Second foreign visit of the DRX: Bart Bel unstoppable at home race

The DRX made its latest guest appearance at the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands – Bart Bel dominated his home race in DRX2 and provided plenty of action

The German Rallycross Championship (DRX) made it visit to the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, for the seventh of eight rounds. After the excursion to Fuglau in Austria, it was already the second foreign visit of the series, which traveled with a total of seven classes to the vicinity of Eindhoven to hold its rounds there together with the Dutch championship. Local hero Bart Bel dominated the DRX2 class and put a smile on the faces of his fans.

In the final, the Dutchman clearly beat the competition and continued his dominance in the DRX2 class. Bel had thrown another big party for everyone present on Saturday evening and celebrated his home race extensively. In the final race, the Dutchman in the Volvo-powered BMW beat Belgian Peter Puttenaers and German Philipp Knof, who completed the top 3 behind Bel.

In the spectacular DRX4 class there was a little surprise, because it was guest starter Steve Volders from Belgium who caused a sensation with his Volvo. He was actually entered for both the Dutch and German championships, but concentrated on DRX as the event progressed. In the final, he edged out DRX4 perennial contender Sven Seeliger, while Niels Warrenburg from the Netherlands rounded out the top 3. Tim Kulikowski and Benett Zobel dropped out in the decisive race with technical problems.

In the DRX1 class there were a total of three starters and in the heats a hot battle developed between veteran Dietmar Brandt and Marc Klebs. Maik Böhling did not really get going in his Audi TT on the Eurocircuit and when Klebs then also had to retire early with a problem in the drive train, the winner was Brandt. In DRX3, with only one car competing in the DRX4 class, Norwegian Markus Rösrud provided action on the track.

In the two classes for cars with minor modifications, there were not only many entries, but also open slugfests. In DRXN1, Daniel Habicht prevailed in the end, shining on a dry track on Sunday. The day before, the BMW driver had massive problems in the rain because the tires did not work properly. Behind Habicht, Philipp Peine secured second place ahead of Jeanine Knof. In the DRXN2 class, Mika Henning prevailed after a strong weekend ahead of Dominic Drange and Marcel Euteneuer.

In the DRXC1 class for the agile and toxic cross cars, local hero Nathan Ottink dominated the competition. In the final he finished ahead of his Dutch compatriot Sem Peters, with Erik Flashar behind him in third place. The German experienced a weekend with ups and downs, but secured important championship points. Behind him, Dave Tijdink and Willi Kisser completed the top 5.

The decision in the 2023 DRX season will be made in September when all classes compete in the season finale at the Ewald-Pauli-Ring in Schlüchtern. The last event of the year will take place on September 23 and 24 and promises plenty of action. Highlights of all race weekends can be seen on the official DRX YouTube channel.