Stockcar F1 in Venray: Patrick Kleijsen wins Piet Keijzer Memorial
Patrick Kleijsen won the Piet Keijzer Memorial in Stockcar F1 on the final race day of the 2021 season at Raceway Venray – Mika Ronitz took the day’s win
The 2021 season at Raceway Venray is in the books and traditionally in Stockcar F1 the Piet Keijzer Memorial race comes last. In 2021, Patrick Kleijsen won the special race that commemorates Stockcar F1 legend Piet Keijzer. The Dutchman finished around one second ahead of Jordan Falding to celebrate the victory. Mika Ronitz prevailed in the daily standings.
But what is behind the Memorial race at Raceway Venray? In 2005, Keijzer tragically died in the WorldCup race. The fatal accident on the old track on Sunday morning cost the Dutchman his life. Since then, the legend of the sport has been commemorated annually with the Memorial race. It also honors the family of Keijzer – whose son Geert-Jan Keijzer was himself a stock car F1 driver back then and still is today.
Geert-Jan Keijzer had to park his #6 car early in the Memorial race. He was involved in several scuffles and minor accidents in a hot opening phase that ultimately forced him to retire. With Kleijsen’s victory, however, the big Memorial trophy remained in Keijzer’s team. Rounding out the podium was Ronitz, who collected the most points on the final race day of the season.
Danny van Wamelen won the first heat ahead of Roy Maessen and Jordi Lemmens. Levi Pepels took victory in the second heat by 1.332 seconds over Luke Davidson and 2.135 seconds clear of Wesley Schaap. Ronitz was first under the checkered flag in the third race ahead of Davidson and Schapp, while Kleijsen won the final, which was also the Memorial race. In the daily standings, Ronitz finished one point ahead of Schaap and two points ahead of Maessen.
