A treat for every racing fan: The Dreschel’s family duel in Venray
Lars and Tim Dreschel didn’t give each other an inch in the first race of the National Hotrods at Raceway Venray – Jeffrey Roeffen dominated the season opener
It was the duel of the race day in the National Hotrods class: Autospeedway veteran Lars Dreschel battled for laps against his young nephew Tim Dreschel, who celebrated his racing debut in the oval touring car class last year. The two gave each other nothing on the Venray Autospeedway oval and repeatedly exchanged paint without the duel being unfairly contested. Lard Dreschel in the #94 Opel Corsa experienced a happier ending.
The Hotrods superstar got past his nephew and then pulled away lap after lap. Dreschel ultimately finished third in the first race of the day, while Tim Dreschel had to retire from the heat due to a technical issue. When his Peugeot 206 was finally brought into the paddock by forklift, the Dreschel family and the team got straight to work on the repairs: There was cutting, screwing and hammering until the car was ready for action again.
Roeffen grabs first heat win
But first things first: Jeffrey Roeffen dominated the first race of the day in his new Ford Fiesta, crossing the finish line around ten seconds ahead of Pieter van Logten. While Dreschel completed the top-3 behind him, Winnie Holtmanns and Reimon Bos finished fourth and fifth. Johan Sanders ended up sixth ahead of Christian Simon, who was doing work on the rear of his car after the heat.
Tim Dreschel had to sit out the second National Hotrods race due to technical issues in the first run, while Lars Dreschel was back on the grid. The picture was similar to the first heat: Roeffen took ice-cold advantage of his good starting position to pull away from the field early on. The Dutchman won by 8.862 seconds from John van den Bosch, who finished ahead of van Logten, Sanders and Holtmanns. Dreschel was seventh behind Bos.
Another family duel in the final race
Tim Dreschel’s Peugeot was ready for action again for the final: The talented driver kept his uncle behind him this time and finished in a solid sixth place, while Lars Dreschel crossed the finish line in seventh. At the front, Roeffen made the season opener in Venray perfect with his third consecutive victory. Sanders and van den Bosch completed the top-3 behind him, with Holtmanns and Bos rounding off the top-5.
Roeffen made sure of the day’s win with the maximum points haul. He scored 55 points, while Sanders was second with 45. Van den Bosch and Holtmanns shared position three with 44 points each. Van Logten rounded out the top-5, with Lars Dreschel finishing the race day in seventh place behind Bos. Tim Dreschel was tenth behind Simon, Jeroen Kurvers but ahead of Patrick Bruckschlegel. The races also counted towards the Dutch Championship and the NHRRG Cup.
