Hockenheim (Germany), Achel (Belgium), 25 April 2023 – As has become tradition, the FFR-FOR kicked off the 2023 racing season with two races on the famous Hockenheimring last weekend. In both races it was Ralf Goral from Germany who ruled supreme in his Formula Opel, on his return to the FFR-FOR series after a two years’ break. The only driver that was able to challenge him was Pascal Monbaron from Switzerland in his first races ever in a Formula Opel, finishing twice as 2nd.
David Schneider from Switzerland initially closely followed the two leaders in race 1, but later fell back due to engine trouble and finishing the race as fifth. George Tomsen from Belgium beat Alan Willamson from the UK for third place, while Jochen Thissen from Germany had to give up after only five laps.
In race 2, after a fierce battle for third and fourth place, Georges Tomsen ended the race only 2.241 seconds ahead of Jochen Thissen. Thissen had a great start, beginning the race from the back of the grid. Alan Williamson crossed the line as fifth, while David Schneider ended sixth, again due to engine trouble.
In the Formula Ford 2000 class, Dutch drivers Henk Van der Spoel (Reynard SF86) and Onno Zuidema (Reynard SF84) dominated the field, with Van der Spoel winning the first and Zuidema winning the second race. In race 1 Geert Wynants from Belgium in his Royal RP27 fought fiercely for third place with reigning VFV GLPpro champion Simone Busch in her Reynard SF84, with Wynants ultimately crossing the line ahead of Busch. Stefan Schroyen, also from Belgium, finished fifth in his Royal RP27. In the second race Simone Busch’ car unfortunately stalled on the pre-grid and wouldn’t restart, meaning Wynants could take third place, with Stefan Schroyen finishing as fourth.
In the Formula Ford 1600 class Klaus-Dieter Häckel from Germany in his Van Diemen RF91 drove to first place uncontested, even besting the times of some of the Formula Ford 2000s. Roel Mulder (PRS RH02) crossed the line as second and Gerhard Hauschulte (Van Diemen RF87) as third in both races
“Unfortunately we didn’t have a full grid this time around,” says FFR-FOR series coordinator Wilco Ibes. “Due to injuries and illness we missed four drivers, while three more regulars had to cancel as they couldn’t get their cars ready on time. A big thank you though to the drivers that did make it to Hockenheim. The track conditions were perfect and we saw two nice clean races without any incidents. For our next event the FFR-FOR will move to Oscherleben Motorsport Arena, for the City of Magdeburg Trophy, on 13 and 14 May.”