Everybody wants to race: now 60 cars admitted for inaugural Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT
Following the successful inaugural edition of the Dunlop 12H ITALY-MUGELLO earlier this month, the team of Dutch agency CREVENTIC and its long-term partner DNRT are now working flat-out on the next round of the 2014 24H SERIES powered by Dunlop, the inaugural Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT, to be held at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands on May 30 and 31. “Our event in Italy was a great success and expectations are high for our next race at Zandvoort, which will be our home race,” says Gerrie Willems on behalf of CREVENTIC. “Last Tuesday, two months prior to the inaugural Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT, a milestone was achieved: 50 confirmed entries for the first edition of the Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT. With two new entries of GC Automobile from France, the number of 50 confirmed entries was reached. To accommodate and give other interested teams the opportunity to be part of this first edition, CREVENTIC is pleased to announce that, in accordance with the management of Circuit Park Zandvoort, the maximum number of allowed cars on the grid has been increased from 50 to a maximum of 60 cars. This gives another ten teams (ten cars) the opportunity to enter the Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT. Looking at the huge interest we expect to have 60 confirmed entries very soon. Entries beyond the number of 60 will be placed on the waiting list.”
Like for every round of the 2014 24H SERIES powered by Dunlop, regulations and classes are identical to those of the series’ flagship event, the Dunlop 24H DUBAI. So far, teams have entered in the A6 class for GT3 cars, including Hofor Racing, the winning team from the most recent running of the 24H BARCELONA that also did very well with a third-place overall finish in the Dunlop 12H ITALY-MUGELLO, the Porsche 997/996 class, the SP2 class for 24H Specials and silhouette cars, with the Panoz Esperante GTS by German team Mishumotors as an interesting new entry, the SP3 class for GT4 cars, the touring car categories A5, A4, A3T, A2 and A1 and the classes D1 and D2 for diesel-powered cars. There is also much interest for the European competition debut of the MARC Focus GTC, three of which have been entered by Australian team, Racer Industries. This silhouette car had its first outing during the 12H Bathurst in February and will now be racing for the first time outside of Australia.
With plenty of undulation and a nice variety of fast and medium-fast corners, Zandvoort is considered as one of Europe’s ‘old-school’ circuits and ranks among the favourites of most drivers who ever had the opportunity to race there. The location of the circuit, with the beach and the North Sea just across the road, and the city centre of Zandvoort with many nice bars and restaurants at walking distance all contribute to the popularity of the venue. “As we have our race at the end of May, we are expecting nice weather. With the Thursday prior to the race also being a public holiday in The Netherlands and most of Europe, I am sure that plenty of people will come and enjoy a great weekend with us,” Gerrie Willems says.
Just like at Mugello, the race at Zandvoort will be split up in two parts due to noise restrictions. The first three hours of the race will be held on Friday, after which a parc fermé ruling is in place. The remaining nine hours will be run on Saturday, followed by the prize-giving ceremony and a beach party. “In Mugello, we got a lot of positive feedback on this format,” Gerrie Willems explains. “It gives teams a little bit more rest and it spreads the action over two days.” Television coverage for the inaugural Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT is planned on Motors TV while the expert commentary team from Radio Show Limited, the people behind Radiolemans.com, will be on site with their coverage, too. More information about the Dunlop 12H ZANDVOORT and the other rounds of the 24H SERIES powered by Dunlop can be found at: www.24hseries.com.
