Track Focus – Apeldoorn
Name – AMCA Apeldoorn
Club – Auto Modelbouw Club Apeldoorn
Country – Netherlands
Location – Apeldoorn (90Km east of Amsterdam)
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-clockwise
No. of ETS Races hosted – 4 (2009, 2011-13)
After a four year break the Euro Touring Series is back at the wonderful Apeldoorn track in the Netherlands. First joining the championship in 2009 during Season #2 when the Dutch round alternated between it and the Heemstede track, after hosting the ETS for its second time in 2011 it then went on to host the race for the following two years. With the Netherlands no longer a stop on the calendar in 2014, changes within the host club AMCA (Auto Modelbouw Club Apeldoorn) made it possible in 2018 to return to the track that has always proven very popular with racers – this reflected in the 250 entries received for its return. Situated next to a BMX track, while the track appears the same to look at it did undergo a resurfacing a year after the championship’s last visit. Using a finer asphalt, the drying qualities of the super smooth surface are impressive as experienced this morning. With rain all morning meaning no track action, once it did stop just before lunch the track almost magically dried out allowing practice to start a lot earlier than anticipated. A club of well over 100 members, while tents are having to be used to accommodate pit spaces for the large entry this weekend, they have future plans to add additional roofed pitting area. The clubhouse recently had a roof added to the front to provide sheltered outside seating as part of the club’s ongoing facility improvements.
Winner on 3 of the previous four occasions, Marc Rheinard described the track as having a ‘good flow’ adding, ‘I like more technical tracks but for one of the big track this is one of the best’. Making his first visit to Apeldoorn, Bruno Coelho called it ‘very interesting’. Like Rheinard, the reigning champion said, ‘It has a very good flow and the car looks really good going around. I really like it’. While rain has limited his running, he is impressed at how quickly it dries saying, ‘the weather isn’t cooperating but it dries amazing and the traction comes up too’.
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