Description
"The best value-for-money among endurance legends".
Marcos "Marcorelly" GT 2006
Eligible for Masters Endurance Legends
Designed and built by Cor Euser
5. 0-litre Ford Modular Quadcam V8
When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. And when your car is wrecked in a Spa-Francorchamps crash, you roll up your sleeves and set about building an even better one. That is precisely what Cor Euser did to create the Marcos Mantis "Marcorelly" GT.
Euser’s name needs little introduction to anyone familiar with Dutch motorsport history. After finding success in junior single-seaters, he moved toward Formula 1, made a notable CART appearance, raced in DTM, and eventually carved out a long career as a sportscar driver. In 1995, he was hired as a factory driver by the British manufacturer Marcos. Five years later, Euser and Eurotech, long-time sponsor of GT racing, acquired Marcos’ racing-car manufacturing rights and moved the company to the Netherlands.
Besides the mighty Mantara, which raced at Le Mans and the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Marcos also built the Mantis, smaller but no less impressive. In 2006 a Portuguese guest driver smashed Euser’s Mantis at Spa-Francorchamps. Rather than throwing in the towel, Euser and his team got to work rebuilding and improving the car. The result is a car the man himself describes as a “mini-LM600,” visually similar to the preceding Mantis but lower and wider. In collaboration with Ad Verkuijlen and VA Engineering, the car receives a stiffer new chassis. A flat undertray improved aerodynamics, while a re-positioned exhaust lowered the centre of gravity. The engine remained unchanged: a 5. 0-litre Ford Modular Quadcam V8.
This new Mantis, which required three months of hard work from Euser and his team, is best known by the nickname “Marcorelly.” The nickname derives from the team’s first names: Marcel Geltink, Cor Euser and Elly Euser.
Marcorelly raced in the Spanish GTB championship with Euser himself and drivers such as Fred van Putten and Pedro Castronevez. It also made frequent appearances in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Notably, during Rizla Racing Days’ marquee event in 2006, Euser pulled off a spectacular last-lap pass to win at the TT Circuit Assen, in front of around 50, 000 spectators.
Marcorelly continued to compete in contemporary championships until 2015 and has since become a highly capable historic racer. At Spa-Francorchamps the car is capable of a lap time around 2:23 and a top speed in excess of 300 km/ h.
More recently, the car has been accepted as a participant in the Masters Endurance Legends and, in our view, it will be a strong competitor at an affordable price.
Powertrain
• Ford “Modular” Quadcam 5L V8 built by KMS 500HP
• Only 15 hours on the 75 total hours
• Carbon cold-air box
• Motec engine management
• Hollinger 6-speed sequential gearbox
• Tilton clutch
• Drechsler differential
General
• Flat undertray
• 100L safety fuel cell
• Front brakes: PFC 380mm
• Rear brakes: Brembo 360mm
• Front suspension: Porsche 996
• 1100 kg
