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Zandvoort Masters 1999:

The Libertel Dutch Touring Car Championship

DTCC_Group_01.jpg (36000 bytes)The Dutch Touring Car Championship (DTCC for short) is somewhat of a Dutch interpretation of the British Touring Car Cup. The cars are cheaper (less special parts and tuning are allowed) and the drivers more amateurish but the races are not less spectacular. At times this class looks more like a banger race than an actual national saloon car championship and this race proved to be no different.
This race was also the first of the season for the Honda Integra R team. It took them until mid-season to get their cars ready, but they proved immediately competitive. This picture shows the two Hondas scrambling for the lead in one of the first race laps. Rob Karst's Honda leads Marcel Alderden's Renault Mégane into the corner, closely followed by a Mitsubishi Carisma and the other Honda.

DTCC_Group_02.jpg (44372 bytes)The leader in the championship up to this race was good-old Cor Euser in his BMW 320i (E46). Euser usually drives a factory entered Marcos LM 600 GT2 sportscar in the FIA GT championship, but decided to earn some money this year by also driving for the Van Ekris BMW team in the DTCC.
Euser is one of the best Dutch drivers around, he's fast in almost any car, spectacular and extremely motivated. Unfortunately he has always been terribly underrated, mainly because of his no-nonsense and self-willed approach to racing. This year however he shows the established DTCC drivers what he's made of by winning or leading almost every race in the season.
This year's Masters race wasn't very good for him. He had to start further back on the grid than he was used to and came through as 5th in the first lap with quite a gap to the leading group. Here you seem him leading a small pack in one of the first laps.

DTCC_Group_04.jpg (46388 bytes)Further up the field there were more BMWs (of the old type), an obsolete Opel Astra and the Mitsubishi Carisma of guest driver Paul van Splunteren (number 30). Van Splunteren drives this race as a reporter for a car magazine; he's also a test driver for the Donkervoort company, helping to develop their new car.

DTCC_Group_05.jpg (41734 bytes)Cor Euser fought like a lion the whole race, going faster and faster and continuing to close in on the leader. Here he has already overtaken Tim Coronel in the Mitsubishi Carisma who was in fourth (see top picture).

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