Raceway Venray Easter Monday: These are the Autospeedway race winners

The 2023 season at Raceway Venray officially kicked off on Easter Monday – There was plenty of action in five classes on the small Autospeedway oval

After a long winter break, the engines roared again in front of full grandstands at Raceway Venray. At the season opener of the track championship, no less than five Autospeedway classes took the start on the approximately 400-meter-long, flat oval. But who secured the victories in the numerous sprint races and thus the lead in the daily standings? Here is the answer.

The National Hotrods, Stockcar F1, Stockcar F2, F2-Juniors and Saloon Stockcars were all on the grid. Especially in the Stockcar series the entry lists were well filled, so that there was a lot of action on the small circuit. Although there were only ten cars at the start in the National Hotrods, the drivers provided close and exciting duels. For the German fans, however, there was some bad news.

National Hotrods

Tim Dreschel from Recklinghausen was involved in a violent accident on the back straight in the first race of the day. The German was hit by Jeroen Kurvers with full force and had to be taken to hospital immediately. There, two rib fractures were detected, internal injuries could be ruled out during the first examination, according to Dreschel. The driver of car number 940 is now concentrating on his recovery, but would like to get back behind the wheel in the spring of 2023.

The day’s winner was Erik Roeffen in the #12 car, with the Dutchman winning both the first heat and the final to collect a total of 54 points. Second with 52 points was Jeffrey Roeffen, who won the second heat. Reimon Bos, who missed second place by just a few centimeters in the final race against Jeffrey Roeffen, finished third, with John van den Bosch and Patrick Bruckschlegel rounding out the top-5 behind him. The races counted towards the Dutch Championship.

Stockcar F1

With Niek Damstra, a former Hotrods driver prevailed in the top class of the stockcar world. Although the Dutchman did not take a single victory in the #48 car, he did achieve three top-3 finishes in four races. This earned him a total of 62 points. Dutch stockcar star Wim Peeters secured second place with a race win. He collected a total of 59 points.

The bronze medal went to Geert Elzinga in the #393 car. The Dutchman won two heats and also the final, but a retirement in the first heat and the resulting zero prevented him from winning the day. Levi Pepels and Mika Ronitz completed the top-5, World Cup winner Danny van Wamelen was sixth among 23 drivers.

Stockcar F2

Wout Hoffmans was the benchmark in Stockcar F2 at the season opener in Venray. The Dutchman in the #248 car won all four heats and thus clearly took the lead in the day’s standings. Thanks to his masterly performance, he collected 50 points, 15 more than champion Wim Peeters in his #124 car. Sebastiaan Vowinkel took third place with 31 points.

Kay Lenssen was fourth and Jarno Emming fifth. In the final of the Stockcar F2 there was a heavy accident in which Gerrit Huussen was involved. The driver of the #440 car tried to avoid a spinner in turn 1, lost control of his car and crashed head-on into the track barrier. According to information from the track, the driver is doing well under the circumstances.

Saloon Stockcars

In the Saloon Stockcars, there was a close four-way battle for the day’s win at the top. In the end, Faybien Martens prevailed over his competitors. His victory in the final was enough to relegate Ids Wiersma – winner of the first heat – to second place. Only a single point separated the two. Heat winner Rick van Dijck finished third ahead of Jeremy van de Kraats. The top four were within four points of each other.

Van Dijck also won the White Yellow race that opened the 2023 season at Raceway Venray. He finished the first race of the new year ahead of Wiersma and Kevin Loeff. The Allcomers race was won by Maikel Maas ahead of Sven Slebioda and Baas Haagen. A total of 21 drivers were scored in the opener near Venlo.

F2 Juniors

The stockcar juniors also competed again in Venray and the most points were collected by champion Rik Maessen. In his #140 car, the youngster won the final and collected 44 points thanks to his consistently good results. That was two more than Nico Klumpen from Germany, who finished second in the day’s standings. Third was two-time race winner Jaisen Schouten.

Derrick Kentie and Donna Wittebol completed the top-5 in the day’s standings. The second day of racing at Raceway Venray traditionally takes place on Whit Monday, which falls on May 29 in 2023. According to the schedule, the 2l hotrods will then also be on show on the Autospeedway oval in addition to the regular classes.