Historic GP Zandvoort 2025: Masters Endurance Legends & GT Trophy

Matteo Ferrer and Alex Müller had the fastest car in the field, but the Italian and the German had to pull out all the stops to win the first combined Masters Endurance Legends & Masters GT Trophy race of the Historic Grand Prix weekend. A mid-race safety car all but negated the advantage that Ferrer had built in their Corvette C7.R Daytona Prototype, forcing Müller to extract every ounce of speed from the American machine to reel in Cor Euser’s bellowing Marcos Mantara LM600evo. The Dutchman held on until the final lap before succumbing to Müller’s advance. Euser did consummately win the MEL GT class.

“It was by a whisker!” said Ferrer. “There wasn’t anything left in it. It was close, it was not a fun safety car, but we did everything we could and we kept going to the chequered flag. In the end it paid off. So we’re very happy with it.”

“The safety car cost us a lot because we had already built quite a nice advantage”, said Müller. “But in the end it kept the race exciting, so we did it on the last lap. I was happy to beat Dutch legend Cor Euser, so that was good! Two laps to the end I was pretty confident of catching him, and then going into the last lap, I saw the gap, he was in front of me. I said to myself, it’s going to be a very tight, so I stopped believing it. But then I saw the Aston Martin [backmarker], who was on the left. So I thought, if if he gets held up in traffic like I lost a lot of time in traffic two laps before, then I have a chance to pass him – and it worked out!”

“No, he closed so fast, he took six to seven seconds per lap”, said Euser about trying to salvage the overall win. “And it’s not my competition, of course, they are in a different class. But on the other hand, I drove well. The track was very slippery. There was one car that constantly went through the grass and threw a lot of sand on the track, so I also nearly found myself in the kitty litter at times.”

In third overall, James Hagan and Chris Atkinson took second in the prototype ranks, their ORECA-GM FLM09 holding off the Witt Gamski/Ross Wylie Bentley Continental GT3 until the end. The Bentley led home the delayed Renault RS01 of David & Olivier Hart, who completed the MEL GT podium. Mark Drain’s Ligier JSP3 fought at the front all race, only to lose out towards the end, but nevertheless finished third among the prototypes.

The Ferrari 488 Challenge of Dutch father-and-son pairing Jac & Ties Meeuwissen won the concurrent Masters GT Trophy race but a time penalty for a pitstop infringement dropped them down to second behind the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 shared by Neil Glover and Luke Reade, the two cars ending up sixth and seventh overall. In ninth, William Ashmore’s Ferrari 430 Challenge took third, while the Daniel Quintero/Peter Reynolds Ginetta G55 clinched GT4 class honours.

“I had a great start, everything was good”, said Glover. “But then the tyres started to fall off really, really quickly. But then the safety car came out and I guess the rest is history. Luke took over and he did a great job!”

“Neil drove a fantastic first stint, handed it over to me”, said Reade. “And to be honest, I just brought it home. It’s my first international race, and I just love being at Zandvoort in the sun. But yeah, the tyres got really hot and I was just happy to bring it home. It’s our first win together, so absolutely buzzing!”

“My son was the first on the track, I took over the steering wheel”, said Jac Meeuwissen. “I drove a longer stint, but the tyres were getting less and less grip. I asked before with the pitstop, do I have to turn off the engine? My mechanic said no. That cost us the race. But it is what it is, and we had a nice race.”

“Yes, a bit of a shame”, son Ties agreed. “It was going as planned, I did pretty well in the first few laps, although it was tricky to pass someone. Then the safety car came and brought it together, but unfortunately we lost it during the driver change.”

“A really difficult race with the track temperature”, said Ashmore. “The tyres were like driving on marshmallows, no grip on the circuit whatsoever. But I managed to have a good battle with the Ginetta and [Tim Kuijl’s] BMW E36. Eventually, we were able to walk away from those. So it was quite a good race, and I love this circuit, never been here before, but fingers crossed for a cooler track tomorrow.”

With Matteo Ferrer on pole in the Corvette DP, the combined Masters Endurance Legends and Masters GT Trophy was sent on its way on the extremely hot Saturday of the Historic Grand Prix at Zandvoort. From the start, Ferrer was on a roll, as the Corvette created a 4.9-second gap over David Hart in the Renault RS01. Cor Euser was third in the Marcos Mantara LM600evo, chased by Neil Glover in the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. Mark Drain had moved into second by lap 2, the Ligier JSP3 followed by James Hagan in the GM-engined ORECA FLM09. Ties Meeuwissen in the Ferrari 488 Challenge had vaulted Witt Gamski’s Bentley Continental GT3, with Georg Hallau up next in the Norma M2000.

On lap 3, however, Hart Sr was forced to abandon the chase, when the Renault was seen crawling into the pits, leaving the chase to Euser in the leading MEL GT car that now trailed the Corvette DP by 32 seconds. A fighting Hagan had passed both Drain and Glover for third, the latter two also swapping places, before the safety car was called on lap 4 – Hallau had gone missing with a broken gear linkage.

This negated Ferrer’s lead to nought, as the safety car allowed Euser, Hagan and Drain to close up, the same applying to Masters GT Trophy leaders Glover and Meeuwissen. The next two MEL GT cars were Gamski’s Bentley and Afschin Fatemi’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3. In eighth, Daniel Quintero worked miracles in the GT4 Ginetta G55, keeping ahead of William Ashmore’s Ferrari 430 Challenge, Tim Kuijl in the invitational BMW E36 325i and Kari Mäkelä in the other Vantage V12 GT3. Meanwhile, David Hart was back in the race but now dead last and a lap down.

Going into lap 7, the field was released again, and right at that time, the pit window opened. On his first green lap, Ferrer did harm that was similar to his start, again putting multiple seconds between himself and the chasing group, from which Gamski exited to hand the Bentley to Ross Wylie. As Ferrer continued on his way, Euser kept Hagan’s ORECA behind him, with David Hart now also coming in to swap seats with son Olivier. Similarly, Neil Glover handed the Gallardo to Luke Reade, while Fatemi and Kuijl also made their stops. On lap 10, Drain was the next one in, followed by Mäkelä. Euser and Hagan followed on lap 11, the Irishman handing over to Chris Atkinson, with Ashmore and Quintero copying the move, the latter handing the wheel to Peter Reynolds. On lap 12, Meeuwissen and Ferrer were the last ones to make their mandatory stop, Meeuwissen handing the Ferrari to father Jac, while Alex Müller took over from Ferrer, but had to wait for quite a while to account for their double elite-driver penalty.

After all the stops had cycled through, Euser had claimed the lead from Atkinson, the emerging Wylie and Müller who now give it all to make up for lost time in the pits. Meeuwissen was fifth ahead Fatemi, a quick Reade, Ashmore, Reynolds, Kuijl, Olivier Hart and Mäkelä. Euser was running away from Atkinson, but Wylie was setting similar times. Müller, meanwhile, was three seconds quicker than Euser, but trailed by 31 seconds. Would he have enough time to overcome the gap?

On lap 16, Müller had two parts of the job ticked off, having dealt with Atkinson and Wylie, but Euser was still a long way away. However, the German upped his pace even more, and was now a whopping six seconds quicker than the Dutchman. This could be close. Behind them, Atkinson and Wylie still discussed third overall, while Fatemi was sandwiched by the two Masters GT Trophy leaders Meeuwissen and Reade. However, Meeuwissen was given aa 10-second time penalty for a pitstop infringement, while from the back, a resurgent Olivier Hart was making up places at a rapid rate.

At the front, time was running out for Müller, even though his pace remained incredible – the safety car had been severely detrimental to their efforts. As the clock wound down, Euser’s once massive lead shrunk ever more, it would get down to the final lap – and on that ultimate tour, Müller clinched it after racing his socks off for the last 15 minutes. Euser was a close second while 51 seconds down, Atkinson held Wylie at bay, as each took second place on the MEL prototype and GT podiums, with Hart salvaging fifth overall and third in the MEL GT class.

While the Meeuwissens won on the road, their penalty demoted them to second behind the Glover/Reade Lamborghini, with the GT4-class-winning Ginetta of Quintero/Reynolds finishing third in the concurrent Masters GT Trophy race.

Matteo Ferrer and Alex Müller repeated their Saturday win in the combined Masters Endurance Legends & Masters GT Trophy race at Zandvoort by beating the David & Olivier Hart Renault RS01 GT3 to victory on Sunday. Müller led away from pole, but their Corvette C7.R Daytona Prototype dropped behind the Renault because of their double elite-driver penalty at the mandatory stops. Ferrer, however, clawed back his deficit to the GT class winner to pass Olivier Hart on lap 20 and win by nine seconds. The Harts had started from the back after their race 1 troubles, but David was up into second place as soon as lap 2.

“Even without the safety car that hurt us yesterday, it was still very tight”, said Ferrer. “So instead of passing on the last lap, we passed a couple of laps from the end. Different classes, so not much Oli could do, but we’re happy with the win, obviously.”

“Without the safety car it was a little bit easier”, said Müller, “but it was a good fight with Hart and Hart. But we still had our ridiculously high elite-driver penalty to deal with, having to stay in the pitlane for 70 seconds longer. Luckily, I had a pretty clear first stint, I was able to pull away from David, and Matteo was catching Oli because he was stuck a bit in traffic, which played in our favoura. All in all I’m very happy, and happy for the team, with an almost a perfect weekend. We started it with a little fire in the free practice, and luckily, nothing major happened. The boys fixed the car and what we can say, pole position and two victories. Looking forward to going to Silverstone!”

“The race was good”, said Olivier. “It gave me a bit more preparation for the Spa 24 Hours I will be competing in. Racing against a prototype turned it into something like a time trial, but the track was better because it had rained, so I could push a little bit more. I really enjoyed the weekend.”

“The Renault is just insane”, Hart Sr said about the RS01. “The car is such a kick. But we were fighting a car that we could not compete with, the Corvette was just too fast.”

Behind the two leading cars, the Witt Gamski/Ross Wylie Bentley Continental GT3 mounted a successful challenge against Cor Euser’s Marcos Mantara LM600evo, as Wylie pipped the Dutchman for second in class and third overall with two laps to go. In fifth and sixth, the ORECA-GM FLM09 of James Hagan and Chris Atkinson and Mark Drain’s Ligier-Nissan JSP3 completed the prototype podium.

“Today was much better than yesterday”, said Gamski. “Yesterday was so difficult. I’ve never driven a more difficult race, but today the lads did a lot of changes to the car and it worked much better.”

“I really enjoyed the laps today”, said Wylie. “It was actually quite nice chasing down some cars. We struggled with the balance of the car yesterday with the extremely hot conditions, and the tyre degradation is naturally pretty high around here, and the Bentley’s Achilles’ heel is definitely traction. Lots of sliding around and not much tyre left, but today was a little bit more enjoyable in terms of the car’s balance. The guys did a fantastic job and provided us a good car. Witt had done a great job handing the car over in a great position, and I had all the fun part to do! Looking forward to Silverstone now…”

“I did my best”, said Euser, “but I didn’t really have the car to attack. I couldn’t keep the Bentley behind, he was really faster. There is something strange about the car, but we will find out.”

“James did a really good stint at the start”, said Atkinson. “I got in it today, but I just didn’t have my head in it today. Yesterday, I was doing really well, but today I didn’t feel comfortable. But that’s alright, the car’s in one bit and we go again!”

“I had a brilliant time”, said Hagan. “I got used to the car, it was good fun.”

In the concurrent Masters GT Trophy race, Luke Reade led the first part of the race but Neil Glover was unable to resist young Ties Meeuwissen, as the Dutchman in the Ferrari 488 Challenge started by father Jac chased and caught the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 to pass it on the penultimate lap. In third, the Daniel Quintero/Peter Reynolds Ginetta G55 lifted GT4 class honours.

“It was a nice race”, said Meeuwissen Sr. “I started and Ties came second. They decided to let me get out of the car as soon as possible and put Ties in, so we could solve an issue that we had. He finished the race and did a perfect job.”

“As I said yesterday, it was the intention to win!” said young Meeuwissen. “We had about nine minutes to go, I put in all my effort in order to close the gap and in the end it worked. We even got him before the final lap!”

“The car was ballistic”, said Glover. “Luke was keeping up with the really quick cars, so he had a great start. He came in half way, I took on, but we cooked the rear tyres again, so I was really clinging on. The job was to get the car back, get the maximum of points, and we’ve done that. It’s a long game to win the championship and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“It was really fun to start a race”, said Reade. “Neil started both of them at Brands and the one yesterday. So it was really nice to get involved in the start. The car is in one piece and we’ve got two class wins. It’s been a really good weekend, so roll on Silverstone!”

Towards lunch, and still on a damp track after an earlier shower, the combined Masters Endurance Legends & Masters GT Trophy grid appeared for their second race of the Historic Grand Prix weekend. Race 1 winners Matteo Ferrer and Alex Müller were on pole, Ferrer starting the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R Daytona Prototype, with Cor Euser’s GT-class-leading Marcos Mantara LM600evo joining the American car on the front row. This time, Alex Müller did the opening stint in the Corvette DP and led by 12 seconds on lap 2, while David Hart in the Renault RS01 had produced a pair of blinding opening laps to be second ahead of Luke Reade who started the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 instead of Neil Glover. Euser was fourth ahead of James Hagan in the ORECA-GM FLM09, while Mark Drain’s Ligier-Nissan JSP3 had passed Witt Gamski’s Bentley Continental GT3 for sixth.

On lap 4, Müller once again lowered the fastest lap of the race to now have 22 seconds between himself and Hart, while Reade followed the Dutchman by three seconds. Hagan had moved up into fourth ahead of Euser, who led Drain by five seconds and Gamski by another six ticks. Afschin Fatemi was eighth in the first of the Aston Martin Vantage V12s, with Georg Hallau up next in the repaired Norma M2000, the German having just demoted the Jac & Ties Meeuwissen Ferrari 488 Challenge to tenth, with Jac at the wheel. Daniel Quintero was 11th in the Ginetta G55, keeping ahead of Kari Mäkelä in the second Aston.

Müller kept pounding in the fast laps to create the gap needed to negate his and Ferrer’s double elite-driver time penalties at the stops. On lap 7, his advantage over Hart Sr amounted to 39 seconds, with Reade ten seconds further adrift. Hagan and Euser each followed five seconds apart, as the field behind them had settled into a rhythm that would take them to the pit window.

On its opening, Hart Sr and Gamski were in first, being relieved by Hart Jr and Ross Wylie respectively. Meeuwissen Sr soon followed suit, handing the 488 Challenge tos on Ties. Then on lap 11, the leader pitted for Ferrer to take over the Corvette DP, with Drain and Mäkelä also making their stops. Meanwhile, Hagan had all but caught Reade when Fatemi came in, followed Euser, Hagan (with Chris Atkinson taking over), Hallau and Quintero (with Peter Reynolds stepping into the Ginetta).

The stops having all cycled through, Hart Jr led Ferrer by 12 seconds, with Euser now in third, 25 seconds behind. Atkinson was snapping at Euser’s heels in fourth, while Wylie was closing in in fifth. Drain was sixth and fighting with Fatemi, with Glover a further four seconds away but still leading the Masters GT Trophy race from Ties Meeuwissen in the 488 Challenge, who had 33 seconds to cover in order to pass the Lambo for the lead. Hallau and Reynolds fought over tenth overall but were in separate races, with Mäkelä following the pair.

With less than ten minutes to go, Hart Jr had five seconds left to hold on, but Ferrer was catching the Renault at a rate of two seconds per lap. Going into lap 20, the Italian did the business to reclaim the lead. Behind them, Euser had repassed Atkinson for third overall, and indeed, Wylie was poised to also make up a spot and did so on the next tour. Further back, Meeuwissen Jr had clawed back 22 seconds of his deficit to Glover, so it was going to be tight at the finish for the two leading Masters GT Trophy cars.

At the chequered flag, Ferrer crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Hart Jr, but it wasn’t over for third overall and second in the MEL GT class, as Wylie pipped Euser on the penultimate lap. Atkinson and Drain completed the prototype podium in fifth and sixth, while Meeuwissen Jr succeeded in his challenge to pass Glover for the Masters GT Trophy win, also with two laps still to go. Fatemi was ninth ahead of Hallau, while the Quintero/Reynolds Ginetta took third overall in the GT Trophy race as well the GT4 class win.