Marcos in GT racing in 2006

May already, but Marcos racing wise things have only just kicked off, as there is no longer a presence in either of the early season sportscar classics, Daytona and Sebring.

Once again the focus of Marcos racing interest is (as well as the continuing success in HSCC and FIA Historic GT events) the British, Spanish, and Benelux GT series, with the EuroGT series reviving and the International GT Open series extending the Spanish GT series' influence across other European countries.

In the UK, Team Tiger are back again with their (1998 built) GTC class Mantis and started the season, at Oulton Park, with a stunning double win against well funded teams running far younger Porsches 996s (No doubt miffed to see their big budgets put to shame).

Team Tiger Mantis on Oulton Park grid - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

Both wins were fairly dominant, with, in race one, David Ashburn (Trackspeed Porsche) and Phil Quaife (Motorbase Performance Porsche) initially challenging Chris Beighton, but from Lap 3, when Beighton took the lead at Deer Leap, the bright orange and black Marcos held sway.

Team Tiger Mantis on way to race 1 victory - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

In race two, the Team Tiger car had a battle with the two Porsches from the Trackspeed team.

The Porsche of Ryan Hooker took the initial lead, ahead of the Mantis, but John Finnemore was past on lap 2 and Chris Beighton kept up the good work to finish 5th overall and to win the GTC class for the second time.

Team Tiger Mantis on way to race 2 victory - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

The double win puts the Marcos pairing into an early championship lead.

The International GT Open series is a new series, run by the same organisation as the Spanish GT series.

The calendar for 2006 is :

Italian GT Open (April 1&2nd)
France GT Open (April 29&30th)
Portuguese GT Open (June 24&25th)
Turkish GT Open (September 23&24th)
Spanish GT Open (October 7&8th)
Cataluña GT Open (November 11&12th)

At Monza, Cor Euser's LM600 (shared with Miguel Cristovão) qualified 6th for both races.

In the first race, the car was 5th (3rd in the GTA class), behind a pair of Vipers, a Mosler and a Ferrari F430.

Cor Euser's familiar LM600 at Monza for the International Open - Photo courtesy gtsport.es

In the second race in Italy, the car finished 9th, a lap down on the winner and 7th in class.

Mantis pairing, Luis Bermúdez de Castro and Sandra v.d. Sloot, finished 3 laps down on the winners (and GTB class winners) in both races.

At the French round, at Magny Cours, the Mantis drivers were last classified finishers in both races.

Mantis in the thick of it at Magny-Cours for the International Open - Photo courtesy gtsport.es

The LM600 was not present as far as I can tell, although I cannot find anything to explain why this was.

The Euro GT series, named the Rhino's GT for 2006, kicked off at the Nurburgring on April 14-16.

Mantis in Euro GT action at Nurburgring - Photo courtesy gt-eins.de

Peter van der Kolk ran his Mantis in the EGT2 class, taking second in both races at the event.

At Spa, over the weekend May 12-14, Van der Kolk's car was again in action in EGT2, but Hermann Buurman/Yelmar Buurman had their black and orange LM600 in action, after missing the first round.

The LM600 was on pole for race one and converted that to a race win over the 16 laps of the race.

LM600 wins at Spa - Photo courtesy gt-eins.de

They followed that up with a second, behind the Viper of Erik Behrens and Magnus Wallinder in race two, starting from second on the grid.

In the first race, v.d. Kolk finished 8th overall, 3rd in EGT2, but in the second race he was placed lower, however he currently leads the EGT2 class overall.

Christian Fey was at Spa and wrote to give me some background (Thanks, Christian - You can see more of his images on his website).

The Mantis is a Evo version don't know what engine the car is running. Very well prepared Mantis with a lot interesting details.

van der Kolk Mantis+ at Spa - Photo courtesy Christian Fey

In the 2. race de Kolk had problems with the rear axle and had to start from the pits. Unfortunately he could not finish the race.

The Buurman LM600 with Yelmer B. driving had a very long safety car period - because of the very heavy damaged Knook Stealth - and good not gain enough seconds on the Viper and father Buurman had a brake problem and went in the gras.

Buurman LM600 makes a pitstop - Photo courtesy Christian Fey
The car did loose a lot of oil on the right site but it was good to see a Marcos back on the podium.

The Belcar series kicked off at Spa on 8th & 9th April.

Team Eurotech Racing (Wim Noorman's operation) fielded a new, 'all carbon' (presumably carbon fibre chassised) LM600 for Marc Goossens and Danny van Dongen.

All Carbonfibre LM600 in Belcar round 1 - Photo courtesy Belcar.com

The team qualified 3rd and followed that up with a 3rd place in the race, finishing 2 laps behind the winning Corvette C5R, having completed 51 laps.

In supporting races, a variety of Mantises competed, with van der Meijden/Euser taking a second in one Dutch Supercar Challenge race.

The racing season is now drawing to a close, but there has been plenty of Marcos action throughout the year in all the series mentioned previously.

In the International GT Open, there have been races in Portugal, Turkey and Spain, running as support events to the WTCC series, featuring coverage on Eurosport.

In Portugal, Luis Bermudez de Castro & Sandra v/d Sloop running a GTB Class Mantis finished 11th and 3rd in the two races. Euser/Miguel Cristovao were 9th and 3rd in qualifying, but were only able to deliver a DNF in race one and 18th in race two. Antonio Nogueira (in another LM600) was 11th and 23rd in qualifying, but only attained 27th in race one. He was not listed in race 2 results.

In Turkey, only De Castro/Merino were present in their GTB Mantis. They were placed a dissapointing 14th in both races.

In Spain, no Marcoses ran.

In the Rhino’s GT series (formerly the Euro GT series), there have been two races, one at Zolder in July and one at the Lausitzring, in Germany.

All the Marcosese were Mantises running in EGT2. In race 1 VD Heuvel finished an impressive 3rd, Euser/Gosse/De Castro 6th and VD Kolk 7th. In race 2 the 3 cars were 5th, 6th and 7th with the order being VD Heuvel, VD Kolk and Euser’s car.

No Marcoses ran at Lausitzring – Series abandoned before Dijon due to lack of entries and support.

The Spanish GT series has seen LM600s and Mantises in action.

At Jarama in May, Bermudez de Castro/v/d Sloop & Nevoa/Putten ran a Mantis (Class C) , Antonio Nogueira (Colombia) a LM600 (class A), Euser/ Cristovao (another LM600 in class A). In the first race, De Castro’s Mantis was classified 28th, but the other Mantis & LM600s DNFs. De Castro’s Mantis was 25th second race, with the others DNFing - Antonio Nogueira was a non-starter.

Euser's LM600 leads the pack at Jarama - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

At Estoril in June, the LM600s fared no better. Euser posted a DNF, Antonio Nogueira was 21st. The Mantis of Pedro Nevoa /Fred Van Putten DNF in GTB/C race. De Castro finished 11th.

De Castro's Mantis at Jarama - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

In race two, Euser was 14th, Nogueria posted another DNS. PedroNevoa/Fred Van Putten were a good 3rd in GTB/C race, De Castro DNF.

The Albacete round in September, saw the Marcoses towards the tail of the field in both races with 24th Nogueira /Coimbra Marcos LM 600 GTA, 25th Bermudez v/d Sloop Marcos Mantis GTC and 27th Nevoa/Van Putten Marcos Mantis GTB.

Nogueria's LM600 at Albacete - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

Race two was a little better, with Nogueira/Coimbra’s Marcos LM 600 taking 14th, Nevoa/Van Putten’s Marcos Mantis GTB 22nd and Bermudez v/d Sloop’s Marcos Mantis GTC 28th.

At Valencia on 7/8 October the two races saw De Castro/Sloop 29th and Putten/Nevoa 22nd,followed by Nevoa/Putten, Coimbra/Nogueira DNFing and De Castro/Sloot 30th.

The BELCAR series has been going strong, too, with good results for Marcoses.

Zolder’s first race took place over May 20/21. I couldn’t find full results for this event, but the limited results I did find suggested that Lex van der Meijden’s 5th in Saturday’s race in his Marcos Mantis+ was the only Marcos result near the top of any class, but if you have more details, let me know.

Goosens/Van Dongen LM600 at Zolder, in May - Photo courtesy Belcar website

The teams were back at Zolder on June 29, where Marc Goosens/Danny Van Dongen took 3rd in their LM600 behind a pair of C5 Corvettes

Goosens/Van Dongen LM600 at Zolder, in June - Photo courtesy Belcar website

The series moved onto the Lausitzring, in Germany, on July 22/23, but there were no Marcoses recorded in the entry list.

Back at Zolder at the end of August for a 24 Hour race. Marc Goossens and Danny van Dongen teamed up with Cor Euser and succeeded I splitting the Corvette C5 pairing – 7 laps behind winner, but 6 ahead of 3rd place. The car was never lower than 3rd and this was the first ever podium result for a Marcos in a 24 hour race.

Goosens/Van Dongen/Euser LM600 in the twilight - Photo courtesy Belcar website

Marcos' best ever 24 result for the revised LM600 - Photo courtesy Belcar website

At Spa on October 7/8 Goossens/van Dongen’s LM600 qualified in the top 5, but disappointed to be classified a lowly 24th overall after 2hours and 24 minutes of racing.

Goosens/Van Dongen LM600 disappointed at Spa. - Photo courtesy Belcar website

There are many Marcoses running in the Dutch Supercar Challenge, in GTA, GTB and GTC classes. Rather than detail each race I will simply list the results at each race. There are plenty more details on the excellent DSC website.

Zolder May 21
Race 1 : VD Meijden 6th, Kohler 19th, VD Heuvel 22nd, Mortiz(x2) 32nd, Janssen 33rd
Race 2 : VD Meijden 4th, Kohler 6th (SS winner), VD Heuvel 8th, Janssen 10th, Moritz (x2) 23rd

Brands Hatch July 9th
Race 1 : VD Meijden/Euser 1st, Kohler 10th, Janssen 14th
Race 2 : Kohler 6th, VD Meijden/Euser (fastest lap) 17 laps & Janssen 13 laps DNF

Zolder July 8-9
Race 1: Kohler/Euser 8th, VD Heuvel 32nd
Race 2: Kohler/Euser 5th SS Winners, VD Heuvel 25th

BP Ultimate Masters Zaandvort August 6
Race 1 : Noorman/V Dongen 3rd, VD Meijden 5th, Euser 6th, Kohler 13th, Bob & Diederick Sijthof 21st
Race 2: Euser 1st!, VD Mejden 5th, Bob & Diederick Sijthof 12th, Noorman/V Dongen 16th, Moritz(s) 28th, Kohler DNF.

Rizzla Racing Days, Assen August 13
Race 1: Euser, Kohler DNF, VD Meijden 3rd
Race 2: Euser 1st, Kohler 10th, VD Meijden DNF

Silverstone Britcar Support Sept 10
Race 1: Euser 1st, VD Meijden 2nd, Kohler, Krieger, Dan Eagling, Wheals/Longstaff (LM600 at 3 laps) DNFs
Race 2: VD Meijden 1st, Euser crashed on start NC, Eagling 8th, Wheals/Longstaff DNF at 5 laps, others NS.

Lex van der Meijden at Silverstone - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

The Belcar series has been notable, recently, for the appearance of Cor Euser's "Marcorelly", what Cor describes (despite its Mantis like appearance) as a 'mini-LM600', due mainly to its unique chassis and advanced engineering. There are rumours that more will be seen next year.

Euser's new 'Marcorelly' - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

Sadly, Cor seriously damaged this unique car at the start of the second Britcar 24 hour support race, when it got away from him and impacted the pitwall, head-on!

Euser stuffs the Marcorelly at Silverstone - Ouch! - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

Finally, for a while it looked like we might see another Marcos win a British GT title.

After their great double win at Oulton Park, Team Tiger's Mantis moved onto the Donnington Park, 2 hour enduro.

Team Tiger Mantis takes to track on way to 2nd overall - Photo courtesy British GT website

On a streaming wet track, Beigthon/Finnemore took another 1st in GTC, but more remarkably 2nd overall!

Budgets (presumably) prevented Team Tiger from taking in the next round at Pau, France, which didn't help their championship chances, but they still lead after this event.

Another 'sail-away' race followed at Mondello Park, Ireland. It was back to the traditional double header format, here and in Race 1 the Team Tiger Mantis took 4th in GTC, behind 3 Porsches, 6th overall. Race 2 went even better with another 1st in GTC, and another overall podium with 3rd overall!

Another great result in Ireland - Photo courtesy British GT website

It was at Snetterton that the problems set in. A DNF in race 2 followed a disappointing 13th overall/ 5th in GTC in race 1.

Dicing in the field at a fraught Snetterton - Photo courtesy British GT website

The road circuit within an oval setup of Rockingham was next, but the Tiger car was last classified finisher in race 1 (Engine failure?Crash?), which led to a non-start in race 2. Stephen Keating arrived at Rockingham with an ageing LM500 – He posted a DNF in race 1 and a 16th in race 2, Running in GTC.

Brands Hatch was, despite a very promising early showing, a disappointing event.

The Team Tiger Mantis was last classified finisher in race 1 (fastest lap in GTC being all they had to show for their efforts) and the car posted a DNF in race 2.

Team Tiger Mantis was fastest GTC car at Brands - Photo courtesy British GT website

Keating's LM500 was 18th in race 1, but another non-finisher in race 2.

Keating's LM500 at Brands - Photo courtesy British GT website

The British finale (the GT2 class featured a final round at Magny Cours), at Silverstone, featured another 2 hour enduro, but there was no Team Tiger Mantis present. The Keating/Powell LM500 retired at the 27 lap point.

A large number of Mantises race in the EERC Britcar series and their big race, the Silverstone 24 Hours, saw good showings from some of the Marcos entrants.

All the Marcos competitors take the start - Photo courtesy MDH Photography

Notable amongst them was the TopCats team (again), who finished 6th and 8th overall, 3rd and 4th in GTC.

Topcat's cars both finished in the top 10 - Photo courtesy - Gary Harman

Night Pitstop for Topcats Mantis number 4 - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

ISL also got their car to the finish, in 30th place, albeit 158 laps behind the race winner (A semi-works BMW Z3 Coupe, which completed 595 laps, less than last year due to thick fog requiring a prolonged safety car period).

ISL Mantis in Silverstone fog - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

Marcos Racing International (Cor Euser's team) also entered a Mantis, which took fastest GTC lap in the race, but retired after 17h 30m. The Chesterton Commerce car retired after 10h 26m and Jemco's car failed at 6h 44m.

Night Pitstop for Euser's Mantis during Silverstone 24 Hours - Photo courtesy Gary Harman

The hour by hour positions for each car (excluding hours 3 and 16, which I could not find) are shown below.

Congratulations on a great result to Topcats - Photo courtesy MDH Photography

LATEST : The Dutch Supercar Challenge finished with a return to Spa and a finale at Assen.

Spa started with a big smash for Lex vd. Meijden at Raidillon in heavy rain in race one.

Vd. Meijden's heavily damaged Mantis - Photo courtesy Robert Maas

After the race was restarted, Wim Noorman and Toon Van De Haterd finished best Marcos in 9th in their Mantis+, two places ahead of Nol Kohler's Supersport class Mantis.

Wim Noorman's Mantis+ - Photo courtesy Photoreplay.nl

The Stijhofs were 18th and the Moritzs 33rd, both in Supersports Mantises

In the second race, Wim Noorman and Toon Van De Haterd took 6th in their Mantis+.

Nol Kohler's Supersport entry was 10th overall, 3rd in class, with Lex vd Meijden's hastily repaired car (a GT1 class car) in 12th.

The Stijhofs took 17th place and the Moritzs 22nd in Supersports Mantises.

The Moritz's Mantis - Photo courtesy Photoreplay.nl

At the final meeting at Assen, in Germany, the first race saw Lex van der Meijden take 3rd overall and in the GT class, with Nol Kohler repeating the placing in the Supersports class.

Lex vd Meijden's Mantis - Photo courtesy Photoreplay.nl

In the second race at Assen, both of these drivers improved their result over the first race.

Lex van der Meijden took second overall in his Mantis+ (behind Dodge Viper) and Nol Kohler took victory in the Supersports class.

Nol Kohler tangles with a V8 Star Audi (I love the way the drivers are looking at each other! - Photo courtesy Photoreplay.nl

Lex van der Meijden finished a strong second in the GT class behind Hans Ambaum. Cor Euser's occasional outings netted him 7th.

Nol Kohler's mixed season netted him a strong 4th in the Supersports class.

So long to another season - Photo courtesy Robert Maas

The Belcar series ended back at Zolder.

As in much of the year the Marc Goosens/Danny Van Dongen Marcos LM600 finished behind a Corvette, in second.

Another strong result for Marc Goosens and Danny van Dongen - Photo courtesy Belcar website

The pairing were placed 3rd overall in the championship behind the Corvettes, which dominated the Belcar series this year.

The Spanish GT series continued with a round at Jerez.

Euser/Cristovao's LM600 took 3rd and 7th in the two races.

Euser/Cristovao's LM600 - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

In the lower classes, Nevoa/Van Putten took 3rd and 5th in GTB, with Bermudez/Van Der Sloop taking two excellent GTC wins.

Nevoa/Van Putten's GTB class Mantis - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

At the last round, at Montmelo on 11th and 12th November, Pedro Nevoa and Fred Van Putten, took their Marcos Mantis to the GTB class victory, which helped them to 3rd overall in the GTB class championship.

Nevoa/Van Putten celebrate victory at Montmelo - Photo courtesy www.gtsport.es

Bermudez/Van Der Sloop retired from the race in their GTC class Mantis.