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2008 CAMSO V8 SEASON REVIEW

The 2008 CAMSO V8 championship delivered exactly what was expected of it: fast cars, lots of noise and action all the way!

Frenchman Vincent Lehouck was the first driver to take a chequered flag in 2008 after fending off England’s Gary Ellis in his Roots V8 Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Belgium’s Kurt Dyjardyn in the Raptor Racing Dodge Charger. Dyjardyn demonstrated his pace in heat two, the final race of the day as the weather would dictate, taking the win from Tony Roots, with Xavier Vandermeersch in his newly rebuilt Dodge Intrepid taking third. 

Round two turned everything on its head, as the rest of the field started to find their feet. American Bruce Andrews(no 17 left) took heat one from Brit Kelvin Hassell. Vandermeersch drove the Intrepid to a win in heat two with Raptor Racing’s rapidly improving rookie, Jos “The Boss” Jansen in second. Dutchman Wim Moonen was on form for the third heat, holding off Jansen who was still looking for that elusive top step of the podium. Ellis won the final after moving around Hassell and Andrews, who finished second and third respectively. 

Jansen’s race win arrived at the very next meeting when he beat Roots and Ellis to the flag in the opening heat. With Jansen moved to the back of the grid, as is the case with all CAMSO V8 winners, Roots and Ellis were both confident for heat two but 2007 champion Jean Vasseur upset their plans by beating both Roots V8 team members. The final saw Clyde Williams in an ideal position to take his first win. Once again it was the Roots/Ellis duo trying to take the prize but Williams held on and took the first victory of his CAMSO V8 career. 

Vasseur won the first heat of round four from Ellis and Hassell. The Frenchman’s charge for championship honours coming a little late with Ellis and Roots rarely finishing outside the top three; a point that was pushed home in heat two when Roots took the win and Ellis came home second. Prospeed driver Franz Lamot finished third. Ellis then secured victory in the final with Roots just behind and Lehouck taking a much deserved podium finish. 

The following meeting was CAMSO’s “Big One!” two 25 lap heats followed by a 75 lap final. Hassell (below leading Jean Vasseur) kicked off proceedings by winning the first race from Vasseur and Ellis. Vandermeersch beat Roots and Ellis in the second heat. It was Dyjardyn who demonstrated his endurance racing expertise in the final, fending off Ellis. Andrews put in a fantastic drive for third.

Moonen and Vandermeersch took a heat each at round six with Bertrand Zore and Anton Gonnissen both making the podium for the first time this season. Hassell won the final comfortably from Ellis who was second ahead of Dyjardyn. 

Round seven was business as usual as Ellis won both the heats from Vasseur but the Frenchman did manage to get to the flag first in the final. A disgruntled Dyjardyn finished third, the Belgian making it clear he expected better things to come in the Budweiser 200 race. 

It rained heavy on the day of the Budweiser 200. The race cars sat in the paddock and for much of the day it looked as if the Budweiser might not happen. But the rain did clear and it was Vandmeersch who won the main event on the CAMSO calendar, fending of Vasseur and Christof Vandekerckhove for honours. 

Heat wins at the penultimate round were shared between Wim Moonen and Kelvin Hassell but all eyes were on Tony Roots who needed some good points scores to keep his championship hopes alive. Roots scored a third in heat one and won the final to make sure he was still in the hunt for the title. 

However, it was all in vain though. At the final round Gary Ellis won the first heat and cemented his championship by winning the final. Roots finished second in the final and the championship. A steady run of results moved Wim Moonen up to third in the final standings. 

Congratulations to Gary Ellis and the Roots V8 Racing team, CAMSO V8 Champions 2008.