Full Report

           The Don wins debut V8-Star race at Marlboro Masters !

BasKaligis/Kartxpress.nl

So now it was time to focus on the weekend !

Free Practise
In the two practise-sessions Saturdaymorning he immediately showed his exceptional talent:
By finishing 4th fastest in the first and 5th fastest in the 2nd session, everybody in the V8-Star
paddock knew that something special was going to happen.

V8-Star rookie Donny Crevels : "4th is great, but the car had a lot of oversteer in the Scheivlak and
Arie Luyendyk corners and i spinned in both sessions in my search for the car's limit.
I'm sure we can find more time when we put on new tyres and finetuning the set-up of the car."

Qualifying
He proved right in the first qualifying session..
With a better handling car, Donny found another 2,5 seconds (!) and he qualified 4th fastest for the
Top 12 qualifying behind Pedro Lamy, Thomas Mutsch and Michael Bartels.

Top 12 Qualifying
In the Top 12 qualifying, the drivers are separated in three groups of four and have to do a 2-lap race
with a tyrestop.
Donny started in the last group as 4th and altough it was his first start in this car, he did not lose a lot
of time at the start.

After 1 lap he came in for the pitstop in 4th position behind Thomas Mutsch, Pedro Lamy and Michael
Bartels. The Premio GAG Racing Team made a perfect stop and Donny left the pits in 3rd position.

Then going into the first corner , Mutsch collided with Lamy who smashed into the barrier.
Donny was breaking hard and passed Mutsch on the inside of the corner to cross the finishline 1st,
putting the car on Pole Position for the race !

The Race
In front of 40.000 spectators and in hot, sunny conditions, it was Michael Bartels who had a better
start, while "The Don" had too much wheelspin and dropped to 2nd place, followed by Asch and Wildman.
Bartels was leading the first few laps, but never by more than 2 seconds.

In the 5th lap Donny was getting those "feelings" again and started to close the gap to the leader.

Donny : "I attacked Bartels in the 7th lap, but he defended his lead well, so i thought it was better to
wait for the pitstops and just put the pressure on him !"

This tactical decision proved its value, because just like as in the Top-12 qualifying, the Premio GAG
Racing Team, again made a perfect pitstop.
Donny, former Italian F3 Champion was leading the race now and opened up a gap immediately !

Then after 11 laps the pace car interrupted the race and after a short neutralisation the second part
of the race begins with a flying start, in the same order as the drivers finished the 1st part of the race.
But then, with Donny starting from pole, the Racedirector made a mistake..

Donny : "The lights became green, but the pacecar was still driving in front of me, so i lost the lead-
position to Lechner !"

Lechner, starting from 6th position, made a brilliant start and took the lead in front of Donny, Bartels,
Mutsch, Lamy and Asch.
In this 2nd half of the race it was clear, the winner of the 1st part was the fastest on the track, so 
Crevels jumped right onto Lechner's tail and he passed him in the 4th lap.
Now the crowd went nuts for their new hero and he did not dissapoint them, by opening up a 3 second
lead.

For the rest of the race the talented driver from Amsterdam didn't put a foot wrong and after Lechner
had to slow down , because of technical problems, Donny crossed the line 1st, followed by Mutsch and
Asch !

"The Don" :
" I can't believe it !
Now everybody knows that i can do the job.The car was superb, the team made an excellent pitstop !
I hope this will launch my career and give it a financial injection."
 

All new sponsors are welcome !