Dutchmen at home in Hungary
Mike Verschuur (McGregor by Equipe Verschuur) and Bernhard Ten Brinke
(Equipe Verschuur) were dominant in today's collective testing in
Eurocup Megane Trophy series, enjoying a Hungaroring clearly suited to
the New Megane Trophy. Verschuur put in the fastest lap this morning, Ten
Brinke responding in the afternoon. Both Dutch drivers are ready for the
weekend and raring to go.
All eyes were naturally on Giorgio Pantano today at the Hungaroring, as
the Italian took to the track for the first time at the wheel of the New
Megane Trophy for collective testing. However, it was Fabrice Walfisch
(Team Lompech Sport) who was first to set the tempo. The French driver
man put in a series of quick laps to go top of the timing screens.
But it was the Dutch contingent, who put their brand on this morning's
session in Hungary. The session quickly turned into a duel between Mike
Verschuur (McGregor by Equipe Verschuur) and Bernhard Ten Brinke (Equipe
Verschuur), the two drivers taking turns at the top of the standings.
Mike Verschuur had the last word with a series of fast lap times at the
end of the session, with a best lap of 1'50"885, fastest of the
morning. Eurocup Megane Trophy leader, Jonathan Hirschi (TDS Racing),
produced the second fastest time, squeezing himself in between Verschuur
and Ten Brinke right at the death.
Giorgio Pantano handled the learning curve progressively and without
incident. The Italian gradually quickened the pace to finish this first
session in fourth, ahead of Dimitri Enjalbert (Thierry Boutsen Energy
Racing) and Nick Catsburg (Tech 1 Racing).
In the afternoon, the duel between Bernhard Ten Brinke and Mike Verschuur
persisted. Mike Verschuur led early on, but this time Bernhard Ten Brinke
was the quicker of the two. He went first, only to underline the
performance minutes later with the best lap time of the day in
1'50''569. Bernhard Ten Brinke finished ahead of Mike Verschuur and
Dimitri Enjalbert. The top 5 included Fabrice Walfisch and Giorgio
Pantano in fourth and fifth.
Quote, unquote:
Bernhard Ten Brinke: "It's been a good day for us. Our car is
competitive, we need to perform to the same standard tomorrow so that the
front row can be 100% Dutch!. Since the last race, we've done a lot of
work on our New Megane Trophy's. The set-up is perfect, we've got a lot
of things straight."
Mike Verschuur: '"After a tough start to the season, I'm really
pleased to be able to say that everything is fine with my car today. We
found out what was wrong. First this morning, and second this afternoon
in spite of the traffic - this had been a good day for me. I'm feeling
confident and was happy to be battling it out with Bernhard. I need big
points this weekend to do some catching up."
Giorgio Pantano: "I'd done about four hours' testing before coming
here. Today was my first real work-out with this car and I'm really
pleasantly surprised. The New Megane Trophy is performing really well and
responds great to changes in setup. It's very interesting, because the
car is changing fast, and I'm on the pace; we're going to get good
results. It's fantastic to be driving with my Oregon Team friends. The
environment is perfect, there's a real family atmosphere. I think we're
all going to have a really good time together."
-credit: wsr
