PROJECT: European Classic Championship - Alsdorf (D), May 2009 [Ioc-Race]

THE 153 MILLION EURO SPA 1964 MEMORIAL

MODEL CAR VERSION: IN DIV III: ENGLAND vs REST OF THE WORLD, IN DIV II: GERMANY vs REST OF THE WORLD

You can find no long-distance race in the history of motoring where such tremendous capital on cars was at the start than the 1964 Spa 500-kms. The actual value of all cars having entered that race is more than € 153,000,000. Except for one car - the Aston Martin DP214 with chassis 0195/R, having been destroyed at the Nürburgring when Brian Hetreed had his fatal accident - all 32 1964 Spa legend cars still exist today. [One, the 3.0 Ferrari 250GT SWB with chassis 2735GT, in which Sterling Moss won the 1961 Touring Trophy, was transformed by Giotto Bizzarini and Piero Drogo, was later transformed into the famous #26 Ferrari 250GT SWB Drogo, but later again restored in its original shape and colour.]

A British motoring magazine contacted IMCA to see if it was possible to remake the start grid of Spa 1964 with 1/24th model cars. It's not only possible to remake the grid it's even possible to remake the whole race with those model cars. When we told them that, enthusiasm was indescribable. Indeed there exist nearly no colour pics of the 1/1 race from what was probably the most colourful grid in endurance racing. A reconstruction of the race permits to make such missing colour pics. The British motoring magazine is thus willing to support the model car version of the 1964 Spa 500-kms but insists that British cars will be raced by British model car racers. That's the major problem: we try since 1985 to promote model car racing in the United Kingdom but our efforts were never supported by the conservative BSCRA, the British slot-racing federation. British racers have been seen at several world championships IMCA organised: they were at the 1986 Worlds in Valkenburg, at the 1987 Worlds in Toulouse, at the 1988-1989 Worlds in Chicago, at the 2002 Worlds in Ostend, at the 2003 Worlds at Dison and at Lede, at the 2004 Worlds in Uden, at the 2006 Worlds in Barcelona and at the 2007 Worlds in Mechelen. George Kimber won twice the Modeller's Worlds and Brian Saunders won in Barcelona the European Model Car Championship. However all those results never appeared in the specialised British slot-race magazines, restricting themselves to races with Saloons, Grand Prix and Eurosport scale cars. Not a single word on model cars.

British racers - unaware about the fast evolution of actual model car racing - have no idea how to assemble a model car able to win. That resulted in the idea to invite nine of the best British racers and to let them race nine 1964 legend cars assembled by the very specialist Afolabi Osu. Why nine? Simple: because of the 36 Spa legend cars nine were driven by British racers, all in Division III (the over 2000 cc category). Those nine legend cars have to compete - just as it was in 1964 - against eleven other Div III cars. Most of those cars too we'll let be assembled by Afolabi Osu - scrupulously respecting art. 8 of the IMCA Rule Book on classic cars. In Div III we can thus organise a combat Great Britain versus the Rest of the World I, where only the five best racers of each team can score points; In the O.A. standings the top-30 score res. 100, 80, 60, 50, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 23, 20, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point(s). Best place to organise the race is the famous Spa model car track at Alsdorf (D) in the Euregio. Travelling costs (including one night at the hotel) of the British racers will be covered by IMCA. We can also send a shuttle to Ostend, picking up the British racers, and bringing them over to Alsdorf. We have still to find a correct date, somewhere end June, acceptable for both BSCRA and IMCA racers.

In Division II (under 2000 cc cars: 11 x Porsche 904 GTS, 3 x Abarth-Simca 2000 GT and 2 x Lotus Elan) we can organise a competition Germany versus Rest of The World II, where only the five best racers of each team can score points. The complete race with 36 cars will go over twice six heats of 6 x 10 minutes with one minute for rotation (2 hours racing per entrant). The race could be organised on a Saturday and Sunday with practice from 11 a.m. thru 3 p.m., qualifications from 3 p.m. thru 4 p.m. and the first heat of 6 x 10 minutes from 5 p.m. thru midnight. The second heat can be contested on Sunday from 8 a.m. thru 1 p.m. Since the race will be organised at the Titanic Bowling, racers having free can enjoy a social happening at the bowling on the first floor. The photo shoot is then scheduled on Saturday after the qualifications, and during the race. The race is on an invitational basis.

INVITED RACERS FOR THE ENGLAND-REST OF THE WORLD COMABAT

There must be somewhere some higher reason why cars, raced between 1963 and 1967 are the most expensive cars at auctions. Why people pay € 10,000,000 and more for a Ferrari 250 GTO? If one looks at those cars they are something more than just a race car. They are objects of art, of a nearly perfect beauty. Nearly a half century later they remain actual and modern, as if they were beyond age. Of all the Ferraris I bought in my life I considered my 250 GT SWB (an original one) and my 250 GTO (a replica on a GTE chassis) as the most exciting i ever raced, far more spectacular than the Filipinetti Ferrari 512M I bought in 1989 at an auction in Monaco. One of my strongest Ferrari memories goes back to the 1989 Ferrari Days at Spa. There were more than 100 cars at the start, among them 37 brand new Ferraris F40. On practice I let Karl Frahm race my own F40 and I decided to drive my 250 GTO (with a motor built following 250 GTO specs). I realised the 6th time overall and had no problems to follow Jean Blaton's 308P (a modern prototype) during three entire laps.

Eventually I clocked the 5th best time, letting all F40s, except my own, behind me. Before the start of the race my wife, Rachida, swore that she should ask the divorce if I entered effectively the race. [Stupid that I listened to her, 20 years later we were effectively divorced: I could have won 20 years ...] So I let my 250 GTO be driven by one of my French mechanics. Unfortunately he didn't dare to take risks and he finished only 27th. I should have done that race. The car was just fabulous. From Keke Rosberg I learnt how to take the Radillon at full speed. That is something fantastic, something you'll never forget in your life. I hope that at the model car version, my invitees can feel a bit of the same thrill, going flat out at the Radillon at Alsdorf.