Boss GP race, Imola circuit, Sept/Oct 2017
Everyone at EDL would like to offer their sincere congratulations to Rinus van Kalmthout for his comprehensive victory in Sunday’s final 2017 Boss GP race at the Imola circuit.
In the Saturday race Rinus had a good run in his Mansell Motorsport entered, Judd DB4 powered, Dallara GP2 car. He finished in a very respectable 2nd place behind the (900 hp!) Toro Rosso of Ingo Gerstl. Phil Stratford, driving his Judd GV4 powered Benetton B197, finished in 3rd place.
Sunday morning dawned to reveal wet weather, which was a complete contrast to the dry and sunny conditions of the day before. The young Van Kalmthout had no qualms about racing in the wet and secured a lights to flag victory. “It was a good race and a good weekend, I really like the track here in Imola”, van Kalmthout said after the podium ceremony. “I’ve never driven that car before in rain, so it felt different and much slower. So I gained a lot of experience this weeekend, which is good for the future.”
Phil Stratford drove an excellent wet race too and even managed to overtake FORMULA class driver Florian Schnitzebaumer after lap 3. The gap between van Kalmthout and second placed Stratford at the flag was 1:22,972 min, so a victory for the Dutch man was never really in doubt.
Rinus did extremely well to finish in 2nd place in the championship, having entered only 3 out of the seven rounds. Well done to Phil Stratford too for his podiums and 3rd place championship finish.
Unfortunately we don’t have a video from Imola but here’s the GP2 car running earlier this year at the Zandvoort Boss race: