NXT GP Round 4
Kartcircuit Pottendijk, Netherlands
6 & 7 July 2024 | Track Length: 1,050m | Mechanic: Bastiaan van Loenen, Team PitParts
After two races in Germany, round four of the NXT GP Tillotson T4 Dutch Championship kart series headed back to Kartcircuit Pottendijk in the Netherlands for the penultimate race to decide the Dutch Tillotson Nations Cup Ticket winners in a reverse layout of the track. As expected, competition was fierce with an almost complete field of 35 Tillotson Senior and Master drivers
Friday & Saturday | Training (5x 10 minute sessions)
Due to the reverse track layout, official trainings were held on both Friday and Saturday, giving me time to learn the track, run in my new engine and get to know my new mechanic Bastiaan. By the end of Saturday I was pretty happy with my set up but the changing conditions kept things interesting - from sunshine to rain and blustering winds that swept down the back straight!
Sunday | Qualification (8 minutes) – CET 11:13 / NZT 21:13
P9 (Rookie P3)
With alot of drivers in the running for the T4NC24 tickets, the qualification showed how strong the 2024 Tillotson Senior and Master classes are in the Netherlands - 23 of 34 drivers within a second of each other. In round 4 I set a 45.157 which put me on the grid in 9th (of 35) and 3rd in the rookies with only 0.001 seconds between myself and P2.
Sunday | Race 1 (10 minutes) – CET 13:36 / NZT 23:36
P9 -> P6 (P1 Rookie)
With blue skies and the sun shining, its fair to say noone expected that within a few laps we would be skating around on slicks in the pouring rain! aka… Madness!.
After a great start I gained four positions to P5 and was on the bumper of the leading rookie by lap 2. The rain started just as I overtook for fourth position (P1 rookie) which caught me offguard and sent me wide to lose 2 positions which I immediately gained back at the end of the straight by taking the wet line I had been following all day in training the day before. With everyone slipping around before the dangerous track flag was shown, it was a fight not just to defend my position with a driver spinning off on the grass trying to pass me by the pit exit. With two very experienced and fast drivers coming from behind I decided not to defend but to go for the P1 rookie placing and crossed the line in 6th overall. I h
Sunday | Race 2 (10 minutes) – CET 15:43 | NZT 01:43
P6 - P3 (clickbumber) - P6 (P1 Rookie)
With the rain continuing in between sessions, we went out for race 2 on wet tyres and just like race 1, the weather changed in an instant and the track dried fast. Just like race 1 I had another awesome start to stay out of trouble and go from P6 to P2 in the first corner. Working together with my teammate witske who sped past me in the first lap, we quickly caught up to P1 who defended like mad and after I made a move for the P2, stopped dead in the next corner to leave me with a click bumper penalty. In the next lap i went wide to drop 2 positions and for the next 3 laps, we all passed the slower P1 driver with the same move resulting in a P3 across the line (dropped back to P6 after the penalty) and P1 in the rookies - a fantastic result, and it was especially satisfying to lap several drivers who had.
Sunday | Race 3 (10 minutes) - CET 17:58 | NZT 0x:58
P6 - P8 (clickbumber) - P10 (P2 Rookie)
Crucially race 3 was the final chance to gain points for everyone in the running for the T4NC24 tickets and with the havoc caused by the weather, there were several drivers in the running and who the ticket would go to was anyones guess.
With tension already high, the start had a 30 minute delay as officials and mechanics clashed over rules and whether or not a driver who had entered Parc Ferme with a second (new) set of wet tyres would be allow to start. Eventually the race got underway under wet conditions and all drivers, atleast from my team, on the same used wets from race 2. At the start I took hits from all sides but was able to hold P6. With everything at stake and all driver respect gone, the first lap was super agressive and I was pushed wide and squeezed in almost every corner dropping down the order. Once things settled down I was behind the same aggressive defender as race 2 and although I had better top speed on the straight, I couldnt make a pass stick which cost me time, position and yet another clickbumper from the same action as in race 2.
End Result :
Rookie P1 (of 13)
Overall: P8 (of 35)
What a weekend!
Thank you to my mechanic Bastiaan, Team PitParts, my sponsors and to NXT GP and Tillotson Nederland for the organisation.