Second place for Van Merksteijn Motorsport in Monza

Published on 27 April 2008 by Niels Hendrix

A great recovery resulted into second place for the team Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur in the second season round of the Le Mans Series at the circuit of Monza.
Jos Verstappen and Peter van Merksteijn, who started from pole position in the LMP2 class and led the class for the first 90 minutes without any problems, lost some laps after an opponent from the slower GT2-class hit the team's Porsche RS Spyder from the rear. After the repair, Verstappen and Van Mekrsteijn made up one place after another and eventually were rewarded with second place.

Jos Verstappen, who set the fastest lap time in the LMP2 class in yesterday's qualifying, was the first to drive the car after the start. As the race got underway, he immediately took the lead in his class and managed to build up a little margin, although the opposition was never far away. "Apart from some understeer and bad visibility because the rear-view mirrors were covered in oil from another car, I didn't have any problems during the opening stage", Verstappen reported afterwards. He drove two stints with one set of tyres, so that the pit stop was only necessary for refuelling. Just before Verstappen was due to come in after 56 laps to hand over the steering wheel to his team-mate, Peter van Merksteijn, fate struck: a driver with a car from the considerably slower GT2 category hit the rear of Verstappen's Porsche, so that the fixation of the underfloor and the bodywork on the right rear of the car was damaged.

One lap later, Verstappen came in to have the damage repaired. In a little less than five minutes, the rear underfloor of the car was replaced, but the three laps that were lost during the repair made the team drop back to tenth place in class. Verstappen was visibly disappointed: "A stupid and absolutely unnecessary move!" Peter van Merksteijn, who had taken up the driving duties after the repair, drove as well as he could and made the car gradually move up the order in the standings. As a result, the Dutch team was already up in sixth place in its category after 122 laps, when Jos Verstappen returned behind the wheel for the final part of the race. "The handling of the car is great, so fortunately, the collision didn't cause any lasting damage. The only problem I had was quite considerable understeer, but for the rest, it was all right. Driving two stints with one set of tyres didn't cause any problems either, the tyres lasted very well", said Peter Van Merksteijn about hi experience on the track. Verstappen drove the car for the last fifty laps and brought the car home second in class. "After the collision, I didn't expect that we would still make it onto the podium, but today, the Porsche once again proved its strength and we have all been working very hard to achieve this result", Verstappen said.

De results of the 1000 km of Monza:

Overall:

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  173  1:33.375  8
 2  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  173  1:34.839  7
 3 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  169  1:37.797  6
 4 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1  169  1:37.910  6
 5  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  167  1:32.449  8
 6  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  166  1:33.746  9
 7 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  166  1:39.559  6
 8 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  165  1:39.817  7
 9 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  165  1:37.625  6
10 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  164  1:38.805  6
11 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2  164  1:40.865  7
12 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2  163  1:41.155  7
13 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2  162  1:41.645  7
14 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2  161  1:40.648  8
15 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 159  1:45.168  6
16 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 159  1:44.817  6
17 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1  158  1:34.122 11
18 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  155  1:41.291  7
19 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 155  1:46.795  6
20 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini Murcielago    LMGT1 153  1:47.972  7
21 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 152  1:50.807  5
22 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 151  1:50.554  7
23 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2  151  1:39.174  9
24 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 151  1:50.418  8
25 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 150  1:51.700  6
26 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 147  1:52.885  7
27 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 146  1:54.910  5
28 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 141  1:50.197  7
29 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 135  1:51.189  9
30 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 149  1:52.340  6
31 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  146  1:41.219  7
32  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  134  1:40.301  7
33  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  130  1:36.525  6
34 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  121  1:36.709  5
35 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 119  1:49.569  6
36 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2  116  1:39.832  6
37 30 Racing Box                 Lucchini Judd             LMP2  115  1:44.242  8
38 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2   94  1:41.240  5
39 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2  86  1:52.467  4
40 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1   73  1:38.154  3
41 37 WR / Salini                WR Zytek                  LMP2   71  1:49.459  5
42  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1   27  1:36.461  3
43 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2  22  1:52.533  1
44 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2    6  1:42.931  2

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  173  1:33.375  8
 2  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  173  1:34.839  7
 3 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  169  1:37.797  6
 4 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1  169  1:37.910  6
 5  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  167  1:32.449  8
 6  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  166  1:33.746  9
 7 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  166  1:39.559  6
 8 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1  158  1:34.122 11
 9  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  134  1:40.301  7
10  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  130  1:36.525  6
11 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  121  1:36.709  5
12 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1   73  1:38.154  3
13  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1   27  1:36.461  3

 1 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  165  1:39.817  7
 2 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  165  1:37.625  6
 3 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  164  1:38.805  6
 4 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2  164  1:40.865  7
 5 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2  163  1:41.155  7
 6 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2  162  1:41.645  7
 7 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2  161  1:40.648  8
 8 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  155  1:41.291  7
 9 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2  151  1:39.174  9
10 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  146  1:41.219  7
11 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2  116  1:39.832  6
12 30 Racing Box                 Lucchini Judd             LMP2  115  1:44.242  8
13 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2   94  1:41.240  5
14 37 WR / Salini                WR Zytek                  LMP2   71  1:49.459  5
15 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2    6  1:42.931  2

 1 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 159  1:45.168  6
 2 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 159  1:44.817  6
 3 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 155  1:46.795  6
 4 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini Murcielago    LMGT1 153  1:47.972  7

 1 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 152  1:50.807  5
 2 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 151  1:50.554  7
 3 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 151  1:50.418  8
 4 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 150  1:51.700  6
 5 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 147  1:52.885  7
 6 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 146  1:54.910  5
 7 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 141  1:50.197  7
 8 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 135  1:51.189  9
 9 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 149  1:52.340  6
10 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 119  1:49.569  6
11 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2  86  1:52.467  4
12 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2  22  1:52.533  1

Niels Hendrix