Jos LMP2 champion with Van Merksteijn Motorsport!

Published on 18 August 2008 by Niels Hendrix

Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur enjoyed a tremendously successful weekend in the fourth round of the Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring. A dominant class victory for Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen with the Porsche RS Spyder in the 1000 kilometre race was enough for the team to win the championship title in the LMP2 category with one race to go. Jos Verstappen is the new drivers' champion in the LMP2 class. "I am really proud, this is a great success", said Verstappen after the 195 lap race. "We had a trouble-free race", commented Jeroen Bleekemolen, who drove the Porsche across the finish line after five hours and 45 minutes, applauded by all the team members and numerous fans standing on the pit wall. For the team, it was the third class win from four races in the Le Mans Series and yet another great success, two months and two days after the class win in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Dutch Porsche pairing showed a dominant performance in the 1000 kilometre race, a historic event in Germany that was first organised in 1953. Jos Verstappen, who had set the fastest time in class in qualifying, also drove the first stint in the race. "We really wanted to go for a quick lap time in qualifying, so we chose the soft tyre compound, which we also used for the fist stint I the race", he commented afterwards. In hindsight, this turned out to be a choice that wasn't 100 percent perfect. "In free practice, we had done 20 laps with these tyres without any problems, but in my first stint in the race, the tyres started to wear off quite quickly and I had a lot of oversteer. Once we had changed to the harder compound, it was perfect again."

In the opening hour, the Dutch Porsche had a fierce battle with the identical car of the Danish Essex team, at some points the cars less than one second apart. When the Essex Porsche lost some time, it was a clear run for the Dutch team. After 60 laps, Jeroen Bleekemolen got into the car and he had trouble-free stints, too. "The only thing we had to deal with was the dense traffic with so many cars on the track, and the tyres had a lot of pick-up, resulting into some oversteer during the last seven or eight laps of each stint", he reported.

In the second half of the race, Jos Verstappen drove another stint while Jeroen Bleekemolen was in the car for the remainder of the race, safely driving victory home. "It was a trouble-free race", he commented. "And a great success for the team, too." For Jos Verstappen, the LMP2 drivers' title in the Le Mans Series is his first championship title since he won the German Formula 3 championship back in 1993. "A great success which means a lot to me", he said. Team owner Peter van Merksteijn didn't race this weekend as he was taking part in the German round of the World Rally Championship, but once he had finished the rally he made his way to the Nurburgring to join in the team's post-race celebrations. "A great achievement, it is just unbelievable", he commented. "I am proud of them all!"

The results of the 1000 km of the Nürburgring:

Overall:

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1	 195  1:40.962  6
 2  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1	 195  1:40.501  6
 3  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  194  1:42.086  6
 4  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1	 194  1:41.211  7
 5 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1	 189  1:43.713  6
 6  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1	 188  1:45.472  5
 7 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2	 188  1:45.697  5
 8 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1	 187  1:46.118  5
 9 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2	 184  1:47.652  7
10 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2	 184  1:46.391  6
11 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2	 183  1:48.217  6
12 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2	 182  1:46.596  6
13 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2	 181  1:47.445  6
14 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2	 180  1:47.904  6
15 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2	 180  1:46.881  6
16 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2	 179  1:45.732  9
17 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2	 179  1:49.311  5
18 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1	 176  1:45.909  7
19 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1	 175  1:47.515  6
20 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 172  1:54.850  5
21 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2	 172  1:48.094  6
22 14 Creation AIM               Creation Aim              LMP1  172  1:45.740  7
23 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  170  1:46.459  5
24 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 169  1:58.353  5
25  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  167  1:44.947  7
26 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 167  1:59.443  4
27 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 167  1:59.772  4
28 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 166  1:59.940  5
29 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 165  2:00.767  5
30 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 164  2:01.347  4
31  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  164  1:49.925  7
32 21 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  163  1:45.078  7
33 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 163  2:00.228  5
34 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 162  2:00.657  5
35 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  160  1:45.665  6
36 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2  159  1:50.294  5
37 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 157  2:02.288  5
38 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 156  1:59.114  8
39 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 145  2:01.863  5
40 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 140  1:55.919  5
41 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini               LMGT1 131  1:55.585  6
42 37 WR / Salini                WR Zytek                  LMP2  126  1:53.612  6
43  3 Scuderia Lavaggi           Lavaggi AER               LMP1  110  1:49.804  6
44 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 101  1:59.595  3
45 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1   97  1:45.572  4
46 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1  50  1:54.869  2

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1	 195  1:40.962  6
 2  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1	 195  1:40.501  6
 3  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  194  1:42.086  6
 4  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1	 194  1:41.211  7
 5 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1	 189  1:43.713  6
 6  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1	 188  1:45.472  5
 7 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1	 187  1:46.118  5
 8 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1	 176  1:45.909  7
 9 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1	 175  1:47.515  6
10 14 Creation AIM               Creation Aim              LMP1  172  1:45.740  7
11  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  167  1:44.947  7
12  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  164  1:49.925  7
13 21 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  163  1:45.078  7
14 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  160  1:45.665  6
15  3 Scuderia Lavaggi           Lavaggi AER               LMP1  110  1:49.804  6
16 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1   97  1:45.572  4

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2	 188  1:45.697  5
 2 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2	 184  1:47.652  7
 3 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2	 184  1:46.391  6
 4 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2	 183  1:48.217  6
 5 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2	 182  1:46.596  6
 6 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2	 181  1:47.445  6
 7 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2	 180  1:47.904  6
 8 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2	 180  1:46.881  6
 9 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2	 179  1:45.732  9
10 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2	 179  1:49.311  5
11 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2	 172  1:48.094  6
12 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  170  1:46.459  5
13 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2  159  1:50.294  5
14 37 WR / Salini                WR Zytek                  LMP2  126  1:53.612  6

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 172  1:54.850  5
 2 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 140  1:55.919  5
 3 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini               LMGT1 131  1:55.585  6
 4 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1  50  1:54.869  2

   Nr Team                       Car                       Class Laps Fastest Box
 1 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 169  1:58.353  5
 2 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 167  1:59.443  4
 3 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 167  1:59.772  4
 4 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 166  1:59.940  5
 5 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 165  2:00.767  5
 6 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 164  2:01.347  4
 7 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 163  2:00.228  5
 8 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 162  2:00.657  5
 9 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 157  2:02.288  5
10 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 156  1:59.114  8
11 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 145  2:01.863  5
12 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 101  1:59.595  3

Niels Hendrix