Nieuwjaarsrace Zandvoort 2026
The new year of 2026 started off turbulently for me. With my father in the hospital and facing major heart surgery, it wasn't an easy few weeks. Still, I managed to find time on the second Saturday of the year to visit Circuit Zandvoort. The traditional FEBO New Year's Race was back, complete with a closing fireworks display. This offered me a chance to do some race photography in the dark, and also just a nice distraction from everything else going on.
During the week of the race, a lot of snow had fallen in the Netherlands. Most of it had disappeared. But it was still freezing on race day. In the freezing cold, Oscar Gräper, in the Dekker Racing Porsche 992 Cup, sprinted to pole position at the last minute.
After checking out the starting grid, I took my place on the inside of the Tarzan corner for the start. The Dekker Racing car had already dropped out during the warm-up lap. And so it was going to be a battle between the Koopman Racing BMW M6s and the Speedlover Porsche.
Gradually, the track darkened. And then the endurance feeling really kicked in. Glowing brake discs included.
Once it was completely dark, I went to the pit lane to capture the pit stop action. During the Jägermeister BMW's pit stop, Daan Meijer got out of the car cursing. The clutch had just failed… And then the fuel system failed, forcing a large can to fill up with fuel. The team pushed the car back on, allowing Bob Herber to continue the race with the BMW. They would eventually finish third, hats off!
The victory went to the blue Koopman Racing BMW of Cees Jan Wijsman and Mex Jansen. They managed to beat the Speedlover Porsche and kicked off the year with a bang!
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