The racing took place during the Dutch ‘Pinksterraces’ racing festival, always a well-supported event; Radical was undoubtedly the fastest championship present, wowing the many thousands of spectators with two close races.

QUALIFYING
Kronegard’s pace was obvious from the start of qualifying, setting the pole time for Race 1 early on, a time of 1:38.015 around two seconds clear of Igor Urien and team-mate Mark Smithson. Local expert Tim van Gog set the fastest time in the Supersports class, a fastest time of 1:42.221 landing him 14th overall, ahead of SR5 driver Constantin Calkos and Radical Benelux Cup rival Wim van Genderen.

The second half of qualifying dictated the grid for Race 2, with Radical stalwart Ross Kaiser setting the pace, hungry to maintain his lead in the series standings. However, with times dropping rapidly, it was Stuart Moseley who set the fastest time of the weekend, a 1:36.615 lap time smashing all previous Radical records at Zandvoort. Kaiser finished the session second overall, with 2010 FIA Formula Two champions Dean Stoneman and Nordic Formula Renault ace Roos lining up third and fourth respectively. RAW Motorsport’s Rob Wheldon took the Supersports pole, ahead of van Gog and circuit pro Marth de Graaf.

RACE 1

360 Racing’s Terrence Woodward made the strongest start, leaping into the lead in the first corner, Urien and Kronegard hot on his heels. Urien’s pressure was relentless however, and the young Spaniard made a move for the lead on lap four, Kronegard passing for second two laps later. Further back, a real battle for the Supersports honours was developing, the five lead Radical Benelux Cup competitors battling only fractions of a second apart.

By lap 11 Urien was maintaining a slender lead over Kronegard of only 0.7 seconds, the pair slowly pulling away from the rest of the pack. In third, Woodward was still fighting off the advances of both Mark Smithson and Greg Hart; the latter continuing his strong form from previous rounds at Silverstone and Spa. The pit lane opened for the mandatory stops on lap 14, Limba Motorsport’s Marcello Marateotto the first to pit; in the hive of activity in the following four laps, Kronegard/Roos were able to leap-frog Urien for the lead, with Hart emerging from the stops in third. Further back, there had also been a change of position in the Supersports Class, Wheldon fighting through to take the lead.

Roos maintained his lead to the flag on lap 29, just five seconds separating him from Urien after 50 minutes of racing. Hart finished third eight seconds down the road, narrowly ahead of Kaiser despite the latter’s pace at the end of the race. Moseley and Stoneman rounded out the top six, Wheldon leading home the Radical Benelux Cup winner van Genderen and de Graaf.

RACE 2

With conditions a little cooler than Race 1, Radical Works Team racer Alex Mortimer made an incredible start from P6 on the grid, leading out of Tarzan to the delight of the spectators. Once up to speed however, Moseley was right on Alex’s tail, both he and Stoneman passing for first and second respectively by lap 3. Another man on the move was Ben Bailly; starting at the back of the grid after missing qualifying, he was soon as high as eighth, before a gearshift issue side-lined him towards the end of the race.

In five laps Stoneman reduced the gap to Moseley from 6.7 to 0.3 seconds, outbraking Moseley for the lead on lap 11. Unfortunately for Stoneman, a puncture just before the pit window opened dropped he and co-driver James Abbott down the order to 14th. 

With the pit stops shaking up the frontrunner order, and a spin by Smithson that resulted in minor wing damage, Kronegard was able to resume the lead, winning the race by 8.036 seconds from Urien. Once again, Hart’s consistent pace saw him take the final podium spot, with Woodward and Mortimer’s team-mate Chris Hyman finishing fourth and fifth. Bas Schouten was the first SR3 RS home in eighth overall, just 1.4 seconds ahead of van Gog, whilst Konstantin Calko took the Supersports class win in the Euroseries, 10th overall and just ahead of Jeremy Ferguson.

Shell Racing Solutions Radical Masters Euroseries competitors now have a few weeks’ rest before the series reconvenes at Paul Ricard HTTT, in the South of France. Radical’s premier pan-European series has never visited Le Castellet before; who knows which team will come out on top?