DTM Zandvoort

Zandvoort DTM - The Netherlands
Second race weekend, but for me, it was my first full race weekend after missing out at Spa Francorchamps due to a crash in qualifying. So, this was my chance to finally compete, and it kicked off nicely!

Qualification:
For those unfamiliar with the format, there’s only one qualifying session for both races. Your fastest lap sets your grid for Race 1, and your second-best time sets the grid for Race 2.
I qualified 15th for Race 1 and 10th for Race 2.

Race 1:
The start was pretty chaotic. One car didn’t get off the line, which led to another car crashing into it and a third one getting damaged. This delayed the start as the marshals cleared the track.

On the restart, I had a great launch—jumped between the two cars in front of me and grabbed both spots, moving up to 10th by the end of lap 1.

Unfortunately, with 17 minutes to go, I went wide into the gravel and dropped back to 14th. That made the race more exciting as I had to push hard to regain positions. With 13 minutes left, I fought back to 13th, and the gap to 12th was about 1.5 seconds.

With 9 minutes remaining, I cut it down to 1 second. By 8 minutes to go, I was only 0.4 seconds behind. Exciting stuff! I finally overtook and grabbed 12th with 6 minutes left, but the gap to 11th was too big to close before the finish. So, I ended in 12th place.

Given that I went wide, I was happy with the result. Plus, it was special to have my entire family there. My parents are always at the races, but this time, my brother, sister, and their partners were able to come along too. It felt great to race at home in the Netherlands.

Race 2:
A little less dramatic, but still a blast! I started 10th, but my start was just average. Two cars collided, bringing out the safety car for 10 minutes.

Once the safety car left, we had a rolling start, and I was sitting in 8th place. I managed to hold onto 8th for a while, but with 14 minutes to go, I lost the position after a tough battle, dropping to 9th.

The gap to 8th grew to 1.7 seconds, and I wasn’t able to close it, so I finished 9th.

Overall:
A solid weekend with my first races in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Plenty of learning and progress!

Thanks for reading,

Talk to you soon!
Dréke Janssen

Special thanks to Janssen Logistics, Strebo Ittervoort and RedAnt for making it possible for me to race in the PCCB.