That the Zolder Historic Grand Prix is undergoing a revival following the arrival of a German organiser you have already read in our previous coverage. The formula with the Youngtimer Trophy, the Kampf der Zwerge and a historic championship up to 1965 creates a lot of enthusiasm on the circuit.
The Tourenwagen Golden Ara was no longer there this time but it was replaced by three races of the Dutch GT and Touring Car Championship, the equivalent of our own Belcar Historic.
It is tropically hot as the first races of the weekend are finished on Saturday. It is the Dutch GTs and Touring Cars that get to kick off the weekend. They will contest a total of three races.
Unlike our own Belcar, the starting field in the Netherlands is not really overly large. We already saw this at the Spa Summer Classic and the starting field had shrunk to just 20 competitors for this race. The Belcar Capri’s of the St Paul team won, on their one leg, all three motos with two wins for Dieter Kuijl and one for Wim Kuijl.
Hans de Graaf, with his Porsche 911, is the closest opponent but has to concede just under a minute each time on the fast Cosworth Capri’s.
In the first race, this beautiful Opel GT also appears at the start. Michael Nolte finishes in fourth place just behind De Graaf. In the following races, the Opel will no longer appear at the start.
Also three races on the programme for the weekend’s smallest cars. The congenial ‘Kamp der Zwerge’ series is always fun and spectacular to watch.
Herbert Wein Jr easily wins the first two races at the wheel of his Mini Cooper. In the second race, he even shares the podium with his father, Herbert Wein Sr, who takes third place. The latter does this again in the third race without son dear as he had to abandon the fight after two laps.
The win in the third race is for Christof Hürter’s Simca Rally 2, which crosses the finish line just ahead of Alina Hug’s NSU.
In the Youngtimer Trophy, we do find beautifully prepared cars. The mostly still smaller teams really deliver splendid work. Some of the cars are also in well-known or historic designs. Two races of 1 hour each are scheduled.
In the older models, it is a real Opel dominance with four Opel Kadett’s in the first four places. Adrian Remmele wins with still quite a big lead at the wheel of his Opel Kadett C ahead of a similar model driven by Sven Fisch. At the start of these Youngtimer series, we still see mostly cars of ( how could it be otherwise ) German manufacture. Lots of BMW, Opel, Porsche, VW and Ford.
Then again, among the more recent cars, Porsche is dominant. The first seven places are for the Stuttgart-based marque. At the very front, it is the imposing 911 RSR versions that fight for the win. Marcus Menden wins ahead of Michel Hess. Patrick Simon, with his 964 Cup, is the only non-RSR in third place.
Besides the many Porsche’s, there are also many BMW’s in this series with mostly models of the E36 model. The only Opel Ascona had to provide some variation.
Belgium was also represented with the Belcar Historic Cup finishing the third weekend of their championship and also the last on Belgian soil as the next two will take place in the Netherlands ( Assen ) and Germany ( Nürburgring ).
And immediately big news with a new entrant. The VR/Qvick team signed present with their latest weapon: a BMW M1 Procar. But the debut went a bit downhill as a failed camshaft sensor caused the engine to malfunction. For safety’s sake, it was decided to postpone the debut. And this was not the only bad luck for this team: their 320i Supertourer was also sidelined after just one lap in qualifying with a broken differential. And their 635 Csi also had to pull over pretty soon. A broken belt on the dry sump pump caused engine damage and immediately the weekend was over for this 635CSi.
The first race on Saturday took place in tropical conditions. Pilots and equipment put up a real fight against the heat.
Poleman Luc Branckaerts immediately takes the lead with his Corvette C4 ahead of Wim Kuijl’s Ford Capri. Brother Tim follows in their tracks with his BMW 325i.
This Corvette C4 is currently the fastest car in the Belcar Historic. Last year at Zolder, it had to make do with a top 5 place but that is totally different this year. The Corvette dominates both on straight lines and in the corners.
The field is brought back together after only two laps for a stranded Ford Puma to be hoisted out of the sandpit. This is followed by a green flag and everything can start again. The first three again take some distance but there are no position changes.
Behind this leading trio, there is a Porsche duel between Luc Moortgat ( 964 ) and Eric Bruynoghe ( 911 ). Moortgat will pass Bruynoghe after half-race.
Wim Kuijl’s Capri dropped out with gearbox problems and so the Corvette C4 ZR1 drove unchallenged to victory. Its fastest lap time was even 2 seconds faster than that of Tim Kuijl’s BMW, which finishes in second place. The Corvette’s dominance continues as Branckaerts wins his seventh race in a row! Third place goes to Luc Moortgat with his Porsche 964. The LM driver had driven away from colleague Bruynhoge in the second half of the race.
Qvick Motors’ BMW 320i, with Dirk Van Rompuy at the wheel, had come back from the very back to a nice 11th place.
Unfortunately, there are always some crashes too. This Lotus Europa, competing as a guest driver, had to be taken away by tow truck after a collision.
The second race follows one day later. The result of the first is basis for the starting grid of the second and once again the Corvette C4 and the BMW 325i take a blistering start and settle in at the head of the course.
At the very back, Wim Kuijl’s Ford Capri starts. This one makes its way to the front. The same goes for Erik Qvick who starts eleventh with his BMW and climbs to P3.
Kuijl’s Capri makes it to P5 but, after a somewhat unsuccessful braking manoeuvre on the first left, ends up in the gravel pit and this causes the exhaust to break off. Another task follows for this fast Capri. For a while there is an FCY to remove the debris of the exhaust from the track.
Also bad luck for the other Capri of the St Paul’s team. Dieter Kuijl spun on braking for the chicane and dropped back in the standings.
Up front, Corvette and BMW are still battling for P1. A few laps before the end, Tim Kuijl finds a gap and puts his 325i next to ZR1 and passes the Corvette.
However, Ilaria Stalliviere’s Renault Clio lays an oil trail on the track and once again there is a yellow flag. Kuijl’s BMW crosses the finish line first ahead of the Corvette, ending the Chevrolet’s dominance.
However, both men doubled some slower cars during the yellow flag situation. This did not escape the race management and both are penalised for this. Tim Kuijl drops to P8 and Luc Branckaerts to P10 as a result.
This way, there is a new winner with Erik Qvick’s BMW 320i STW. The podium is completed by two Porsches. P2 is for Erik Bruynoghe and Luc Moortgat is again, as in the first race, third.
Traditionally, during the Zolder Historic GP there is always also a Concours d’ Elégance. Obviously no Villa d’ Este or Chantilly Arts & Elégance level but there were still some nice cars on display.
The birthday brands or cars then usually featured and there were classes for e.g.: 50 years of VW Golf, 100 years of MG and 60 years of Ford Mustang. This MG Metro 6R4 in its Belga once competed in the Belgian rally championship.
In the ‘open two-seater’ series, this Aston Martin DBR 22 went away with the first prize.
Lancia’s renaissance was also featured and this series also delivered the ‘best of the show’ with this Aurelia B 20 Coupe and this was certainly a deserved winner.
Though perhaps our hearts were beating a little more for this 037 Abarth Group B in Martini trim.
This year’s Zolder Historic Grand Prix did have slightly fewer participants than previous editions. There was also less public interest. Perhaps this had to do with the tropical temperatures that prevailed at the Zolder-Terlaemen circuit.
But those who did attend still saw beautiful and quality cars passing by, and they were certainly not wrong of their visit to the Historic Grand Prix.
Article and photos: Joris De Cock
