Historic GP Zandvoort 2023: Masters Endurance Legends

The More Modern Historics!

Race 1

Werner claims victory in Zandvoort’s first Masters Endurance Legends race

Marco Werner proved victorious in the first Masters Endurance Legends race at Zandvoort, as his Lotus Lola B12/80 profited from the demise of Christophe d’Ansembourg whose Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 had led the first part of the race. The German cheekily stole a march on the Belgian on the opening lap before d’Ansembourg reasserted himself at the top of the leaderboard, the two split by no more than two seconds during their opening stint. When d’Ansembourg’s Lola failed to get going again at the stops, Werner was free to run home the victory.

“At the beginning it was a nice race, but after Christophe had gone I just brought it home”, said Werner. “On the first lap, I took my chance in the banked corner, going low instead of high, and I overtook him but on the straight he just tore straight past me. After that, I was often close to him in the infield but then he just took off on the straight.”

34 seconds behind Werner, Mike Furness claimed his first overall podium in Masters Endurance Legends, his Courage-Judd LC75 keeping the class-winning P3 Ligier of Craig Davies/Ron Maydon behind by three seconds. Despite a pitlane start after a brake-issue scare on the grid, Stephan Joebstl and Andy Willis took fourth in the other Ligier JSP3.

“It’s a long time since I’ve been on the podium!” said a delighted Furness. “It was a strange race, though. One of the GT guys [Euser] jumped the start, and he was really fast after that. Once he fell away, I had a great battle with Craig and Ron for second place.”

“I really enjoyed that race”, said Davies. “Battling with James Hagan really, it was very close at various parts of the circuit, but at the end I managed to get past. I gave it to Ron and he brought the baby home.”

Cor Euser wooed his home crowd by claiming the GT spoils in the bellowing Marcos LM600evo that has just been meticulously restored after its fiery demise back in time. Running third initially after having enthusiastically jumped the start, Euser gave the machine its best commercial advertisement by still staying in front of Jason Wright’s Ferrari 430 GT2 and André Hartl’s Porsche 997.2 Cup for the GT class win. With Hartl being an invitational driver, however, Günther Alth’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was promoted to third in class.

“Usually when it’s green we race!” Euser explained. “But it is what it is. I was able to make up for it afterwards, and was helped by the safety car which really got me back into the game.”

“I had a horrible race”, Wright rued. “The car was terrible, just undriveable – so nervous. I did a 360 – no, a 720 – coming down the hill! We’ll have to look into it, since it’s the car, it had nothing to do with the track. I still enjoyed myself, though. I always enjoy myself behind the wheel!”

“It was my first time at Zandvoort”, said Alth. “It’s a very challenging course, and step by step I was getting used to the curves. At first I was intimidated but now I think I like it!”

Well into Saturday afternoon, the Masters Endurance Legends set the ball rolling for their first race of the weekend, as the main grandstand still exploded with fans, many of whom were dying to hear Christophe d’Ansembourg’s Lola-Aston Martin V12 scream. Not starting from its spot on the grid, though, was the Stephan Joebstl/Andy Willis Ligier JSP3 which was wheeled back into the pits with brake issues to make its start from there.

D’Ansembourg indeed screamed across the straight first time around, but a storming opening lap by Marco Werner saw the P2 Lotus Lola B12/80 lead the P1 Lola-Aston around. With a balls-out first lap, local hero Cor Euser had roared ‘La Bomba’ up to third overall as the Marcos LM600evo not just led the GTs but also Mike Furness in the Courage LC75, Craig Davies in the other JSP3, with Jason Wright’s Ferrari 430 GT2 and André Hartl’s Porsche 997.2 Cup up next. Behind them, Joebstl had already made up a place at the cost of Günther Alth’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with James Hagan in the ORECA FLM09 following the Aston in tenth.

On the next lap, though, d’Ansembourg redressed the balance to reclaim the lead, but Euser continued to hold off the prototypes behind him. Joebstl, meanwhile, had passed Hartl and Wright for sixth. After four laps, the Belgian’s lead had increased to 2.2 seconds, but for the chasing Euser it soon appeared why he had jumped so many cars – he had actually jumped the start and was handed a stop-and-go penalty for his misdemeanour.

As d’Ansembourg and Werner continued to circulate split by some two seconds, Euser took his penalty at the first opportunity, rejoining in sixth but hot on the heels of both Ligiers and still leading the GT class. Further back, Hagan had made up positions by deposing Alth and Hartl.

The pit window was approaching fast now, but until then it was stalemate all through the order, with only Hagan gaining another spot, this time passing Wright for seventh. At the front, d’Ansembourg had now lapped every car up to Euser’s Marcos, who simultaneously as the leader lapped Joebstl, nipped through to take fifth. Moments later, Werner was the first to come in for his stop, with Joebstl next as the Austrian would swap around with Andy Willis. Following them in were Hagan – handing over to Chris Atkinson – and Hartl, with Alth also reporting in for his mandatory stop. Davies then came in for his relief driver Ron Maydon, and now Euser and leader d’Ansembourg were in too – just at the moment when the safety car entered the fray for Atkinson’s ORECA ending up in the gravel at no-name corner. This allowed Furness – who was still to stop – was able to claw back some of the time lost.

One car not leaving the pits, however, was none other than d’Ansembourg’s Lola-Aston as its FR team’s mechanics frantically circled the car in search for the issue before it was wheeled back into its garage. This meant that Werner now led the race from Maydon and Furness. Andy Willis in the other Ligier had passed Euser for fourth just before the safety car was called, but the Dutchman continued to lead in GTs, with Wright, Hartl and Alth up next.

Once the ORECA was freed from its gravely enclosure, some nine minutes remained on the clock. Werner led away to soon build a comfortable lead, but behind him Furness repassed Maydon for second. Willis was fourth but a long way behind the rival Ligier while among the GTs Euser similarly drove into the distance, soon unseen by Wright, Hartl and Alth.

As the clock wound down, Werner reeled off the laps to receive the chequered flag on lap 22. Furness took his first-ever overall podium with second place, 34 seconds down, as the Craig Davies/Ron Maydon pairing won the battle of the P3s from the Stephan Joebstl/Andy Willis combo. Despite his stop-and-go penalty, Euser prevailed in GTs, leading home Wright, Hartl and Alth.

Race 2

D’Ansembourg hits back for win in Zandvoort’s second Masters Endurance Legends race

Starting from the back after his Saturday trouble, Christophe d’Ansembourg came through to win the second Masters Endurance Legends race at Zandvoort. Despite strong opposition from Marco Werner in the P2-class-winning Lotus Lola B12/80, the Belgian Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 driver soon hit the front and held firm despite a late charge from his German rival.

“It was a struggle because of yesterday’s driveshaft failure”, said d’Ansembourg, “but I couldn’t let Marco get away too far, so I basically overtook all the other cars on the first lap. At the pitstops he was 15 seconds behind, so I was managing the gap, avoiding the kerbs, short-shifting, that’s three seconds a lap. I did a quicker lap towards the end but you still have to be careful with backmarkers. The team were worried because I was losing time but I was managing, I had it under control.”

“It was more about waiting for a mistake from him”, said Werner, “but speed-wise I had no chance. And then I lost time in the pits following Cor Euser in who was slower than was necessary. And he got out in front of me again, so it took me half a lap to pass him – normally the out lap is when you push!”

Craig Davies and Ron Maydon beat their P3 class rivals Stephan Joebstl and Andy Willis to take third overall, as the two Ligier-Nissan JSP3s were split by seven seconds. With their fair turn of speed, the Ligiers managed to stay ahead of the P2-class ORECA-GM FLM shared by James Hagan and Chris Atkinson, as its start from the last row on the grid resulted in sixth place overall.

At one time running third overall, Cor Euser ended up fifth to once again win the GT class in his Marcos LM600evo, as the Dutchman beat Jason Wright’s Ferrari 340 GT2 and Günther Alth’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to the top spot in class. André Hartl did well to haul his invitational Porsche 997.2 Cup up to eighth overall.

Just after 11 o’clock in the morning, the Masters Endurance Legends came out for their second race of the weekend. In hot but overcast conditions, Marco Werner’s P2 Lotus Lola B12/80 was on pole while on the back of his demise on Saturday, Christophe d’Ansembourg would have to come from the back in his V12-engined Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2. Indeed, the Belgian needed only a single lap to charge his way to second place, albeit still six seconds adrift from the German winner of Saturday’s race.

With those two out in front, Craig Davies and Stephan Joebstl were left to fight over the P3 class lead in their Ligier JSP3s, with Cor Euser once again leading the GTs in fifth. One lap later, however, the Dutchman’s paced proved so strong that he managed to squeeze himself among the Ligiers. Also coming from behind, James Hagan was already up to sixth in the ORECA-GM FLM09, now with one less opponent in the P2 class, as Mike Furness was unable to compete after having found a brake issue on his Courage-Judd LC75. Despite that, the Briton who finished second on Saturday was still reeling about his first podium since 2008!

After four laps, the Lola-Aston had caught up with Werner before going on to lead into lap 6. In third, Davies trailed by some 40 seconds but Euser was unleashed in the Marcos and catching the other Ligier too. Joebstl was six seconds behind the Dutchman now, with Hagan hot on the Austrian’s heels. Jason Wright in the Ferrari 430 GT2 was seventh ahead of André Hartl’s invitational Porsche 997.2 Cup and Günther Alth getting more acquainted with the Zandvoort track in his Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Heading towards the pit window, d’Ansembourg increased his lead to 4.6 seconds but Werner was still beating the leader on time in the twisty second sector of the circuit. Having held off Hagan until it was time for his stop, Joebstl was the first to come in, with Andy Willis taking over the Ligier on lap 10. Davies followed suit on the following lap, with Ron Maydon stepping in for him, the leading Ligier joined in the pits by Alth. The top three all came in on lap 12, with Wright and Hartl electing to pit on lap 13 and Hagan coming in on lap 14 to hand over to Chris Atkinson.

With all the pitstops done and time penalties affected, d’Ansembourg led Werner by 14 seconds as he completed his 14th lap, with Maydon a lap down but chased hard by Euser. Willis trailed the warring duo by 18 seconds but ran two seconds faster than Maydon who now found himself in fourth behind the thundering Marcos. Atkinson was sixth while Wright led the GT chasers in seventh, ahead of Hartl and Alth.

The race wasn’t entirely done, though, as Werner was now lapping around a second quicker than d’Ansembourg whose lead on lap 16 was cut to 11 seconds. Was the Belgian pacing himself or was he nursing an issue with his Lola-Aston? Two laps later, Werner’s deficit had shrunk to 8.5 seconds – and so, with nine minutes remaining on the clock, we had a race on our hands. Not just that, as behind the leading pair, Euser was slowing and soon swallowed by the two Ligiers now split by eight seconds – here was another race going on. Euser continued but his laptimes weren’t what they used to be. He still held a comfortable lead over class rivals Wright and Alth, though.

As the final five minutes approached, Werner was now in visual reach of the leader, 4.7 seconds down, as on the pitwall d’Ansembourg’s FR team were seen looking anxiously at their monitors. On lap 22, though, the Belgian all but matched Werner’s laptime to maintain his advantage at four seconds. Indeed, the next time around, d’Ansembourg popped in a 1.33, to ease out to a 5.1-second lead, and despite the continued worried looks and hand-signalling of his crew, the Lola-Aston looked to have the win in the bag.

And so, after 25 laps, d’Ansembourg crossed the line for victory in race 2, dropping back to a 2.7-second lead on the final lap. Craig Davies and Ron Maydon took another P3 class win in third, one lap down and seven seconds ahead of Willis, while Cor Euser took his second GT class win in two races, heading both Wright and Alth. The Hagan/Atkinson ORECA grabbed sixth while Hartl finished eighth in his Porsche Cup car.