Rapport 2003 / 06 Spa-Francorchamps

Spa – Francorchamps, 12th. – 14th. September 2003

That the FiA-GTC and the FiA-TC should have a second scoring /assessment heat in Belgium this year, irritated nobody in particular – since it was “Spa” which was stated in the calender. In the meantime, the event is almost as well- known as the race course itself. We are talking about the “Six Hours”. Since the 6 hour race is now held in the evening, there is enough space for further races and race series.

It is generally known that the track approval protocoll in Francorchamps allow many cars, therefore FiA-GTC and FiA-TC trained together. In the end there were 44 GTCs and 31 TCs! Despite the track length and its broadness, one or two ‘contacts’ could not be avoided. Considering the fact that the training was held so that the entrant could secure a good starting grid, these ‘contacts’ could be mainly excused – after all these were not on purpose. And in the second training, the behaviour was less hot-headed.

After the second training, 3 Fords headed the Touring Cars: 1st. S. C.Sanders with his Lotus Cortina, 2nd. Hammond / Young in Mustang and 3rd. Lloyd / Wainwright also in Mustang. By the way, all 3 teams originate for the mother country of the Motorsports. This is different in the case of the GT. There, not unexpectedly A. Lloyd became the training winner with his GT 40. Followed by the first und unfortunately only period G-Car, the Porsche 914/6 of O. Mathai. 3rd. was M. Menden’s Corvette. Of course the circuit times of these gentlemen stayed well under 3 minutes. 6 further drivers achieved this as well and therefore proved their class!

Since only one training was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, lots of people had the time to visit our FiA-Tent at leisure. The good and for a Ardennes-September, unusual warm weather, was probably responsible for the really good mood of the participants. Anyway the tent was always full and at times it was really difficult to get hold of an empty chair. If only there hadn’t been the noise from the tracks! Why do the others(!) always make such a racket!! We (!) are not that loud, are we?? Anyway the mixture of Single Seaters and Supersports life and Formel-1 Training on TV proved to be the ultimate hearing test. But then again we did not just meet to go fishing!!

The driver of a well-known fast GT was forced to go fishing though. After the 2nd. Training, the technical commissioners had a closer look at several cars and came to the conclusion that in the above-mentioned case, that the owner should explain the 3 red points and the actual defects of his car. Beyond all doubts, the other cars were flawless. It is good that the permanent Technical Commissioner could do his job peacefully but also rigously without any animosity from the FiA-GTC or the FiA-TC entrants. This should be the normal situation but it is not necessarily so.

Although 44 drivers finished their training, only 39 participated in the race. A few technical problems could not be resolved at all, others only through an all-night screwdriver session (No. 603).The early morning (8.45 am) also contributed to the fact that we all did not have enough sleep. Even the best motivation training did not really help. Our engines liked the early morning much better – pleasant coolness and lots of oxygen = high performance! This was proven through the relative small number of breakdowns during the race – there were only 4. Actually it was five but we will remain silent about Marco’s fate (No. 708) – his performance was rated in the end. The winner??

Now in Francorchamps, you need to have good track knowledge and have a good engine. A. Lloyd and his GT 40 had both. T. Bailly and his Cobra did not have much less of both conditions as well and reached the finishing line 21 seconds after the GT 40. The third was our already quoted only period G-Car, the 914/6 of O. Mathai. Only these 3 managed to do 11 rounds in less than 33 minutes. The next 8 drivers needed more than 33 minutes. You had more than enough time to study the race results in the meantime. Race No. 2 was supposed to be the last on Sunday evening.

Of course such timetables have their advantages. At last we could watch our Touring Car friends. In the afternoon, it wasn’t that hot anymore for their Start. That’s what we thought!! Whatever heat smouldered either in the cars or under the helmets, you could only guess after the 28 Limousine drivers returned from their first race round. This was especially impressive if you had chosen the BUS-STOP as your observation point!!

No, I am not going to name any names or Starting Numbers. But it was pity that the spectators were not all gathered at the BUS-STOP. My gentlemen – the show was just perfect!! Whether I (as a relative harmless GT-pilot) would have the nerve to participate in races along with you gentlemen, I cannot answer this question once and for all at this moment. You not give the word ‘narrow’ the right definition, but also the meaning ‘too narrow’. Hereby nearly everything has been explained. For the Championship contender, ‘too narrow’ was disastrous, others got away with less significant bumps. In spite of everything, it was hard but fair race and extremely thrilling for the spectators.

The only flaw in the end – one protest. Against what or whom? Against the engine of a car of a different class than that of the protester. In short – the engine of the Mini-Duo C.Boissy / A. Miran was not supposed to be in accordance with the regulations. Both these really fast French had landed on the 5th. place in the overall ranking with their Mini Cooper S. Doubts do come up automatically. Especially since they have been really successful and have won one class win after the other throughout the whole season. But – the technical commissioners did not find anything! Bore and stroke of the engine were all in order and absolutely conform to the regulations. The protest was rejected. Anyway nobody should be angry with anybody - a protest is a planned means in the Sports rules – completely legal and not to be taken personally. In this case in fact, just the opposite. Then now everybody knows for sure that the 2 French are that fast with completely legal technics. Best compliments!!

Let us now come to the long-awaited results of the FiA-TC. Winners were the Brits, A. Hammond and J. Young in their Ford Mustang just one and half seconds before C. Sanders in his Cortina. Third was the solist D. Anton from Austria in his Alfa Romeo GTA. As usual, you find out the results in detail from the appropiate lists.

After the Touring Car races, the GT-pilots just had time to change, to shake off the many impressions of a long day and concentrate on their 2nd. race. As usual the starting grid was in accordance to the results of the 1st. race. But some entrants were missing. Of the 35 who had qualified in the first race, only 31 participated in the second race. To cut it short – all but one reached the finishing line. The race was much slower than that in the morning. Even higher temperatures and a ‘much-used’ track worsened the circuit times considerably. Only 2 drivers reached the finishing line within 3 minutes. This was of course the overall winner O. Mathai with his 914/6 and the 2nd. T. Bailly with his Cobra. Overall 3rd. was B. Warmenius with his Lotus Elan with the outstanding fastest round of 3:00:95. (He also should had driven faster those the 95 hundredth !) Here as well, we ask you to look up the further details in our lists.

Shortly before nightfall, it was announced during the prize-giving ceremony that in future the 3 overall winners in the Cat. E will be awarded separate trophies as well. These trophies will be sponsered by O. Heschl-Gillespie, who is a driver himself (No. 400) and who is not exactly unsuccessful. During the second prize-giving ceremony, several entrants spontaneously thanked Ronny for his efforts. This especially pleasant since the public praise came the other side of the Channel from where at season’s begin, not only friendly comments were to be heard about the Series Organisation. Thank you very much again. British sportsmen are always fair!!

It is to be hoped that we will experience the same class as we did during the past season at season’s close in Estoril. I don’t have any doubts but am a little sad since the Season 2003 ended for me in Spa. Whilst you all race and have fun, I will have to work. I wish you all lots of fun in Estoril. We will meet on 22nd. November in the Dorint Hotel near the Nurburgring for the 2003 prize-giving ceremony.

VEIT AVEMARG (FiA-GTC no. 600)