Zandvoort Masters 1999:
The Libertel Dutch Touring Car Championship
The Dutch Touring Car Championship (DTCC for short) is somewhat of a Dutch
interpretation of the British Touring Car Cup. The cars are cheaper (less special parts
and tuning are allowed) and the drivers more amateurish but the races are not less
spectacular. At times this class looks more like a banger race than an actual national
saloon car championship and this race proved to be no different.
This race was also the first of the season for the Honda Integra R team. It took them
until mid-season to get their cars ready, but they proved immediately competitive. This
picture shows the two Hondas scrambling for the lead in one of the first race laps. Rob
Karst's Honda leads Marcel Alderden's Renault Mégane into the corner, closely followed by
a Mitsubishi Carisma and the other Honda.
The leader in the championship up to this race was good-old Cor Euser in his
BMW 320i (E46). Euser usually drives a factory entered Marcos LM 600 GT2 sportscar in the
FIA GT championship, but decided to earn some money this year by also driving for the Van
Ekris BMW team in the DTCC.
Euser is one of the best Dutch drivers around, he's fast in almost any car, spectacular
and extremely motivated. Unfortunately he has always been terribly underrated, mainly
because of his no-nonsense and self-willed approach to racing. This year however he shows
the established DTCC drivers what he's made of by winning or leading almost every race in
the season.
This year's Masters race wasn't very good for him. He had to start further back on the
grid than he was used to and came through as 5th in the first lap with quite a gap to the
leading group. Here you seem him leading a small pack in one of the first laps.
Further up the field there were more BMWs (of the old type), an obsolete Opel
Astra and the Mitsubishi Carisma of guest driver Paul van Splunteren (number 30). Van
Splunteren drives this race as a reporter for a car magazine; he's also a test driver for
the Donkervoort company, helping to develop their new car.
Cor Euser fought like a lion the whole race, going faster and faster and
continuing to close in on the leader. Here he has already overtaken Tim Coronel in the
Mitsubishi Carisma who was in fourth (see top picture).
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