The Benelux Racing League V6, better known as BRL V6, was a

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

series held in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

between 2004 and 2009. It is the heavier variant on the BRL Light. For 2010, BRL cars were allowed into the

Dutch Supercar Challenge The Supercar Challenge is a motor racing series centered on the Benelux. A special feature is that touring cars, GTs and Sportscars can all participate on an equal basis within the same class, enabled by very open regulations. The championship was ...

History

Original series

The BRL V6 was first launched, as the V6 Oval Series, in July 2003. Entrepreneur Harry Maessen founded the racing series and a test was conducted at his own racetrack, Circuit de Peel. The car made its competition debut in the Dutch Winter Endurance Series New Years race at

Circuit Park Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea coas ...

2004. Drivers Jeroen Reijntjes and Sandor van Es placed the car on pole position, but technical difficulties prevented a strong finish. The inaugural season, 2004, featured four race weekends. The series competed at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, Zandvoort and

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

. The initial calendar also featured oval races at

Raceway Venray Raceway Venray, formerly known as Circuit de Peel, is a motorsport racing circuit in Venray, Netherlands. The track consists of a banked half mile oval with a flat quarter mile oval inside and features a karting track using portions of both along ...

and a new to construct oval in the German

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

. These did not take place.

Cor Euser Cornelius "Cor" Euser (born April 25, 1957) is a Dutch racing driver from Oss. Career After winning several Formula Ford titles in 1980 and 1981, Euser went to the FIA European Formula Three Championship part-time in 1982 and 1983. He expanded ...

, racing a

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

resembling paint scheme, won the first pole position.

Donny Crevels Donny Crevels (born 6 February 1974), nicknamed "the Don", is a Dutch racing driver. He has raced in such series as Le Mans Series, V8Star Series and the FIA GT Championship. In 1998, he won the Italian Formula Three Championship with Prema Powe ...

and

Duncan Huisman Duncan Huisman (born 11 November 1971 in Doornspijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch racing driver. He won the Guia Race four times and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 2005. He claimed three titles at the Dutch Touring Car Championship in 1997, 2000 and ...

won the first two races at Spa.n Facing heavy competition from Euser and

Thomas Mutsch Thomas Mutsch (born 2 April 1979) is a German racecar driver. His first success was a third place in the 1993 German karting championship. Two years later, in 1995, Mutsch finished second in the Formula Renault 1800. In 1999, Mutsch reached seco ...

, Crevels went on to win the inaugural season. The level of competition went up the following year with

Kurt Thiim Kurt Thiim (born 3 August 1956 in Vojens) is a Danish racing driver. After his karting career he raced in single-seaters from 1978 to 1984 before moving to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, DTM. He won the championship in his debut year in ...

and

Jeroen Bleekemolen Jeroen Pascal Bleekemolen (born 23 October 1981 in Heemstede) is a Dutch professional Auto racing, racing driver. In the Chrysler Viper GTS-R he drove in the FIA GT Championship, with great success. He competed in the German Formula Three Champi ...

joining the series and Xavier Maessen and

Marc Goossens Marc Goossens, nicknamed The Goose (born 30 November 1969), is a Belgian professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, priorly driving the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro for SpeedHouse in the EuroNASCAR PRO c ...

making guest appearances. The BRL V6 field was joined by the BRL Light class. The class was the successor of the previous VEGE Series (2000-2004) and featured a less powerful

Ford Duratec Ford Duratec engine is a line of engines used by Ford of Europe and United States for the company's range of gasoline-powered I3, I4, I5 and V6 passenger car engines. The first Duratec engine was co-designed by Ford and Porsche and introduced ...

engine. For the inaugural BRL Light season the series kept their VEGE Series

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a Mid-size car, mid-size/D-segment, large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford of Europe from 1982–1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Bob Lutz (businessman), Robert Lutz and Patrick Le Quément, and was noted for ...

bodywork before switching to a

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...

bodywork in 2006. Bleekemolen joined the US Carworld team as its sole full-time driver. The 2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters driver won eleven out of fifteen races, dominating the championship. BRL V6 Donald Molenaar

For 2006 a number of technical improvements were made to the car. The car received a softer compound of

Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate; however, "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 ...

slicks. Also cooling to the brakes was improved. The

Collé Racing Colle or Collé (French word meaning "glue", Italian word meaning "hill") may refer to: Places Canada *Lacolle, Quebec, Lacolle, municipality in the Quebec province France *La Colle-sur-Loup, municipality in the Alpes-Maritimes department Ital ...

domination started in 2006, lasting until the final season of the original season in 2009. Collé Racing driver Sandor van Es won the championship in 2006 before teammate Donald Molenaar won the series in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Early in the 2006 season Collé Racing faced stiff competition from Eurotech Racing drivers Marc Goossens and

Danny van Dongen Danny van Dongen (born 1983) is a Dutch racing driver and entrepreneur currently competing in the MW-V6 Pickup Series. Racing career Van Dongen started his racing career in the Dutch Citroën Saxo Cup. He scored a third-place finish in the cha ...

whom competed for podium finishes. The series also competed during the 2006 A1GP weekend at Zandvoort. Prominent guest drivers joined the series, such as

Junior Strous Junior Strous (born 28 April 1986 in Vlaardingen) is a Dutch racing driver, racing team owner, and entrepreneur from Wassenaar. He has competed at various levels and classes of formula racing starting his professional career in Formula Ford at Ge ...

and

Jan Lammers Johannes Antonius "Jan" Lammers (born 2 June 1956) is a Dutch racecar driver, most notable for winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship, world endurance race, for Silk Cut Jaguar Cars, Jaguar/Tom Walkinshaw Racing, TW ...

. Lammers scored a seventh place in the first race with Crevels winning both races. The BRL joined the Belgian and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

rounds of the

2007 Champ Car season The 2007 Champ Car World Series season was the fourth and final season of the Champ Car World Series, and the 29th season of the series dating back to the 1979 formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). It began on April 8, 2007 and end ...

at Zolder and Assen. Collé Racing continued reigning supreme in 2007 with Molenaar winning six races and Sandor van Es winning four races in the fourteen race season. The other four races were won by Bleekemolen (who ran a partial schedule) and Donny Crevels, two each. The final races of the season, at Zandvoort, were marred by an incident involving 2005-2006 BRL Light champion

Marijn van Kalmthout Marijn is a Dutch unisex given name derived from Marinus.Marijn
at the

. During qualifying Van Kalmthout went off track in a yellow flag zone almost hitting a rescue vehicle and marshal. Van Kalmthout was disqualified for the remainder of the weekend. The disqualification had no effect on the championship standings were Van Kalmthout remained third. For 2008 the schedule was reduced to twelve races, with Molenaar again winning eight and the championship. In 2009 Donny Crevels beat Collé Racing driver Sandor van Es for the second place in the championship. At first it was announced the series would race at Racepark Meppen, also owned by series founder Harry Maessen, but the track was not built in time for the race weekend.

Dutch Supercar Challenge

During the 2009 season it was announced that the BRL V6 series would cease to exist an independent racing series. The series joined the

roster. The series formed a separate class in the Supersport I and GT field. As the races in the Dutch Supercar Challenge had a semi-endurance set-up the BRL V6 cars were modified. The cars were fitted with more durable brakes and a larger fuel tank. The Hoosier tyres were replaced by Dunlop tyres. Many teams did not remain in the new series and driver numbers dropped. Compared to previous season the championship battle was very tight. Niels Bouwhuis claimed the championship in the final round, beating Nelson van der Pol by seven points. The following season the BRL V6 was no longer a separate class, but joined the Supersport I class. In the Supersport I class other cars competed such as the

Porsche 997 The Porsche 997 is the sixth generation of the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche. It was sold between 2004 (for the 2005 model year) and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coup� ...

and the

Aston Martin Vantage __NOTOC__ Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, from 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of th ...

Raceway Venray

For 2011 Harry Maessen transformed the BRL V6 series into an oval racing series at his own

. Raceway Venray includes a half mile oval configuration the series used. The series returned to their soft Hoosier tyres. The series invited many

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

regulars. Donald Molenaar, and Collé Racing, returned to the series. As

Jacky van der Ende Jacky van der Ende (born 20 November 1976 in South Holland, Maasdijk) is a Dutch racing driver. He won both the British Formula Ford Championship and the Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered ...

won eight races, and Molenaar seven, Van der Ende won the championship. Van der Ende repeated the feat in 2012.

Renger van der Zande Renger is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Annemarie Renger (1919–2008), German politician * Thomas Renger (born 1972), German sitting volleyball player * Renger van der Zande (born 1986), Dutch racing driv ...

won the final championship series in 2013.

MW-V6 Pickup Series

In 2014 Maessen sold the cars to the

Acceleration 2014 Acceleration 2014 was a multi-day festival combining top class Formula racing, car and Motorcycle racing, bike racing with live music and other entertainment. The festival was organised by the International Sport Racing Association (ISRA), based ...

organisation. The cars were transformed into pick-up trucks with a rear-wing to provide more downforce. Due to small grids the series folded after one season.

, the only full-time driver in the series, was crowned champion. The cars were bought again by Harry Maessen and ran a demonstration event at Raceway Venray during the 2015

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series The NASCAR Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series, Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series, and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's four international-sanctioned s ...

event. A calendar for the pick-up series at Assen and Meppen was announced. However, no races were run.

The car

All the cars in this series are equal. They use the body of a

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

. The

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

is developed by Weytech Technical Assistance. The motor is a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

4 L V6. It has 325 hp and a torque of 440

N·m The newton-metre or newton-meter (also non-hyphenated, newton metre or newton meter; symbol N⋅m or N m) is the unit of torque (also called ) in the International System of Units (SI). One newton-metre is equal to the torque resulting fr ...

. The car as a weight of 925 kg. The series uses

slicks. They use Wilwood disk brakes.

Formula BRL spin-off

Series founder Harry Maessen purchased twelve

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a list of literary cycles, literary cycle of medieval allegorical Folklore of the Low Countries, Dutch, English folklore, English, French folklore, French and German folklore, German fables. The first extant versions of the cy ...

2KF chassis in 2006. Maessen fitted the former Formula Chrysler Euroseries cars with

engines. In early 2008, the

2001 Formula Chrysler Euroseries The 2001 Formula Chrysler Euroseries season was the inaugural and only Formula Chrysler Euroseries season. It featured seven races at four European racing circuits during the latter half of 2001. Dutchman Ricardo van der Ende was crowned champion o ...

, champion,

Ricardo van der Ende Ricardo van der Ende (born 13 July 1979 in Poeldijk) is a Dutch racing driver. He won the 2001 Formula Chrysler Euroseries season with the Belgian team of Vortex Motorsport. He also won the Winter Series of the British Formula Ford Championshi ...

tested the renewed car at Zolder. The class ran demonstration races at the Rizla Racing Days at the TT Circuit Assen. The field was made up of young talent, such as Thomas Hylkema and Henk Vuik, Jr., and experienced BRL racing names such as Barry Maessen and Henry Zumbrink. Vuik, Jr. won the first race, before Hylkema and Maessen. The second races was a rain spectacle with many drivers, in their first weekend racing the car, struggling in difficult circumstances. The 2003 Dutch Formula Ford Zetec champion Nelson van der Pol won the second race. Plans to race a full season in 2009, joining other national series, never came to fruition.

Champions

Point system

Pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

is worth 1 point * Fastest lap is worth 1 point Image:BRL_V6_Donald_Molenaar.JPG, Donald Molenaars car. Image:BRL V6 Danny van Dongen.JPG, Danny van Dongens car. Image:Binnenkant BRL V6.JPG, The inside of a BRL V6 car.

References

External links

{{Commons category, BRL V6
www.brl-v6.nl
Touring car racing series Auto racing series in Belgium Auto racing series in the Netherlands Stock car racing series