August 14, 1998 - After Matt Sentell's dominant victory at Monaco last week, Dave Kaemmer reversed the tables by taking pole, fast lap (1:27.52), and the win at Zandvoort last night.
It was closer than it might have appeared, however, with Sentell's Type 49 within sight of Kaemmer's Lotus for much of the race, and finishing only 5.8 seconds back.
Tony Johns finished third, and Scott Sanford fourth, both on the same lap, though Scott was in danger of being lapped near the end.
The Eagles of Alison Hine and Scott Wise, on the third row of the grid, came together at the start. Alison wound up dead last, but came through the field to finish fifth after a seesaw battle throughout the latter half of the race with Kevin Wasson, who took the final point.
Qualifying was a challenge. Getting a clear lap in the brief 30 minute practice session seemed almost impossible, and Hine commented that she had only one clear lap in the entire session.
It was fascinating to see the variety of cars which populated the grid. As expected, Lotus cars dominated the sharp end of the grid, with Scott Sanford's Ferrari the first non-Lotus on the grid in fifth. Behind the Hine and Wise Eagles in sixth and seventh, there was a wide variety of Ferraris, Lotus, two Coventrys, another Eagle, and one hardy soul, Dave Matson, in a BRM.
The only chassis not represented was the Brabham, a surprise because the beta team's testing has shown the Brabham to be quite effective here, its consistency being a virtue in long, fraught races such as those in the Papy Cup.
The race was punctuated by a number of stirring battles, thrilling passes, and dramatic crashes. At one point, the final turn looked like a war zone, with a couple of Ferraris (one burning), at least one Lotus, and a couple of other cars scattered about, but there were also some exciting dices and a number of great moves.
For many of the drivers, the race was all about avoiding crashed and slow-moving cars. With 18 cars in the race (!) it was not uncommon to come around one of the fast blind corners through the back and find a number of cars spinning down the track or stopped, often sideways right on the racing line! The fourth-gear Bridge East turn seemed to be a particular favorite for pileups.
More than one driver commented on the immense value of the yellow and white flags.
To this reporter, the Zandvoort race underlined the challenging - and ultimately rewarding - nature of GPL. The fast drivers at the front were magnificant to watch in the replay, as they handled the difficult cars like the star drivers they are, taking the Lotus to the limit lap after lap with very rare mistakes.
The struggles of the less skilled drivers, too, underlined the realism of this magnificant product, as they produced exactly the results one might expect from inexperienced drivers in 400 hp, 1200 lb cars on hard tires and with zero downforce.
Now we look forward to the majestic sweeps of Spa, where precision is everything and tiny mistakes carry huge penalties. If the Bridge East turn was, ah, interesting, one hardly wants to think about the Masta Kink.
It will be exciting!