed the wheel and Hillebrand screamed back into the fray, now however down to third behind the Ferrari, now more than a lap down on the leader . With 20 minutes to go the Ascari, still yet to make its final stop looked secure ahead of the #1 Ferrari (also still to stop), which was ten seconds ahead of Hillebrand’s Dome. A further half a minute back, Robbie Stirling was being monstered by the recovering Katoh. He would be through two laps later and would take third place as the desperately unlucky Racing For Holland car would pit again with what seemed to be a broken wheel rim: Hillebrand would rejoin back in fifth place. 15 minutes to run and Lupberger finally pitted for the third time, and a quick splash and dash saw him emerge still comfortably in the lead. The major interest in the closing laps seemed to be the pace of Hillebrand, rapidly closing on Stirling’s Kremer Lola and the Den Bla Avis car ahead. 10 minutes to go and he was past the rumbling Lola, Stirling then opting to play the cautious card and pitting for a splash and dash himself. There was still a 14 second gap to Katoh however, surely too much to ask. Up at the front, Lupberger was pacing himself behind the sixth placed #2 Ferrari: Angelo Zadra had not made it easy for the leader to pass and Lupberger sensibly decided not to bother, content with a fast cruise to the finish. With just four minutes to go then, the order looked settled, Hillebrand’s chase for third looked over. But Katoh appeared in the pitlane with his right rear tyre in shreds - heartbreak for Den Bla Avis and finally some good luck for Racing For Holland. The Japanes driver rejoined back in fifth place and immediately set about chasing the Lola, less than ten seconds ahead of him; he would close up dramatically, just 1.5 seconds back at the end, but the puncture had denied him a podium place. At the flag though it was a delighted Werner Lupberger taking the Ascari’s first win, almost a minute clear of Marco Zadra’s Ferrari, with the Dutch Dome a further lap adrift. Lupberger was delighted with the result and made it clear that much of the credit lay with the team, the Ascari having been dragged kicking and screaming to race winning form by Ian Dawson and his crew. Jan Lammers, ever the professional admitted to mixed emotions, a race they should have won had gone instead to another debutant on the top step of the podium. “I’m delighted for (team owner) Klaas Zwart and the boys, it’s a great result for them, particularly here on home ground, we’ll be back to try to match that next time out.” His and Hillebrand's disappointment was acute, but what a sportsman he is. Last word though to Ben Collins and Werner Lupberger. The Englishman delighted to win at home and the South African looking forward to a renewed battle for the championship. “We’re looking forward now to the remaining rounds. For me of course it would be great to race at Kyalami with a chance to win the championship.” Overall then a popular win, some close racing, and plenty of incident that had done much to restore the reputation of a series that had not covered itself in glory at previous British rounds. Marco Zadra leads the Ascari pair by 20 points with three races left. The Nielsen / Katoh combo. are a further nine adrift. Graham Goodwin Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport