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MAIN VILLAGE After a strong performance in Saturday’s race in Detroit, the second act of Rinus ‘VeeKay’ van Kalmthout did not go as hoped. In the eighth race of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR Series season, driver Hoofddorp reached 18th place.
The Belle Isle Race Weekend in Detroit, Mich. Consisted of two races – one on Saturday and one on Sunday. VeeKay progressed in Saturday’s race. Team 20-year-old driver Ed Carpenter Racing drove his # 21 Chevrolet SONAX from starting twelfth to a fine second in a chaotic showdown. Thanks to this excellent performance, the rookie of the year for the 2020 season climbed to fourth place in the standings.
On Sunday, Race 2 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix took place at Raceway in Belle Isle Park. VeeKay qualified for the Fast Twelve session by qualifying for this game, just like Saturday. In this Fast Twelve session, the Dutchman clocked a rock solid third time, starting the race in Detroit from inside the second row.
The Sunday race was less successful than the Saturday race. Ed Carpenter Racing again opted for a three-stop strategy, which involved stopping early for a first serve. This turned out to be a tactical error, as the rest of the leading group did a longer first stint.
After his first pit stop, VeeKay got stuck in traffic, widening the gap between him and the leading group. To make matters worse, the youngster had to make an unscheduled second pit stop after just sixteen of the seventy laps in the race. In a duel with Marcus Ericsson, the winner of the first race, he suffered a puncture. From that point on, it was no longer possible to achieve a better result. VeeKay had a number of tight lap times in the aftermath of the race and led a few duels that are so characteristic for him.
In the end, VeeKay finished in eighteenth place. The second game in Detroit was won by Patricio O’Ward, who also took the lead. VeeKay sits in a solid fifth place in the NTT INDYCAR Championship standings after eight games, accumulating 243 points.
“Sometimes you end up in front, sometimes you don’t. That’s what it is, tactical decisions unfortunately didn’t help us today, “said VeeKay of Detroit.” I want to thank Ed Carpenter Racing for this weekend – we came in second yesterday and got finished an excellent qualifying session on Sunday morning. The strategic choice didn’t work, we needed an additional neutralization and he didn’t fall. “
“Here in Detroit I had a fantastic Chevrolet engine at my disposal, the speed was good in both races. Of course, I prefer to finish both races on the podium, but the good thing is that we are strong in the intermediate classification. I am really looking forward to next week where we will be riding my favorite track in the United States!
Next weekend the NTT INDYCAR Series riders will compete again, this time for the REV Group Grand Prix on Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. VeeKay has had three wins on this track in the past – one at Indy Lights (2019) and two at USF2000 (2017).
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