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CAMSO dodged
the April showers to squeeze 4 action-packed CAMSO V8 races into the Warneton
schedule for Sunday the 13th of April.
American
Bruce “Andy” Andrews headed up the first group with Kelvin Hassell on the
outside. Behind them were Vincent Lehouck and ‘The Flying Dutchman’ Wim Moonen.
Tony Roots and Xavier Vandermeersch queued behind with Gary Ellis and 2007
Champion Jean Vasseur completing the grid.
As the green flag fell and they entered the
first corner, Hassell managed to edge in front of Andrews. However, the #88
Chevrolet Monte Carlo wouldn’t stick and Andrews took the lead. Lehouck made an
unsuccessful attempt to follow Andrews down the inside, then tried moving to
the outside, but Hassell managed to fend him off.
At the back of the field, Ellis and
Vandermeersch were jostling for position; Ellis in  the #95 managed to pass the
#4 of Vandermeersch on the inside of turns one and two. On the following lap,
Vandermeersch attempted to claim his position back; a manoeuvre that nearly
resulted in a spin for Jean Vasseur in the #07, as he attempted to avoid what
appeared to be an imminent collision.
Roots picked his way through the field,
passing Lehouck on the exit of turn two to claim fourth place. Ellis and
Vandermeersch were not far behind and Lehouck slipped through the field.
Meanwhile, Andrews was making good headway at
the front of the pack and had created a reasonable lead. Hassell, currently in
second place began to claw back some of the distance, which proved difficult
with Moonen on the chase in third. As Hassell took a wider line into turns
three and four in an attempt to pass the #17 Chevy, Moonen caught him,
attempting to make room down the inside as they entered turn one, but he was
unable to complete the manoeuvre.
The second pack, consisting of Roots, Ellis
and Vandermeersch, were in fighting spirits! Ellis managed to slip up the
inside of Vandermeersch on the exit of turn four, leaving him to fall back down
the pack. With four laps to go, Ellis lunged to take fourth place from Roots,
but Roots held firm alongside.
Andrews sprinted across the finish line to
take his first victory of the year, with Hassell taking second and Moonen
third. Ellis took fifth after missing out on fourth by less than the length of
Root’s bonnet!
In Race 2, both Jos Jansen and Anton
Gonnissen joined the grid. Jansen in the #222 took pole with Hassell on the
outside; Lehouck filled the second row with Gonnissen and Moonen behind. As the
V8s fired into the first corner, Jansen took the lead with Lehouck passing
Hassell to take second place. Both Gonnissen and Vandermeersch, who was on the
row behind, beat Moonen into the corner.
With the clouds threatening to burst at any
minute, Ellis picked his way through from the back of the field, passing
Gonnissen on the outside line to take fifth place. Vandermeersch clawed his way
into a podium position as he passed Hassell who held third place. Ellis was not
far behind; managing to find the grip on the outside of the track, Ellis passed
Hassell in turns three and four.
With Jansen coming up to pass back-markers,
those in the leading pack were given the opportunity to close the gap between
themselves and the lead car. Vandermeersch passed Lehouck on the exit of turn
four, followed shortly by Ellis on the next lap.
 At the back of the field, the 2007 Champion,
Jean Vasseur was not having the best of luck. After engine problems at the
beginning of the day, handling problems were now preventing his attempts to
pass Moonen.
As the race drew to an end, Jansen was still
struggling to lap Andrews. Vandermeersch and Ellis soon closed in on the
Rookie. Vandermeersch lunged for the inside line but was held off by Jansen. As
the #04 moved to the outside, Jansen was caught once again by Andrews and as
they crossed the line, Vandermeersch had managed to edge alongside the #17 to
take the win from Jansen in second and Ellis in third. In the ensuing pack,
Lehouck took fourth with Hassell in fifth and Gonnissen in sixth.
The final saw Hassell take pole with Lehouck
on the outside. Moonen and Andrews lined up behind with Jansen and Gonnissen on
their tails. With the green flag shown, Hassell made it first to turn one;
meanwhile, Moonen edged in front of Andrews for third place. Lehouck was having
trouble making the car stick on the outside line and he slipped down through
the field as Moonen, Andrews, Jansen and Roots passed on the inside line.
Moonen, looking for a win, moved to the
outside to pass Hassell but couldn’t quite find enough grip to complete the
move. For three more laps, Moonen fought for first place, but the #88 managed
to just edge in front. Then, the yellow flags were brought out for a collision
between Jansen and Andrews in turn three that saw the #17 spin into the wall.
Jansen was sent to the back of the grid for the restart.
At the restart, Hassell managed to creep past
Moonen with Andrews following him through on the inside. Meanwhile, Ellis had
dashed around the outside of Moonen and Andrews and was hard on the tail of
Hassell. As they exited turn four, Ellis took the lead and sprinted away from
the pack towards the finish line. As the chequered flag dropped, Ellis had a
fantastic lead. Hassell came home second with Andrews in third, Moonen in
fourth and Gonnissen in fifth.
Due to the appalling weather at the Easter
meeting, a fourth point-scoring race was arranged for the afternoon, weather
permitting of course! Before the cars had made their way onto the track,
Gonnissen was forced to retire with a radiator leak.
 In this fourth race, Lehouck took pole with
Moonen on the outside. Jansen and Hassell filled the second row with Andrews
and Roots behind. As the race began, Lehouck and Moonen were side-by-side and
remained so until Moonen finally passed in turns one and two on the second lap.
Hassell, stuck on the outside line, was swallowed up by the field, falling down
to seventh place.
At the front of the pack, Moonen pulled away
a good lead. Lehouck and Jansen, in second and third, were also spread out,
followed by a tight pack consisting of Andrews, Vandermeersch and Ellis. As
Vandermeersch tried to drive around Andrews, Ellis tried the inside line.
Neither were successful this time, but Ellis managed to claim fourth place from
Andrews on the following lap. As Vandermeersch attempted the pass again, he got
loose, allowing Roots to fly down the inside. As Andrews took turns one and two
too wide, Roots sneaked down the inside in pursuit of Ellis. Vasseur and
Vandermeersch also took advantage of Andrews mistake, both passing the #17.
As they came around for the last lap, Moonen
was in first place with Jansen and Lehouck in second and third, followed by
Ellis, Roots and Vasseur.
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