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Leonard Stolk and Woodstock after coming 3rd in Race 1 of the Dutch Post Historic GT/TC Championship (Photo by Marco Leijten)

TwinSpark Racing had a very good first day out during this weekend’s Dutch Post Historic Championship at Zandvoort capturing a trophy for 3rd overall in a field of 24 cars. Running its fresh new block was a hit and I certainly didn’t expect to make it to the podium on Woodstock’s first outing in this form. Although powerful, this engine is actually more a well put together 3.0 RS block, as I wanted to be able to use it in road events as well. It was evenly matched today with the 2,5 liter Martini ST of Onno Vlaanderen, who had the advantage of running slicks vs our TB’s and 20 years of racing experience to take 2nd place, behind a silver Zakspeed Escort built and raced by Marcel Frijlink.

WEVO 915 shifter in black with black SL knob (photo courtesy of Marcel Cornelius, who fitted this combo in his ST clone)

Woodstock was equipped today with a black and black WEVO 915 shifter – SL shift knob combination and it made a massive difference in the way I went through the gears compared to the standard shifter set up. Going up the Hunzerug shifting from 2 to 3 and from 3 to 4 requires swift shift action as part is up-hill and the bolt action rifle-like feel was confidence-inspiring.

Escorts dominate the GT/TC championship in the Netherlands

It was so much fun running in this new race class with cars all really from the same period. The Escorts dominated the field and these guys have been driving together for years now. This made for a good mood around the parc ferme as we waited for our cars to be released.

Ronald Aardse coming off the throttle at the Tarzan corner; Must have disconnected the micro switch to scare the fellow competitors!

Fellow R Gruppe member Ronald Aardse returned to active racing today, after a few years of absence and showed that the rust comes of easily if you really enjoy what you’re doing. He ran on slicks today and loved the amount grip compared to the Toyo’s he used for track days.

Lex Proper drove Silverado today and with his enormous racing experience eeked out the final bits of potential from this inherently softer chassis and milder engine. I can only imagine who he’ll do in September when we hope to have him drive The Hulk. It was a shame we couldn’t finish that project in time, but as it started to look like a rush job, we decided it was wiser to temporarily convert Silverado instead of fielding a car with an engine so new, it would have to be broken in during qualifying…

Reshaping Silverado was great fun, be it a race against the clock. We took a lightweight bonnet and a badly shaped duck tail and threw a few spray can of satin black paint in the mix. The paint is so thin that I worried it would chip off if it would rain…. It all came together well in a team effort and today we could celebrate the results.

Chris Mulder with his new Etna Blue 911 2.0 racer, built by Duel Motorsport

Chris Mulder ran his Etna Blue 2.0 911 racer for the first time today and loved the improvement from the “dog” he ran last season. Chris is one of the most enthused racers I know even though he always modestly explains how he is getting to grips with the racing. This man has petrol in his veins!

Two more races tomorrow and many more pictures on the way!!

News coverage: http://www.zvoort.nl/archief/state-of-art-historische-zandvoort-trophy-2010/