Yelmer on the road to victory in Belgium
13-07-2011
Although the Omloop Terlaemen bears hardly any secrets for Yelmer – he raced there in various single seater classes such as the Formula Renault and Formula 3 – it has not always been a prosperous connection between him, the Superleague Formula Nations Cup and the track. In the maiden season of the Superleague Formula (2008) Yelmer steered the PSV-car to a fine third place but the next year was kind of a disaster with an 8th place and a ‘Did Not Finish’ in the second race after his car was hit by another driver. Last year he just missed the trophies, flowers and champagne with a 4th and two 5th places but on the other hand: he had moved into the lead of the championship. A result he might duplicate this year. Not only is he trailing Craig Dolby and Duncan Tappy in the rankings by a lousy 5 points he is also in super form. During the first round, a month ago on the TT-circuit of Assen, he won the first race after a fierce battle with fellow countryman Robert Doornbos. “I am racing for a very good team and my car was really perfect in Assen. I count on seventy points in my pocket when I leave Zolder on Sunday evening”, Yelmer assumes. And why not? His team, home playing Belgian Azerti Race Automotive, won the Super Final last year, with later champion Davide Rigon claiming the 100.000 Euro’s first price.
Zolder is a merely 45 minutes drive from Eindhoven so Yelmer’s team reckons with a vast group of PSV supporters. Even more now that PSV had it’s traditional fan day just a week ago and grabbed the opportunity to promote the Zolder Superleague round with Yelmer in a star role. “They pushed my car to the middle of the stadium where I was introduced to the fans. Over 25.000 were cheering for me. And then I started the twelve cylinder engine. You can imagine it was fantastic that screaming machine with the sound reflecting from the grand stand roofing. When you have a motorsport heart you just can’t ignore that invitation to come to Zolder. Well, I can hardly wait”.
The qualifications are scheduled on Saturday from 13.25 hrs (GB time). The first race gets underway on Sunday at 11.10 hrs, immediately followed by race 2 and the Super Final. All races can be seen live on Motors TV.
Standings Superleague Formula Nations Cup:
1. Australia (John Martin) and Japan (Duncan Tappy) 77; 3. England (Craig Dolby) 74; 4. Netherlands PSV (Yelmer) 72; 5. Brazil (Antonio Pizzonia) 68; 6. Czech Republic (Filip Salaquarda) 63
