Nl.gtr.11 Road America

Welcome to the first race of the NLGTR 11. Eight races to go, the first one brings us to Elkhart Lake. Pole position is for Reijer de Nooijer in the Porsche 997. A good season start for the reigning champion. And the field is off for a 90 minutes race! Sixteen cars on the grid today, it's a long straight to the first corner. Everybody survived, no position changes. De Nooijer leads in front of Douna and Tol. Spykers and Ferraris in the midfield followed by the two Panoz Esperantes. A small gap already for the leading Porsches. Blauwhoff under pressure from Verdegaal. Good run from last corner. Look at that speed difference! Marcel Visscher under attack from Rudy Cuppen THERE'S CONTACT! What on earth happened there? Van Eck braking late.. HE SPINS! No damage, but he'll have to start all over again. He won't be happy with that. Nieuwenhof in P7 takes a look.. Hogeweg not looking good in the Kink And he's through! Hogeweg dropped back to P7. Cuppen has a good run on Marcel Visscher Nieuwenhof attacks Blauwhoff into first corner But wait, is that Blauwhoff in front again? Yes it is! He must have countered right back There's Nieuwenhof again! This time he's through. Nieuwenhof on the move! Another man on a mission, Cuppen attacks Hogeweg for P7 Position won. And they're right on Blauwhoff's tail Hogeweg off track! Crosses the racing line! COLLISION! Hogewegs Porsche damaged. Surely Visscher must have damage too! This early in the race that's got to hurt. Blauwhoff seems to be running a little too much wing today For the third time he loses a position on the straight. Rostek in P15 very cautious through Carousel.. One wheel on the grass! HE SPINS! That lift was just too much for the Ferrari's rear end grip. Rostek did a good job avoiding damage there though. Hogeweg looking to make up for lost positions. Takes tremendous speed through the Kink and passes Oldenburg for P10. Now homing in on his teammate Erwin Levasier. Blauwhoff again under attack on the straight Marcel Visscher on the inside But overshoots! Blauwhoff counters beautifully and holds on to P7. Too much speed through last corner! Blauwhoff knew he was vulnerable on the straight but he took too much risk De Nooijer leading the race Followed by Douna Robin Tol in third place And then Robin Verdegaal Cuppen and Nieuwenhof battling for P5 These two are seriously pushing the limit Attack from Nieuwenhof.. HE'S OFF! That will give Cuppen some breathing space The race leaders starting to lap backmarkers Nieuwenhof in pursuit of Cuppen That's a bit wide. OH NO HE'S OFF! OH NO HE'S OFF! AND INTO THE TIREWALL! Taking too much speed through Carousel there. Looks like he's got a flat left front tire. Cuppen still followed by Visscher Hard braking into last corner Hard braking into last corner HE TOTALLY MISSED IT! And too early on the throttle! That is going to cost serious time. Straight into the pits for new rubber Approaching the halfway mark we'll soon see more pitstops TOL LOSES IT! TOL LOSES IT! AND HITS THE WALL! Surely that will be an early pitstop OH NO THERE HE GOES AGAIN! Engine damage! Tol retires from 3rd place! That just came out of nowhere! De Nooijer pits halfway. Narrow escape for Douna there while Sehovic blocks pit entrance That could have easily gone wrong Verdegaal still going, now in P1 but de Nooijer is catching up quickly Douna comes through. And so does Blauwhoff. But here it is again, Blauwhoff just doesn't have the straight line speed to fend off any attack. Here's a familiar sight. Nieuwenhof still hounding Cuppen's Porsche. These boys have been at it from lap 1 and Cuppen just can't shake off the Spyker. CUPPEN GOES WIDE AGAIN! Keeps it clean this time but loses P5. Blauwhof makes a very late stop Comes back in P5 just behind Visscher Three laps to go, Nieuwenhof in P6 Douna too far behind de Nooijer to make an impression BUT HE CRASHES! BUT HE CRASHES! LOSES THE REAR WING! He goes on without stopping for repairs! BUT THERE HE GOES AGAIN! Even more damage! Will he have enough lead over Verdegaal to hold on to P2? Verdegaal needs to close a 60 seconds gap in two laps Douna really struggling now! His right rear tyre's flat! Verdegaal pushing the edge! Last corner for Reijer de Nooijer and what a performance! A commanding victory by the reigning champion. Three corners to go for Douna. Four corners to go for Verdegaal! Last corner. No mistakes now.. He's through! Where's Verdegaal? Douna takes 2nd place! Douna takes 2nd place! What a thriller!