Assen Circuit: Final Long Course Race
On Friday, July 4th, The International LeMans Championship teams arrived at TT Circuit Assen located near Assen, Netherlands to contest one final race before the north loop is rebuilt. Those of us who had not previously attended any race at Assen quickly realized that this track was built for the spectator with a relatively flat track to keep sight lines open in the infield areas and banks or mounds around the outside the track to create an almost semi-stadium style circuit.
Assen Circuit before Upgrade
The TT Circuit Assen and Projektcom Vastgoed was holding a press conference as the ILMS teams arrived in the paddock area to announce plans for a major upgrade in the facility with the anticipated construction estimated to cost in excess of 43 million dollars. New grandstands and a new hospitality complex will be the first phase of the upgrade. The second phase of construction will include the reshaping of the north loop shortening the track from its present 3.745 mile length to 2.95 miles in length. The decision to shorten the track was made to keep the track in line with international desires and trends in car and motorcycle racing. Investors believe the shorter track length will lead to more laps for the drivers, more exciting races and more intense involvement for the public which will increase its overall attraction.
Reshaping the north loop will open up space for approximately 7,000 car-parking spaces and an attractive entrance plaza that will be able to offer better facilities to the public while allowing the track to retain the unique Strubben curve in the circuit. In addition to the reshaping of the north loop, Projektcom Vastgoed announced plans to construct a large (theme) amusement park adjacent to the racetrack. The preliminary plans include accommodations for daytime activities as well as lodging/recreations and events and facilities that will support the facility.
Assen Circuit when Upgrade Is Finished
Artist impressions of the facility include hotel with conference facilities, a multi-purpose hall, a retail business building, a motor café with an adjacent bowling center, a fun factory/game hall, a dance hall, a flight simulator, a go-cart center with an adjacent sports car assembly facility, a motorcycle experience center including a motorcycle museum, a fitness aqua wellness and spa center, as well as facilities that support the race track such as fast food accommodations, merchandising and restrooms.
Developers intend to create a facility where the whole family can come for the weekend and find something fun to do. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin immediately. The next scheduled race is more than a year away and developers expect to have the new, shortened track ready for that race.
After unloading and setting up their pit boxes, teams immediately began to prepare their cars for the only practice session scheduled on Friday. Team managers were heard telling their drivers that Assen required great patience especially with the huge differences in acceleration and braking that are part of the four different classes of cars that were competing together on this facility that was originally designed for motorcycle racing. The track is narrow and there are only limited passing spots for automobile racing. The course configuration will cause drivers to feel like they are constantly turning because the straights are short and are not truly straight.
During practice on Saturday, it was interesting to watch the different plans teams had to get the best data from their cars to enable the engineers to find a setup that provided for speed without compromising the handling of the cars. Some teams ran several short sessions that suggested they were working on a qualifying setup. Other teams ran longer sessions that suggested they were trying to find the best race setup for their cars even at the expense of qualifying speed.
Sunday arrived with overcast skies that gradually gave way to more sunshine as the prototype and GT cars each completed their final practice sessions. The GT cars qualified together with 10 GT-1 cars and 9 GT-2 taking the green. In GT-1, Terry Fisher in his # 06 Kennedy Auto Collision Corvette C6-R and Chris Chappell in his # 15 Feint Motion Motorsports Corvette C6-R had a back and forth duel for the pole. With his best lap saved for the very end of the session, Chappell put his car on the GT-1 pole with a time of 1:54.708. Fisher was second on the GT-1 grid with his best lap of 1:55.025 also reserved for his final lap.
Chris Chappell GT-1 Pole
In GT-2, Larry Ford in his # 44 Texas Racing Ferrari 360 GTC quickly established that he was going to be the fast qualifier for the race. Ford’s best lap was his first lap and his pole time was 2:00.907. Second in GT-2 was Kirk Fried in his # 97 Frontline Motorsports Porsche GT3 RSR with a lap of 2:01.290 on his second timed lap. Kent Dickie, in his # 903 VOR BMW M3 GTR was unable to qualify.
Larry Ford GT-2 Pole and Race Winner
Prototype qualifying was exciting as Drew McLean and Pierre-Yves Mona battled back and forth to claim the P-1 and overall pole position. McLean, in his # 950 ILMS MG-Lola EX264 put up a quick first lap with a time of 1:43.681 while Mona, in his # 250 BMG Audi R8, was a tick over 1:44 on his first lap. McLean’s second lap was quicker than his first lap, but Mona’s second lap was 1:43.382 to put him on the provisional pole at that moment. However, McLean continued to improve his time with a final qualifying lap of 1:43.343 to claim the pole by 0.039 seconds.
Drew McLean, P-1 Pole
In P-2, Ed Caranci and Myrick Hearn staged a close duel during their three qualifying laps, but Caranci in his # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder was just slightly faster than Hearn on each lap. Caranci claimed the P-2 pole with a lap of 1:46.464 while Hearn was only 0.404 seconds behind. Jerry Daniels, in his # 16 Talon Racing Porsche RS Spyder, and Gregg Mulgrew in his # 59 Talon Racing Dome S101J both missed qualifying. It was reported that Daniels was having issues with his brake pedal while Mulgrew was having communications issues that prevented his car from running.
Ed Caranci, P-2 Pole and Race Winner
Monday was a perfect race day with temperatures and humidity that were both just about perfect. During the morning warm-up, most teams chose to keep their cars in their pit stalls while a few teams went out for a lap or two just to check that there were no fluid leaks or other issues that needed to be corrected before the green flag dropped.
The race grid formed up with 17 prototypes (10 P-1s and 7 P-2s) in place. In P-1, four Pescarolo C60s, three Audi R8s, two Dome S101Ms and one Lola EX264 lined up and in P-2, four Lola EX257s, 2 Porsche RS Spyders and one Dome S101J lined up.
Once again, Talon Racing sent one Lola, one Porsche and one Dome to the P-2 grid. The Dome makes some sense when you remember that Talon Racing has a Dome S101M entered in P-1. The same chassis is used in both classes with the difference being the engines. At least these two chassis can share spare chassis parts. At least one Talon Racing driver was heard to say that having one chassis of each type in the class means the team always sends any chassis with an advantage to the grid. I still don’t believe that outweighs the additional costs of having spares for all of the different chassis.
Race Grid
The GT grid formed up with 20 cars equally divided between GT-1 and GT-2. In a rather strange twist of fate, five Corvette C6-Rs lined up along with two Aston Martin DBR9s, two Saleen S7Rs and one Viper SRT10. For the past several months, there have been as many Saleens as the rest of the GT-1 field with Corvette having the fewest cars. In GT-2 where there is a huge rivalry between the Ferraris and the Porsches, there were four of each make on the grid along with two BMW M3 GTRs.
Shortly after leaving the starting line on the recon lap, the # 16 Porsche RS Sypder driven by Jerry Daniels begins to spark from the right rear of the car. The car continues forward and after several seconds, the sparking stops and the rear of the car rotates clockwise in a long, slow 360° spin. When the track turns to the right, the car continues going straight into the grass. The car is pulled back to the pits and his crew immediately jumps all over the back of the car to replace a broken rear link. Repairs are completed shortly after the grid pulls away from the standing start and Daniels rejoins the fray in last place.
When the green flag dropped, Pierre-Yves Mona, in the # 250 Audi R8, immediately jumps into the lead from his outside starting spot with pole sitter Drew McLean slotting in behind him as they race through the first turn. Ed Caranci in the # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder quickly establishes himself at the front of the P-2 field. Terry Fisher, in the # 06 Corvette C6-R jumps into the GT-1 lead and Larry Ford, in the # 44 Ferrari 360 GTC, shows his muscle and powers into the GT-2 lead.
Race Start
The superior speed and handling of a P-2 compared to a GT-2 becomes evident as Daniels in the # 16 Talon Racing Porsche RS Spyder quickly finds the GT-2 cars at the rear of the field. One by one, he begins to pick them off carefully picking his passing spots. He begins to catch the GT-1 field and he is able to work his way up to 15th place with 22 overtakes. After an off-course excursion and a long pit stop for fuel and repairs, Daniels slides back to 21st and on his 14th lap, the throttle sticks and the car crashes, putting him out of the race in 32nd place. After a night like that, Daniels is the recipient of my Hard Luck Driver of the Race Award.
My Racer of the Week Award goes to Gregg Mulgrew in the Talon Racing Dome S101J P-2. Mulgrew also was unable to record a timed lap during qualifying. Like his teammate, Mulgrew also started at the back of the pack and quickly began slicing through the field of GT-2 and GT-1 cars making 25 overtakes as he worked his way up the scoring chart to finish in 12th place overall.
Pierre-Yves Mona, in his # 250 BMG Audi R8 led most of the laps in the 75 minute race leading 34 of the 42 laps. Pawel Korbel in his # 11 Happy Rays Racing Pescarolo C60 led 3 laps and Drew McLean in his # 950 ILMS MG-Lola EX264 led the other 5 laps. When the checkered flag fell at the end of the race, Mona crossed the finish line 21.729 seconds ahead of John Basara in the # 76 Big Oly Racing Pescarolo C60 which sported a very attractive new point job. Finishing third in P-1 was Pawel Korbel. Drew McLean, in fourth, was followed across the finish line by Raymond Rieux in the # 5 BMG Audi R8 and Bruce Fisher in the # 19 Talon Racing Dome S101M.
Pierre-Yves Mona, Race Winner
In P-2, Ed Caranci established the fact that his qualifying time was no fluke as he raced to 7th place overall to claim the P-2 trophy in his # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder. Following Caranci were Paul Harwood in the # 66 Harwood Racing MG-Lola EX257 and Jake Witcher in the # 9 Melling Racing MG-Lola EX257. Mike Hirsch, Myrick Hearn and Gregg Mulgrew were the next three finishers in P-2.
Finishing 1st in GT-1 was Terry Fisher in the # 06 Kennedy Auto Collision C6-R in 13th place overall. Fisher and Bob Cowden in the # 29 Phantom Force Racing Aston Martin DBR9 exchanged the lead back and forth toward the end of the race with Fisher making the final pass to take the race. Cowden was followed by Chris Chappell in the # 15 Feint Motion Motorsports Corvette C6-R and Tommy Christian in the # 90 Feint Motion Motorsports Viper SRT-10. Once again, FMM continues to amaze me as they put two different makes in the top 4 spots.
Terry Fisher, GT-1 Race Winner
In GT-2, Larry Ford showed his strength by winning the class race in his # 44 Texas Racing Ferrari 360 GTC and finishing 22nd overall. Ford was followed across the finish line by Kirk Fried in a newly completed Porsche GT3 RSR to continue the intense rivalry between the two manufacturers. Claro Palma in the Stelvio Racing Porsche GT3 RSR claimed the final podium spot.
Next week, ILMS has another break week following the Endurance Race at Spa that many of these teams will contest. The next ILMS GTS race is scheduled for July 21 when the Grand Touring Teams will return to Goodwood for another sprint race. On July 28, the ILMS Championship teams will race at the 4 mile Road America one of the most popular venues in the United States. See you there.
Race Report
Race Video
Assen Circuit before Upgrade
The TT Circuit Assen and Projektcom Vastgoed was holding a press conference as the ILMS teams arrived in the paddock area to announce plans for a major upgrade in the facility with the anticipated construction estimated to cost in excess of 43 million dollars. New grandstands and a new hospitality complex will be the first phase of the upgrade. The second phase of construction will include the reshaping of the north loop shortening the track from its present 3.745 mile length to 2.95 miles in length. The decision to shorten the track was made to keep the track in line with international desires and trends in car and motorcycle racing. Investors believe the shorter track length will lead to more laps for the drivers, more exciting races and more intense involvement for the public which will increase its overall attraction.
Reshaping the north loop will open up space for approximately 7,000 car-parking spaces and an attractive entrance plaza that will be able to offer better facilities to the public while allowing the track to retain the unique Strubben curve in the circuit. In addition to the reshaping of the north loop, Projektcom Vastgoed announced plans to construct a large (theme) amusement park adjacent to the racetrack. The preliminary plans include accommodations for daytime activities as well as lodging/recreations and events and facilities that will support the facility.
Assen Circuit when Upgrade Is Finished
Artist impressions of the facility include hotel with conference facilities, a multi-purpose hall, a retail business building, a motor café with an adjacent bowling center, a fun factory/game hall, a dance hall, a flight simulator, a go-cart center with an adjacent sports car assembly facility, a motorcycle experience center including a motorcycle museum, a fitness aqua wellness and spa center, as well as facilities that support the race track such as fast food accommodations, merchandising and restrooms.
Developers intend to create a facility where the whole family can come for the weekend and find something fun to do. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin immediately. The next scheduled race is more than a year away and developers expect to have the new, shortened track ready for that race.
After unloading and setting up their pit boxes, teams immediately began to prepare their cars for the only practice session scheduled on Friday. Team managers were heard telling their drivers that Assen required great patience especially with the huge differences in acceleration and braking that are part of the four different classes of cars that were competing together on this facility that was originally designed for motorcycle racing. The track is narrow and there are only limited passing spots for automobile racing. The course configuration will cause drivers to feel like they are constantly turning because the straights are short and are not truly straight.
During practice on Saturday, it was interesting to watch the different plans teams had to get the best data from their cars to enable the engineers to find a setup that provided for speed without compromising the handling of the cars. Some teams ran several short sessions that suggested they were working on a qualifying setup. Other teams ran longer sessions that suggested they were trying to find the best race setup for their cars even at the expense of qualifying speed.
Sunday arrived with overcast skies that gradually gave way to more sunshine as the prototype and GT cars each completed their final practice sessions. The GT cars qualified together with 10 GT-1 cars and 9 GT-2 taking the green. In GT-1, Terry Fisher in his # 06 Kennedy Auto Collision Corvette C6-R and Chris Chappell in his # 15 Feint Motion Motorsports Corvette C6-R had a back and forth duel for the pole. With his best lap saved for the very end of the session, Chappell put his car on the GT-1 pole with a time of 1:54.708. Fisher was second on the GT-1 grid with his best lap of 1:55.025 also reserved for his final lap.
Chris Chappell GT-1 Pole
In GT-2, Larry Ford in his # 44 Texas Racing Ferrari 360 GTC quickly established that he was going to be the fast qualifier for the race. Ford’s best lap was his first lap and his pole time was 2:00.907. Second in GT-2 was Kirk Fried in his # 97 Frontline Motorsports Porsche GT3 RSR with a lap of 2:01.290 on his second timed lap. Kent Dickie, in his # 903 VOR BMW M3 GTR was unable to qualify.
Larry Ford GT-2 Pole and Race Winner
Prototype qualifying was exciting as Drew McLean and Pierre-Yves Mona battled back and forth to claim the P-1 and overall pole position. McLean, in his # 950 ILMS MG-Lola EX264 put up a quick first lap with a time of 1:43.681 while Mona, in his # 250 BMG Audi R8, was a tick over 1:44 on his first lap. McLean’s second lap was quicker than his first lap, but Mona’s second lap was 1:43.382 to put him on the provisional pole at that moment. However, McLean continued to improve his time with a final qualifying lap of 1:43.343 to claim the pole by 0.039 seconds.
Drew McLean, P-1 Pole
In P-2, Ed Caranci and Myrick Hearn staged a close duel during their three qualifying laps, but Caranci in his # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder was just slightly faster than Hearn on each lap. Caranci claimed the P-2 pole with a lap of 1:46.464 while Hearn was only 0.404 seconds behind. Jerry Daniels, in his # 16 Talon Racing Porsche RS Spyder, and Gregg Mulgrew in his # 59 Talon Racing Dome S101J both missed qualifying. It was reported that Daniels was having issues with his brake pedal while Mulgrew was having communications issues that prevented his car from running.
Ed Caranci, P-2 Pole and Race Winner
Monday was a perfect race day with temperatures and humidity that were both just about perfect. During the morning warm-up, most teams chose to keep their cars in their pit stalls while a few teams went out for a lap or two just to check that there were no fluid leaks or other issues that needed to be corrected before the green flag dropped.
The race grid formed up with 17 prototypes (10 P-1s and 7 P-2s) in place. In P-1, four Pescarolo C60s, three Audi R8s, two Dome S101Ms and one Lola EX264 lined up and in P-2, four Lola EX257s, 2 Porsche RS Spyders and one Dome S101J lined up.
Once again, Talon Racing sent one Lola, one Porsche and one Dome to the P-2 grid. The Dome makes some sense when you remember that Talon Racing has a Dome S101M entered in P-1. The same chassis is used in both classes with the difference being the engines. At least these two chassis can share spare chassis parts. At least one Talon Racing driver was heard to say that having one chassis of each type in the class means the team always sends any chassis with an advantage to the grid. I still don’t believe that outweighs the additional costs of having spares for all of the different chassis.
Race Grid
The GT grid formed up with 20 cars equally divided between GT-1 and GT-2. In a rather strange twist of fate, five Corvette C6-Rs lined up along with two Aston Martin DBR9s, two Saleen S7Rs and one Viper SRT10. For the past several months, there have been as many Saleens as the rest of the GT-1 field with Corvette having the fewest cars. In GT-2 where there is a huge rivalry between the Ferraris and the Porsches, there were four of each make on the grid along with two BMW M3 GTRs.
Shortly after leaving the starting line on the recon lap, the # 16 Porsche RS Sypder driven by Jerry Daniels begins to spark from the right rear of the car. The car continues forward and after several seconds, the sparking stops and the rear of the car rotates clockwise in a long, slow 360° spin. When the track turns to the right, the car continues going straight into the grass. The car is pulled back to the pits and his crew immediately jumps all over the back of the car to replace a broken rear link. Repairs are completed shortly after the grid pulls away from the standing start and Daniels rejoins the fray in last place.
When the green flag dropped, Pierre-Yves Mona, in the # 250 Audi R8, immediately jumps into the lead from his outside starting spot with pole sitter Drew McLean slotting in behind him as they race through the first turn. Ed Caranci in the # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder quickly establishes himself at the front of the P-2 field. Terry Fisher, in the # 06 Corvette C6-R jumps into the GT-1 lead and Larry Ford, in the # 44 Ferrari 360 GTC, shows his muscle and powers into the GT-2 lead.
Race Start
The superior speed and handling of a P-2 compared to a GT-2 becomes evident as Daniels in the # 16 Talon Racing Porsche RS Spyder quickly finds the GT-2 cars at the rear of the field. One by one, he begins to pick them off carefully picking his passing spots. He begins to catch the GT-1 field and he is able to work his way up to 15th place with 22 overtakes. After an off-course excursion and a long pit stop for fuel and repairs, Daniels slides back to 21st and on his 14th lap, the throttle sticks and the car crashes, putting him out of the race in 32nd place. After a night like that, Daniels is the recipient of my Hard Luck Driver of the Race Award.
My Racer of the Week Award goes to Gregg Mulgrew in the Talon Racing Dome S101J P-2. Mulgrew also was unable to record a timed lap during qualifying. Like his teammate, Mulgrew also started at the back of the pack and quickly began slicing through the field of GT-2 and GT-1 cars making 25 overtakes as he worked his way up the scoring chart to finish in 12th place overall.
Pierre-Yves Mona, in his # 250 BMG Audi R8 led most of the laps in the 75 minute race leading 34 of the 42 laps. Pawel Korbel in his # 11 Happy Rays Racing Pescarolo C60 led 3 laps and Drew McLean in his # 950 ILMS MG-Lola EX264 led the other 5 laps. When the checkered flag fell at the end of the race, Mona crossed the finish line 21.729 seconds ahead of John Basara in the # 76 Big Oly Racing Pescarolo C60 which sported a very attractive new point job. Finishing third in P-1 was Pawel Korbel. Drew McLean, in fourth, was followed across the finish line by Raymond Rieux in the # 5 BMG Audi R8 and Bruce Fisher in the # 19 Talon Racing Dome S101M.
Pierre-Yves Mona, Race Winner
In P-2, Ed Caranci established the fact that his qualifying time was no fluke as he raced to 7th place overall to claim the P-2 trophy in his # 99 EllisDon Racing Porsche RS Spyder. Following Caranci were Paul Harwood in the # 66 Harwood Racing MG-Lola EX257 and Jake Witcher in the # 9 Melling Racing MG-Lola EX257. Mike Hirsch, Myrick Hearn and Gregg Mulgrew were the next three finishers in P-2.
Finishing 1st in GT-1 was Terry Fisher in the # 06 Kennedy Auto Collision C6-R in 13th place overall. Fisher and Bob Cowden in the # 29 Phantom Force Racing Aston Martin DBR9 exchanged the lead back and forth toward the end of the race with Fisher making the final pass to take the race. Cowden was followed by Chris Chappell in the # 15 Feint Motion Motorsports Corvette C6-R and Tommy Christian in the # 90 Feint Motion Motorsports Viper SRT-10. Once again, FMM continues to amaze me as they put two different makes in the top 4 spots.
Terry Fisher, GT-1 Race Winner
In GT-2, Larry Ford showed his strength by winning the class race in his # 44 Texas Racing Ferrari 360 GTC and finishing 22nd overall. Ford was followed across the finish line by Kirk Fried in a newly completed Porsche GT3 RSR to continue the intense rivalry between the two manufacturers. Claro Palma in the Stelvio Racing Porsche GT3 RSR claimed the final podium spot.
Next week, ILMS has another break week following the Endurance Race at Spa that many of these teams will contest. The next ILMS GTS race is scheduled for July 21 when the Grand Touring Teams will return to Goodwood for another sprint race. On July 28, the ILMS Championship teams will race at the 4 mile Road America one of the most popular venues in the United States. See you there.
Race Report
Race Video