As a new month quickly approaches, we at Deuces Motorsport Club hope you all are well and safe. February has been a challenging month for our drivers. With back to back podiums and high hopes for the remainder of the season. We welcomed drivers to our roster to compete in the tough Championships that face us. Silverstone was the first big race in February, mixed conditions, with rain a certainty we prepared well. Teun, Luca and Joao where ready to race in GTR24H Film Volt 12hours of Silverstone. Preparation went well, then with rain expected in last 4-5 hours a decision was made to make changes to set up to make the car suit these conditions more.
Sacrificing top end speed in the earlier stages, but coming back in the closing hours. Between Nick and Teun the set up was finalized and we where as confident as we could be on our strategy. Race day was as expected, except one thing, #15 pace was right there and we held our own throughout the opening phases only dropping to P7 on pit stops. When the rain came the car quickly raced up to P3. And in the final 30 minutes was a fight to the finish, between Fair Racing team and Deuces Motorsport, Despite his young years, Teun made the move of the day into Brooklands and despite immense pressure, kept his position to bring home a P3 finish for the team. A great day for Luca, Joao and Teun.
In March we are joined by a very experienced and great driver Mantus Rekus, we are preparing for this event and hope to build on the Silverstone event, and carry the momentum forward as #15 heads to Sebring for the next 12 hour race in the EEWC schedule.
Over in the Virtual Endurance Championship, #74 had an even better day in February! With Adam and Joao going from P2 in a very competitive qualifying session to come behind our friends Varga Simracing with Vojta and Michal leading the way. A great start saw both #69 Varga Simracing and #74 Deuces Motorsports Club making a big effort to get some distance on the field. Williams Esport #490 though came through to push both cars and make it a three way fight. But, it was soon apparent that the #490 had not registered a driver correctly. Despite this Varga pushed all the way to the end and finished up only 2 seconds down after 8 hours of intense racing. Deuces coming home in P3 on the day. We all waited for the decision following an inquiry by the League. Next day Williams Esport where DQ giving our friends over at Varga a much deserved win, and promoting #74 to P2 in GTE class. Like our sister team, the #74 is heading off to Sebring, where Adam and Joao are joined by Max Kallinich, who has fitted into the team well in early testing and preparation.
Our final piece of news from the team is our entry into P1-Gaming, a tough competitive championship that will test the drivers in every round. The squad is made up of the very experienced Roy de Muinck, Teun Louer, Luca Gray and Nick Newcombe. We will be driving the Ligier LMP2 car which is new to S397. Nick and Roy have worked hard over the last few weeks and in the final days leading up to this weekends race. The #15 is ready to go and begin a new chapter in Deuces Motorsports Club history.
Deuces Motorsports Club had a very busy month of March, but it came with a high level of success. Over in World Sports car Championship, it got off to a slow start. The LMP2 #15 and #16 finishing P7 and P8 after a difficult time in the rain. But good points haul with Jeff Klose joining Deuces effort and added to #15 roster. With Teun Louer at the wheel lap1 chaos was avoided. Joao Barbosa partnered Nick Newcombe in #16 and followed the sister car home one place further back.
Two weeks later both cars headed to Road Atlanta, where it was felt a good finish was capable. Sadly in his second stint Jeff lost the rear of #16 and the unforgiving walls claimed another victim. The teams effort then turned completely to #15 who where beginning to push for top 3. With Mantus Rekus and Teun pushing hard it came to a 1v1 battle with Black Hawk Racing #06, Old tires against new, and #15 took the win. Deuces Motorsports Club first win since the programme started back in November. And as was mentioned a good few years since the iconic #15 Deuces Motorsports Club colours took the win. We hope, the wait for the next one won't be as big as long.
In the GTR24H EEWC, Deuces fielded both our cars, #74 GTE with Vojta, Joao and Juha
Maki-Jouppi who we welcomed into the team. The LMP2 #15 was driven by Mantus Rekus, Csaba Kiss and Teun Louer. The weekend proved to be another huge success with double podiums for our cars. Both cars finishing P3 in their respective classes. After overcoming a lot of difficulties throughout the 12 Hour event, now with a break until June, we can dust ourselves down and go again at Suzuka, look out for details nearer the event.
In Virtual Endurance Championship, is once again as tight as it has been for our #74 as it has been over the last 3 years! Heading into 1000 Miles of Sebring, confidence was high, and this was well placed confidence. A great qualifying session saw Adam place the #74 in P2, just behind Varga SimRacing #69. As the race got underway, Adam held of early pressure, but despite the car being white, LMP2's seem to constantly try to make the guys job harder by giving love taps at every opportunity! No matter, Joao drove one of his best races with great confidence, and along with Adam, well doing what Adam does, namely 'Be an absolute monster behind the wheel'. No-one was going to take P2 from the guys. This places #74 in a prime position to challenge again for the GTE Championship. Winners in 2019, 3rd in GTE standing in 2020, what will 2021 hold, only time will tell.
Finally in the P1-Gaming Championship, #15 Ligier had another rain filled 12 Hour Spa event, that left, Nick, Roy and Csaba knowing an opportunity had been lost. We feel that so much went wrong, we hope its all our bad luck in one race and not strewn throughout the rest of the season. A P8 finish after technical issue cost a spot with 8 minutes to go, was the final kick in the teeth!
No matter April is here now, with more races and points to go for. The #74 has a big race coming up on on 10th April, over in Suzuka. For the championship its important to keep the pressure up on the teams ahead. Only 14 points separates the top 4 teams as it stands following Sebring. Preparation, is as thorough for Suzuka, as ever, and the #74 will be ready, and keen to take a class victory.
Sunday 21st March saw one of the most gutsiest moves that many watching, if not there could scarcely understand the shear audacity.
Entering turn 10 and 10a Mantus lay in P4, behind #57 DSG Motorsport and #17 RGPL. Out of T10a the cars ahead of Mantus touched slightly, stalling their exit up and under the bridge. That was the wrong place at the wrong time to have #15 with a perfect exit, as both drivers found out! As his team mates Nick and Teun watched on, both could scarcely believed what they had just witnessed. Team speak went crazy with screams and total abandon of normality.
We where not alone the commentary was of the same opinion, as where the watching drivers and spectators of the event!
Already we are into the month of May, so its time for a recap on events Deuces Motorsports Club have taken part in during the month of April.
With our #74 Porsche GTE it was a tough pill to swallow into how Suzuka in the Virtual Endurance Championship ended! What seemed a simple blue flag situation turned out to be anything but. chasing down Black Hawk Racing GTE the sister car with blue flags waving came together with #74 into T1 and ended our race with only 20 minutes to go, something that should not happen in such a championship, and has certainly left a bitter taste, as well as putting pressure on the teams chase for the championship.
A week later the P2 squad took part in P1-Gaming e.v Round 3 with #15 Ligier, took up the challenge of coming back from a poor Round 2 at Spa. Determined to put the events behind them, a lot of work was put in to ensure that they gave themselves the best chance possible to achieve this aim. The race went as well as we could have hoped for, and certainly achieved their aim. Starting P2 in class behind an impressive GOTeam Racing in the Oreca who on this day, where just out of reach of the #15. But a second place finish and P6 overall, was just the result we needed to bring our chase for the P2 crown back into focus.
Looking ahead to May Deuces Motorsports Club have a busy time on track. Our Porsche 911 RSR #74GTE welcomes Teun into the squad. Having been an important member of the P2 squad since November, his quality's despite his young years has shone through, and we wish him well as he takes on Spa alongside Adam, Joao and Max.
Our #15 Ligier Squad head of to Suzuka in the P1LMS 6 Hours at the end of the month for Round 4. But first a week before that 13/15 May, the squads come together for GTR24H 24 hours of Nürburgring. This sees Deuces enter into this annual event for the first time, and as a team we welcome Eric Schmieder back into the cockpit driving alongside Adam Baldwin, Teun Louer, Csaba Kiss and Roy de Muinck.
To find out how all the events in May shape up, keep up-to-date here and on our Facebook page for all the details.
The month started off with a return to the podium at Round 8 of the Virtual Endurance Championship. Adam and Joao drove a flawless race on a track that did not really suit the Porsche, but their continued efforts in getting the maximum out of the car, once more paid off. This result keeps them in the hunt, even if there is an outside chance of the GTE crown. With double points on offer at Le Mans, anyone in front with issues can leave an opening for Deuces. As it stands #74 is P4 in GTE Class
Finally the month ended on a very big high as if the sponsorship was not enough. Our #15 Ligier carried our new sponsors logos for the type of race that had been on the cards from season opener, a race win! Finally after two second step podium finishes, we broke that hoodoo. Csaba, Roy and Teun, pushed the opposition to their very limits, and they could not respond. The pace was impressive, and despite a huge technical scare, which caused a pit stop for repairs. The #15 ended the race in P1, a lap up on the second place car. Deuces Motorsports Club are now P2 in the Class standings by a single point. Roy is now P1 in the Class Championship driver standings by four points. Nurburgring is next up on Saturday June 26th.
The team then drove in the GTR24H Presented By Patriot Nürburgring 24 hour race. For the first time we took to the track in the BMW M6 GT3 and so very nearly took a podium finishing in the dreaded P4 position! What an effort having fallen back early in the race with damage. At one point having gone into the pts to repair the car and finding ourselves down in P14! An amazing effort by all involved. Honours to Roy, despite the efforts of the return of Eric could not best his time. Was a welcome return most certainly for this event. We aim to tempt Eric with more 24 Hour events in the near future, that is for certain. Teun, Adam and Csaba again put in fantastic stints and we hope to enter P1 Gaming Nürburgring 24H in November. As its seems Deuces have caught the bug that is you against the toughest track in Sim-Racing.
The Nürburgring event also was our first race in partnership with Viper Gaming by Patriot. Our BMW carried the colours and so very nearly to the podium It goes without saying this is a big step for Deuces Motorsport Club, and one which is already promising more to come.
As we enter into what is always a busy month of June, Deuces Motorsports Club
Level of preparedness goes up to ’11’. The final round of the Virtual Endurance Championship is around the corner at
Le Mans 24 Hours. For the last time in what has been a tough year for the #74 the team will be aiming to go out on a high.
But as always let's look back on what has been a huge month both on, and off the track for the team.
Season 13 of the Virtual Endurance Championship is in the books. Deuces Motorsports Club #74 Porsche 911 RSR GTE completes the season with a fifth in class.
The final race as always in VEC is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This as always proved to be a true test of our spirit and resolve. It also showcased all that is good within the squad.
After a difficult qualifying session #74 started further down the field than it had in past races. Classed as an opportunity when the race came it certainly proved that way.
Climbing steadily through the field with Joao and Max, suddenly we where hit with technical problems which pushed us back once more. The team fought back throughout the race undeterred and came back once again. At the chequered flag the #74 crossed the line in a remarkable P5. A testament to perseverance. The lap times showed without the technical problems Deuces where on pace for another great finish. Teun made his debut in the Deuces GTE car, and we know whatever comes next we set fair once more be at the front of the field in whatever next season brings.
With a short recovery period following the teams efforts at the 24 Hours of Le Man, we regrouped and emerged at GTR24H Nurburgring 12 Hours.
Both cars where taking part, our LMP2 #15 and #74 GTE class cars. Heading into this event #15 was sitting P2 in class after back to back podiums.
This race will be remembered for the drive of the year so far from Adam, who so closely brought the #74 from a top 5 finish to almost snatching P2. Closing a gap of 40+ seconds to World of Simracing. It was lap after lap of the highest quality. The team drove an incredible race, without a questionable penalty given against an overtake on a GT3 class car ignoring blue flags and what looked like a deliberate hit on our car. We took the penalty, but sadly it stopped a great fight with Musto GD Esports.
Our #15 Oreca LMP2 car saw it constantly at the sharp end with youth and an old timer finally able to drive at a level which certainly was good to see. We also welcomed Dylan to his first race in Deuces colours, who showed his quality's and the reason why he will be an integral part of our future. Teun started the car and drove as well as always, and with his drive to front, he never gave the opposition a rest. Another podium just alluded the car, but a P4 finish, still keeps the car in P3 overall in the class standings.
July proved to be a busy month on track, both in competition and in preparation going forward into the autumn. P1 Gaming annual Le Mans 24h event was taking the attention of our team, our first time driving in this great event, so we wanted to give a good account of ourselves.
The work that was put in certainly paid off as the #15 Deuces LMP2 Oreca came home in P3 after a gruelling 24 hours of mixed conditions. Joao, Csaba and Roy had to contend with some of the wettest conditions to be see in a long time. Torrential rain swept in over Circuit de la Sarthe to make every driver on track work so hard for much of the race. Even when the rain stopped the circuit did not dry out as the temperatures where lower than previous days.
Having struggled to keep up on lead lap through the early stages a night stint led by Roy and support from Joao they clawed themselves back into the race and never led their heads drop.
By daylight they where on the lead lap and pressurising the leaders, and taking pressure from GOTeam Racing in P4. As the flag dropped they had held on to P3 to take a deserved podium in one of the toughest 24 hour races the team had faced.
Deuces Motorsports Club now prepare for a busy August 28th as the squad take on Spa Francorchamps in GTR24H EEWC Championship. But also Road America in P1-Gaming e.v 8 hours of Road America. To contest these long races we have welcomed some great drivers into our squad.
Rui, Stijn, Alexey and Robert have joined to help push the team forward, and we wish them well in their Deuces career.
Deuces Motorsports Club are also a part of VEC Season 14 Championship. Our GTE Squad will contest this year once again in Division 1,this time driving the #74 BMW M8 GTE. For the first time since Season 11 and our winning campaign, Deuces Motorsports Club will not to contest in the Porsche 911 GTE! But we are also contesting in D1 with our #50 LMP2 and also Division 2 with our #240.
We still have a chance for #240 to be promoted with two test races in September to go into Division 1 with two well executed races. We are well underway in preparation to get this promotion.
Finally we wish Adam good luck as he prepares for Season 3 of GT Challenge, which begins Friday 13th August. This is the first time Adam has entered this event, and we wish him well and we are quietly confident about his chances in the hunt for the title.
August 28th saw Deuces Motorsports Club take on the famous circuit of Spa Francorchamps. Not only that it was the first of back to back 24 hour events in GTR24H EEWC Season 2021.
With a team that included Csaba Kiss - Joao Barbosa - Teun Louer - Stijn Prins - and Dylan Klaver, we thought our Oreca 07 really stood a good chance of finishing on the podium. A good mix of young and seasoned team members, it was a fine balance we where happy with.
Stijn and Dylan, where competing in their first event for DMC, but nerves where not present.
Although qualifying did not go to plan, it made no difference as its always about race pace, and race craft! Both of these commodities we as team hold in abundance.
By midway point, #15 was in P2 overall, ahead of the DPi class cars even. Joao and Teun kept the pace high through the night, but also took care of the engine. DEAC Hackers where still in the lead, but they felt the pain when they blew the engine going into S2 at Les Combes!
This left the Deuces entry in the lead, but also crucially we could look after our engine through to the end.
We dually took the overall win after a gruelling race, but one which leaves us in P2 overall in the championship, just 27 points behind Varga Simracing. The final race of the season takes place at Circuit De La Sarthe weekend of 30/31 October. Double points for the last round, so everything to play for in the P2 championship.
The GT Challenge season 4 is full of incident's and great racing. The goal is to e in the top five come seasons end. September saw a double podium at Lime Rock Park. A double on the third step will give a points haul that could be pivotal come seasons end. Onto Loch Drummond, a tough day for the Deuces Motorsports Club Mclaren on a track not favoured, but still points where welcome, in the sprint event Adam finished P7. In the main event after sitting in a podium spot a late dive bomb cost Adam dear, finishing in P8, it was a case of what could of been.
With two events to go its all up for grabs, Spa Francorchamps is next in the calendar, lets hope following that race Adam is well in the hunt heading into the final race at Indianapolis. Stay tuned for Octobers 'Behind The Pit Wall'.
Pre-Season races are always a tense part of the season. Initial placement in divisions can be changed with good racing and finishes.
Division 1 sees #74 retain its position, with our new LMP2 Oreca 07 entry #50 has been placed in Division 1 also. This is a great achievement, and we have high hopes for the coming season.
Meanwhile our #240 has been placed in Division 2, although disappointed we still feel its a great standard to continue the drivers development.
Following the events we have maintained our positions with two difficult, but fact finding drives, Race 1 of Season 14 is at Monza, with the infamous Turn 1, a chicane with a history of causing incidents.
What an amazing achievement for Adam in his first attempt in the Championship. To get into the GT Pro Series he had to finish in the top 5! Going into the final round this seemed well out of reach after a tough Round 5 but somehow a he leapfrogged Hakkinen to claim the final spot despite team work including Michel giving up a P2 position to give extra points to his team-mate.
This left the maths far to tight to even think it possible following a P8 finish in the sprint race.
In the feature race Adam made a great start and hit the front going round the outside into T1. But what proved the turning point was Hakkinen making a disastrous start, and spinning off after going across the grass at T1. From there, Adam drove a masterclass at times going ahead and leading by 4 seconds. Coming down to the last couple of laps Adam had to hold the lead to take him into GT Pro. Knowing this Michel let Jajovski through to hopefully take the win from Adam, and thus help his team mate Hakkinen. Despite huge pressure from behind from the R8G driver ending in a coming together with 3 corners to go with an overly ambitious move from Jajovski. Adam held strong. Michel then moved through to P2 and despite huge pressure on Adam, he went to win the race. This gave him enough points to go through to GT Pro! He did it the hard way, but thoroughly deserves his spot among the top 30 drivers in RFactor 2 in Season 5, beginning in 2022.
Everyone associated with Deuces Motorsports Club was watching the final event. And when Adam crossed the line to win and qualify, the communication channels exploded in joy for one of our most respected drivers.
What a 24 hours the Deuces Motorsports Club endured in GTR24h EEWC Championship finale! With the sister car all geared up to win the race, and with only 4 hours to go, a brake failure cost them the win and the championship. The only consolation was #16 was on hand to take on DEAC Hackers, who if they won the race, it was THEY who would then take the Championship. With an amazing effort from Dylan, he was able to hold off a huge effort from their drivers who drove as hard an as fair along with our drivers, despite what was on the line. The titanic struggle was captured live and had all watching on the edge of their seats.
Once Dylan was out of the driving seat, he supported Joao who brought the car home and took a win which was celebrated, but the whole team were still trying to process the disappointment of the #15 being so close but yet so far. A win at the 24h of Spa had given the car an outside chance of the title. But sadly it was not to be. The team can be rightly proud to have two cars as competitive as they where to finish the gruelling race in P1 and P4. Its a race we will not forget, that is for sure.
Picture shows #15 and #16 underneath the Dunlop bridge for Deuces Motorsports Club LMP2 entry's in GTR24H EEWC Le Mans 24 Hour.
What has been a great year on and off track after a tough 2021 is closing with a bright future as we go into our final two events this year. Having celebrated joining forces with D.S.G Motorsports, we have a chance to push for top 3 finishes at P1-Gaming e.V Nordschleife. With Qualifying on the weekend of 20th November and the race the following weekend, we hope for another great race. On the 11/12 December we have a DPi class car and a GTE entered into the PT Sims Daytona 24 hour event. We are training hard for both races news on links to watch the race will be in 'Series We Race' section.
Congratulations to our LMP2 Squad who, despite huge challenges during the race never gave up, and in the end nearly got the win!
Our first venture in the PTES Endurance Events, which was really enjoyable for many reasons, not only because of the result. It was our first as Deuces Motorsports Club, with our fully fledged squad which was announced back in November. Everyone is very excited on our future if this result is anything to go by.
The boys, where immense, especially after technical issues hit them earlier on, but Adversity is part of our mantra, and we carried on and pushed as hard as possible to make something of the hand that had been dealt. The car driven hard but in a tactical way slowly, but relentlessly, climbed up the leader board, until the night came, and the man that has no equal at night Roy De Muinck climbed into the cockpit! He clawed back over a lap on the leaders, and back into the top 10, with a remarkable drive, that lifted the spirits of everyone involved with the team. Very soon we hit the Top 5 and from there anything was possible.
Up front the leaders hit problems and the #15 made a big effort to cash in and hit the top 3 then into P2 overall, the victory was within our grasp. But despite the efforts of all involved P2 was as high as it got, finishing only 42 seconds of the lead. After 24 hours of effort, that was an amazing result, and one we are rightly proud of.
Next year we intend to race all three special events over at PT Sims, and we hope for more great battles with our new found friends, in this great league.
Our GTE Squad had a great race, but were celebrating just as much knowing how well we came back from the very back of the grid after technical problems hit them early on in the race.
The squad had to make last minute changes and welcomed in Bas Zwartenbol into #73 and we enjoyed each others company that much, its agreed he will become a fixture in our endurance events. Something we are very pleased about.
Having to pick ourselves up from the early mishap, of being hit and the technical issues, we pressed hard knowing it was going to take some time to pull ourselves back up the field.
Our target was readjusted to Top 10 finish with a stretch target of Top 5. When you are sitting in P24 thats a big ask, but we have to give motivation and we accepted the challenge. As the driver stints and changes happened, #73 was continuously climbing that leader board. With each spot gained the spirits lifted, and gave us all that extra push to go and achieve the targets. Early in the night we reached the Top 10, after over 12 hours of effort this was a big moment. We continued to climbed until it was a straight fight for P5 with Codoil Motorsports with only 2 hours to go. We thought they surely coming in to change tires and we would grab P5! But they triple stinted, while we doubled our last set of softs! We took time every lap but just could not close it enough getting within 5 seconds at times but traffic always played a part. It made for an exciting end to 24 hours at Daytona, and we loved it.
Our newly established Academy here at Deuces Motorsport, will be entered into P1 Gaming P1LMS 2022 Endurance League in January.
We understand that this will be a tough test for all involved, but as you can imagine the squad is hard at it, preparing and learning what needs to be done to get the best out of themselves and the car.
They are practicing hard on their own Deuces Academy Server so they can prepare as best they can with help from Rui, Nick and Csaba who are guiding them in the run up to registration and Race one in February. Time is on our side and we will use it to get the boys ready.
We feel this gives many drivers a chance to get to a point where they can drive with experienced and skilled Deuces Motorsports Club members and become as fast as they possibly can, and push the very drivers who are coaching them!
Finally, I would like to send out to everyone our Season's Greetings to you and your loved ones, and we hope everyone has a wonderful time over Christmas and the New Year celebrations.
We hope 2022 brings us a chance to travel and enjoy some freedom to meet up with family and friends far and wide.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Feliz Natal e um Feliz Ano Novo
Vrolijk kerstfeest en een gelukkig Nieuw Jaar
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr
Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket és boldog új évet!
Veselé Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta
Веселого Рождества и счастливого нового года
Crăciun fericit și un An Nou Fericit
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