15th MODEL CAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1/24th

AALST, MAY 6, 2006 (B)

SALVATORE NOVIELLO WINS 124 MC WORLDS

MoMo SW2, PlaFit Excel & S24 best chassis - Slotvision nowhere

May 11 - After a race with serious lapcounter bothers, Salvatore Noviello - already world champion in 1999 and 2001 - won his third world championship after a superb combat with previous year's world champion Nick de Wachter (NL). All the beauty of the race, however, was taking away by a permanently failing lap counter. Only at the main final it became obvious that the lapcounter failed seriously at the inner lanes. Organisers could be lucky that their own lapcounter could be used as backup, but consulting of all files of the non-failing IMCA counter - three days after the race - proved that young Youri van Rossem - already in the main final in 2003 and 2004 - was the first victim of the failure of the Dutch counter. Indeed, in the semi-final he totalled 260 laps instead of 258, so that Geert Mertens (the 2000 world championship) could go to the main instead of the very unhappy Youri. Matthias Parke missed also one lap, with 259 as total instead of 258. He, however, should always have finished fourth in his semi, so that at any rate he should have missed the main. Further analysis of the files of the IMCA counter learns that Tamar Nelwan (NL) misses 2 laps, so that normally he and not Antónin Vojtik should have made the move to the semi-finals. 
The continuous failing of the Dutch counter, unfortunately was discovered too late, after all evil was done. It was the main cause of a heavy discussion at the end of the race. On correcting the Dutch counter, during the first segment of the main final, race director Mack de Wachter increased - non intentionally!!! - the total of his son Nick de Wachter with 2 units instead of 1: 55 laps were noted on the results sheet, while the IMCA files gave (3 days later) full evidence that 54 was the correct total. Since at the finish Nick de Wachter finished with a quarter lap advance over Noviello, Nick de Wachter was initially declared the winner. After a long discussion - where JPVR was absolutely sure having seen 54 laps and not 55 - it was admitted by the race director that he committed an error, so that Salvatore Noviello was declared to be the winner of a tumultuous race. Very unlucky was the intervenience of Mack de Wachter when he insulted one of the German racers. At the end of the meeting several racers insisted to bring Bob Demeyer back as race director. Nevertheless Mack did a great job under difficult conditions. Problems with the Dutch counter were not his fault, but due by the fact that the light tunnel could not be used, only leds under the track.

THE ENTRY
Several racers, having confirmed earlier their entrance, were missing at the start. Valid excuses held "Gugu" Bernardino (BR), Vladimir Horky (CZ), Lasse Åberg (S), Stefan Wiesel (D), Anders Gustafson (S) and Stefan Törnfeldt (S) off from the start. Absent with very poor excuses were those of Dennis Vogel (NL). Robbie Cuppens (B) and Michael Phillipaerts (B) were unable to pay the entry fee. Gilles Dohogne (B) and Yves Welter jr (B) did even not the smallest effort to show with an own DTM car [despite the fact that their club would receive € 2500 sponsor money from DTM sponsors!]. Frank Beyerlein (D), who insisted earlier that IMCA should accept his candidatue didn't show without the smallest warning. Vogel, Beyerlein, Gilles Dohogne and Yves Welter jr will no more be invited at IMCA races. And if Frank Beyerlein is that unreliable there can be no question to let him organise the 2005 IMCA EuroNats. So Berlin 2005 will be replaced by another location and another organiser. The € 2,500 DTM sponsoring for the club of Dohogne and Welter will be given to another club having some more respect for DTM racing.
But most stirring was that Thomas Spicker (D) - mister Slotvision! - who was present didn't enter. Already at free practice it became obvious that the Slotvision chassis had problems to follow the speed developed by the other chassis. It's not impossible that Thomas Spicker decided wisely to retire his car in order to avoid a clear defeat. His team mate Uwe Geiβler took the start but was at no moment in competition for a decent place.

THE PREQUALIFICATION RACE
With 12 withdrawals number of racers having to start in the prequalifica-tion race dropped from 24 to 12. They were split in two groups with the winner of each group plus the fastest second making the move to the eventual world championship race. Fastest qualifier of the 12 was Andreas Laufenberg (D) with an Audi TT/PlaFit Excel in 5"5382, ahead of the Audi TT/MoMo SW1 of Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) and the Mercedes DTM/PlaFit S24 of Michael Krollmann (D).
During the first semi-final Michael Krollmann lost the complete rear axle of his car. When he rejoined the race it appeared that his motor came off. So he dropped from the first to the last place. With Frances Reyes and Marcello Triginelli, both in troubles, America's John Emmons succeeded in finishing as second behind the outstanding Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) and his Audi TT/MoMo SW1. In the second semi-final the Audi TT/PlaFit Excel of Andreas Laufenberg (D) was pulling away from the rest of the field. Only Chris Radisich (NZ) succeeded to prevent that the gap became not too big. Towards the end of the race, and after some mechanical problems from the Kiwi, driving a Mercedes DTM/ Schoeler with dragging body, there was a serious thrill to know if Chris should still be able to achieve more laps than John Emmons had done on his second place. Eventually Radisich was one full lap faster than Emmons, so that he, as fastest second, made with Laufenberg and Vadlejch the move to the eventual race.

QUALIFICATIONS
24 cars qualified in order to determine the composition of the heats. Juanma de Torres Perez (E) was the first to go under 5"5 with his Audi TT/MoMo SW2: 5"4674. Immediately after Michael Niemas (D) on Opel Astra V8/Plafit S24 went under 5"4, realising a sharp 5"3915. None of the three top favourites - Noviello, De Wachter and "Piki" - succeeded to improve that time, after all others failed. So Niemas was the pole sitter with Nick de Wachter (NL) as second in 5"4284 and Salvatore Noviello (I) in 5"4815. Extremely disappointing was the time realised by "Piki" (B), the triple 2003 IMCA world champion. With his 5"6634 he was only 17th on the grid, a clear proof how 9 months of inactivity had bad influence on his speed.

HEATS
There were no big surprises at the four 6 x 3' heats, except for the fact that Josef Korec (CZ) on Audi TT/MoMo SW1, Tamar Nelwan on Mercedes DTM/PlaFit Excel and Dieter Jens on Mercedes DTM/Schoeler Tigre P missed all three the move. Jens was victim of mechanical problems on the moment he was leading his heat. He rejoined the race in a hopeless position. Out too were Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ), Daniele Malangone (I), Chris Radisich (NZ) and Dan Debella (USA). The last named didn't race since 17 years. He seemed on his way to an easy qualification, since with two segments to go he was still a solid second in his heat. However his race on lanes red and white were a pure disaster, costing him 11 laps! Only 3 days after the race, on consulting the hexadecimal files, sent by the IMCA counter to the computer, it became obvious that Tamar should have made the move.

SEMI-FINALS
Among the twelve semi-finalists we found five cars on a PlaFit Excel chassis (those of Nick de Wachter, "Piki", Laufenberg, Youri van Rossem and JPVR). One car used the PlaFit S24 (Niemas's). Four cars were mounted on MoMo SW2 (Noviello, Borch, Parke and Mertens). Two cars were fitted on a MoMo SW1 chassis (Vojtik's and Kivekäs's). Of the four Schoeler Tigre  chassis, none reached the semis. Of the four Slotvisions none was in the semis. It seems as if the Slotvision is not built for heavier motors than the Fox. Both Metris Mk 2.0 chassis failed also.

The first semi-final was disastrous. Still unaware of the failing of the Dutch counter, Youri van Rossem, who was leading his semi ahead of Andreas Laufenberg and Michael Niemas - three youngsters - dropped without visible reasons and without deslotting from rank 1 to rank 5. Loud protest of Youri - a born revolutionar contesting all the time anything - was ignored, since the figures on the Dutch computer were trusted and since nobody controlled the back-up computer now that JPVR had to race himself in the same semi. However, Youri succeeded to come back in third position. But all at once, again without deslotting, he felt back in fifth position, without having been depassed. The Dutch counter thus failed for a second time. At the finish Youri was two metres behind the deslotting Mercedes of Parke (who missed also a lap), but deslotted himself when the power came off. Officially he finished as 5th behind Laufenberg, Niemas, Mertens and Parke. Since all dates of the IMCA counter in back-up go to the computer in hexadecimal form, and since there was absolutely no time to check all of them, the result was maintained. Towards the end of his semi JPVR himself was more looking to the strange figures on the screen than to his own car. Up from now he returned to the race director's stand to compare continuously the figures on the IMCA counter with this of the Dutch counter. It immediately became obvious that the Dutch counter made errors on the inner lanes. Up from now those errors were scrupulously corrected - and not only for the Dutch or Belgian racers as Matthias Parke wrote on his forum (why?).
In the other semi-final Antonin Vojtik, Martin Borch and Kai Kivekäs did what they could to follow the trio "Piki"-Noviello-De Wachter. At no avail since that trio was pulling away from the rest of the field. At the finish "Piki" finished a half lap ahead over Nick and one over Salvatore.
MAIN-FINAL
In the main final we found three PlaFit Excel chassis (for Nick de Wachter, "Piki" and Andreas Laufenberg), one PlaFit S24 (for Michael Niemas) and two MoMos SW2 (for Noviello and Mertens). Shortly after the start the trio Noviello-De Wachter-"Piki" pulls away from the rest of the field, following Mertens, leading the race on the fastest lane. Nick de Wachter deslots early in the first segment and looses nearly a full lap. Michael Niemas remains with Mertens, Noviello and "Piki" in the lead lap, but the Italian is obviously the fastest. After the first segment Mertens, Noviello, "Piki" and Niemas have all three 55 laps. Nick, who ends 5 metres behind Noviello is given by error 55 laps instead of 54, being the begin of a heavy discussion. Indeed, both for Noviello and De Wachter the Dutch counter missed from one lap. Race director Mack made the error to increase Nick's total by two instead of by one. Noviello continues his protest that he lost one lap. But since the lost lap was corrected there is a confusion: JPVR is not aware that Nick's lap total was increased by 2 instead of 1 lap. The race continues with Nick passing Noviello and holding it until the finish. Meanwhile Mertens has been passed on the slower lanes by all other finalists. So the race direction believes that Nick is the winner. The history of the Dutch counter is then consulted and it appears that Nick received 55 laps for his first segment, while JPVR is affirmative that 54 was to be seen at the back up IMCA counter. Noviello receives his due and is declared the winner. Nick is second one lap behind. All that time "Piki" was in the same lap as Nick, but at his last run on black he looses 4 laps. So he finishes third at 5 laps. Towards the end of the race an excellent Andreas Laufenberg can pass Niemas for the fourth place. [JPVR]

15th 124 MODEL CAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (May 6)

3rd MODEL CAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1/32nd

AALST, MAY 5, 2006 (B)

NICK DE WACHTER WINS 132 MC WORLDS

Excellent performance by Daniel Gonzalez

May 12 - The 132 Model Car Worlds were intended to be a curtain raiser, allowing the racers to become familiar with the track.  Winner was Hollands Nick de Wachter, just as last year.
One hour before the start handout was done of the chassis, motor and tires, to be assembled by the racers. First man to be ready was Kai Kivekäs (SF), the Finnish specialist in 1/32nd racing. Chassis was the nearly undriveable TSRF of Philippe de Lespinay, having been improved on six points by NSR. Thanks to the very special tyres NSR succeeded to give some grip on those strange little cars. It has been written that Nick de Wachter and "Piki" used their old chassis. This is ABSOLUTELY untrue. What they did was comparing their old chassis with the new one, without using the smallest part of the old one. I really don't know why such desinformation has been written down.
During the short practice time before the start Kai Kivekäs (SF) and Yves Welter jr were the two fastest men on the track, but at the qualifications Gilles Dohogne (B) was fastest in 5"5989, followed by Daniele Malango-ne, Nick de Wachter (NL) and Salvatore Noviello (I). The race director discovered that Salvatore Noviello had dipped the motor in a fuel, to make that the brushes adapted them immediately at the collector. So, Salvatore had to replace his motor by a new one, not having been dipped in fuel. At the handout of the cars a mistake was made, so that Michael Niemas received no chassis. Once this was remarked the race was already on.

Thomas Spicker decided not to start, so that 18 racers showed for 3 Quarters of 6 x 4'. Only the two fast of each Quarter made the move to the eventual Main Final. Initially the car of Yves Welter jr went as a rocket, but all at once his car was slowing down, dropping him out of the standings. The three most unlucky guys were Kai Kivekäs, Günther Riehl (D) and Kevin Krollmann (D), all three finishing in their Quarter at the third place. We also lost Dieter Jens (D) and surprisingly Josef Korec (CZ). The six finalists in this extremely fair race with equal weapons for everybody were the six best racers around the track, with the trio Nick de Wachter, Noviello and "Piki" - also the three first of the 124 MC Worlds, contested later - as the three fastest. Towards the end of his Quarter, De Wachter, being sure about his qualification, slowed down (which cost him easily 10 to 12 laps). The 6 finalists were Noviello and Malangone from Italy, "Piki" and Gilles Dohogne from Belgium, Nick de Wachter from Holland and the remarkable Daniel Gonzalez from Spain. In 2003 Gonzalez finished already third at the real first 132 Worlds.
In the Main Noviello was the fastest starter with Gonzalez immediately behind. During the second segment Gonzalez went out at the lead, whilst De Wachter succeeded to pass Noviello. During the two following segments "Piki" passed Gonzalez and the trio De Wachter-Noviello-Piki was pulling away from the rest of the field. Positions didn't change in the two last segments and Nick de Wachter won his fourth world champion-ship.

8th MELLO YELLO JUNIORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1/24th

AALST, MAY 5, 2006 (B)

GONZALEZ WINS MELLO YELLO JR WORLDS

Computer files prove that he won, not Nick de Wachter

May 12 - Since years the Mello Yello Junior World Championship, for racers under 22 is the most thrilling race of the IMCA Nats. Also this year this was the case. We witnessed a splendid fight between Michael Niemas, Nick de Wachter and Daniel Gonzalez. Eventually Nick de Wachter won, but after a written complaint by Francesc Reyes the computer files were analysed and it appeared that Gonzalez had effectively 2 laps more and Nick one lap less. The results were corrected two weeks after the event.
THE ENTRY
It was quite a surprise to see that two serious candidates for the Mello Yello, Yves Welter jr (B) and Gilles Dohogne (B) appeared without a decent DTM car. So JPVR decided to give them two excellent cars built by Matthias Parke. All Welter did was to take out the front axle, to remove the spacers, and coming tell five minutes before the start that he wishn't to drive such "slow" car. This may be considered as a clear insult at the address of Matthias Parke, since it was an excellent car, which has been proven at the 124 Worlds, where Geert Mertens was leading the main final during the two first segments, to finish 6th overall. Gilles Dohogne gave no explanation for his last minute withdrawal. At Barcelona they will no longer be invited by the Belgian team. Two other youngsters, Robby Cuppens and Michael Phillipaerts, were unable to pay the entry fee and were not accepted at the start. That reduced the entrance to 11 racers, however of the best thinkable quality. So the race was reduced to two Semis where only the 3 fastest could make the move.
QUALIFICATIONS
At the qualifications Michael Niemas, on Opel Astra V8/PlaFit S24 caused a stir by going faster than the Opel Astra V8/PlaFit Excel of Nick de Wachter, the 2004 Mello Yello junior world champion. Niemas clocked 5"5405 and was the lonely one to go under 5"6. Four other drivers could go under 5"7, not only the earlier named Nick de Wachter, but also Daniel Gonzalez on Audi TT-R/MoMo SW2, Andreas Laufenberg on Audi TT-R/PlaFit Excel and Youri van Rossem on Audi TT-R/PlaFit Excel. Of the three Mercedes DTM cars at the start, only those of Colin Herzig (on Schoeler Tigre G) and Kevin Krollmann (on PlaFit S24) seemed to be competitive. The Slotvision Mercedes of Bruno di Dotto didn't work ar all, proving once more that the chassis has problems if equipped with the heavy Bison Mk3 motor. Disappointing were the results of the two Czech youngsters Antónin Vojtik and Miroslav Vadlejch. There Audi TT-R body was not fixed well on the MoMo SW1 chassis. The Opel Astra V8/Metris Mk 2.0 of Christian Høfler was intrinsically much faster than the 5"8562, but Christian had still problems with the track, braking always too fast at the end of the straight. In its Semi the Metris was pretty fast, since we noted a 5"311 as fasted time for Christian. It seems as if something could be wrong with the weight distribution of the Metris. If that could be corrected, it could become the best chassis of the moment.

SEMI FINALS
The Semis went without surprises. Only Antónin Vojtik was victim of a dragging body, making him to loose 20 laps in the pits. Otherwise he should have beaten Kevin Krollmann and have made the move to the Main Final. In the first Semi Gonzalez and Niemas were immediately pulling away from the rest of the field. Gonzalez was initially the leader, but once on the slower outer lanes he was passed by Niemas, rocketing his Opel Astra V8 over the track, and lapping the whole field each two minutes. At the end of the 6 x 4' Niemas achieved 257 laps. In the other Semi nobody could do better. Even Nick de Wachter was 6 full laps slower than Niemas in the first Semi. Eventually the six racers making the move to the Main were Nick de Wachter (NL), Youri van Rossem (B) and Andreas Laufenberg (D), all three on PlaFit Excel; Michael Niemas (D) and Kevin Krollmann (D), both on PlaFit S24; and Daniel Gonzalez (E) on MoMo SW2. The so-called American "wonderboy" Colin Herzig on Schoeler Tigre G could not confirm all the good which was told about him. Miroslav Vadlejch disappointed with a car with the wrong set-up. Christian Høfler was fast but deslotted too many times to reach the Main.
MAIN FINAL
For the real first time since Mörfelden 1995 we found three Germans in the main final of the Mello Yello Junior Worlds. That year Bernat Basas (E) won. Now everybody was curious to see if Daniel Gonzalez (E) could be the second Spanish world champion in history. Before the start most spectators were convinced that the battle should go between the hyper fast Niemas, the stirring Gonzalez and the born winner Nick de Wachter. Immediately after the start those three were pulling away from the others, with Youri van Rossem and Andreas Laufenberg doing great efforts to restrict the gap. Of them Laufenberg succeeded until mid-race to rest at two laps of the trio Niemas-Gonzalez-De Wachter, where Gonzalez was setting the pace.
What followed was a gruelling combat between Niemas and Gonzalez for the first place with Nick de Wachter having serious problems to follow the terrible pace. We had vto wait mid-race to see Niemas passing Gonzalez. During a complete fourth segment leading position changed lap after lap, because Gonzalez was extremely motivated to win. Behind them Nick de Wachter, who was at the slower outer lanes, did all he could not to be outpaced by the German-Spanish duo. Laufenberg, Youri and Kevin Krollmann had already let go the three first and were struggling among them for the fourth place.
The battle for first was of an extremely beauty with three great champions fighting for any inch. Once on the inner lanes Nick de Wachter could undo his one lap arrear to join the two leaders. In an ultimate effort he succeeded to pass Gonzalez, attacking continuously the first place of Niemas. Immediately after the race there was a strong protest by the Spaniards that the lap counter made a mistake. Analysis of the computer files proved that Nick received one lap more and Gonzalez two laps less. So Gonzalez is the winner. [JPVR]

Racer

Nat

Car

 Chassis

Qualif

FRANCO GIANOTTI TROPHY FOR CONSTRUCTORS 1/24TH

AALST, MAY 6-8, 2006 (B)

NOVIELLO & "PIKI" VAN ROSSEM WIN IT ALL

Youri van Rossem best youngster, Triginelli best amateur

This year the Franco Gianotti Trophy went over three races with classic cars. There were separate standings for Experts, Youngsters and Amateurs. The three rounds were also decicive for the Constructors World Championship. Two constructors were present to prepair their cars (Andreas Fehn and Thomas Spicker), but were already home before the start of the first round. Extremely motivated to win the Constructor's Trophy were Matthias Parke, Tamar Nelwan, Dieter Jens, Nick de Wachter and Pit Schwaar. The last named, who prepaired excellent cars for Gilles Dohogne and Yves Welter jr was extremely disappointed that both didn(t show without the smallest warning. At the real last minute it was decided that Youri - already team mate of Nick de Wachter among the youngsters - should drive one car, and that Robby Cuppens should drive the other. Alyhough they did great - Youri won among the GT cars with Schwaar's Ferrari Daytona at the first round, beating Michael Niemas (!), and Robby realised the pole position at the third round - none of them has the talent of Yves Welter jr. So Pit Schwaar lost from Matthias Parke and Tamar Nelwan in the Constructors Championship. It was unanimously decided that Yves Welter jr and Gilles Dohogne will no longer invited at international IMCA races.

The three rounds were dominated by the Ferraris of "Piki" and Noviello, finishing at the three rounds as winner. Among the experts there was only opposition from the cars driven by Kivekäs/Malangone, Parke/Riehl, Parke/Korec and Jens/Mertens. Much more opposition, however, came from the cars driven by the youngsters, especially those of Nick de Wachter/Youri van Rossem, Michael Niemas/Kevin Krollmann, Andreas Laufenberg/Christian Schnitzler and Antónin Vojtik/Miroslav Vadlejch. Eventually Piki/Noviello collected among the experts the maximum of points: 60. Kivekäs/Malangone came second with 24 points, Josef Korec third with 18 points and Parke/Riehl fourth with 17 points. Then followed Nelwan/Inäbnit as fifth experts and Jens/Mertens as sixth experts. JPVR/Dan Debella collected only points in the last round. Due to computer errors they were ranked in the last round two ranks lower than what they effectively did. Especially Dan Debella - having no more raced since 17 years - achieved a great performance in this last round. Disappointing were the results obtained by Reyes/Torres and Hood/Radisich. Of that last named team Radisich was fast, but Fred had the whole week end problems to find the correct rythm, because on a track as the one used, rythm is all what it is about. Since Noviello qualified in the last round faster than Piki, he was ranked first among the experts, Piki second, Malangone third and Kivekäs fourth.

Among the youngsters Nick de Wachter/Youri van Rossem were second overall in the first round, third overall in the second and the third round. Especially in the last round there was a gruelling combat between them and the tiny Chevron-Mazda of Niemas/Krollmann. That little Chevron was wonderfully prepared by Niemas and caused a real stir. Nick/Youri collected 42 points over the three races, Niemas/Kroll-mann 38 points. Danmark's young Christian Høfler caused a stir by finishing among the youngsters in third position (with 32 points). Youri, who had to drive in all rounds with two cars - due to the absence of Yves Welter jr/Gilles Dohogne - collected another 30 points with his Ferrari Daytona (GT winner in the two first races). In the last race Pit Schwaar made the mistake to give his fastest AAW Porsche 917 to Robby Cuppens (who realised a splendid pole with it at the qualifications) and his much slower Ferrari 512S to Youri. Nevertheless Youri finished ahead of Robby, but not in the points at that last race. Andreas Laufenberg and Christian Schnitzler (an exellent youngster!) finished at the fifth place among the youngsters, ahead over Vojtik and Vadlejch. Colin Herzig - announced as America's wonderboy - disappointed. Only at the last round we saw that he has talent.

Among the amateurs Bruno di Dotto, Gert Klinge, and Francesc Reyes had the handicap that they had to compete with the experts, so that they failed to collect points. That was not the case for Henrik Hasager (DK) and Marcello Triginelli (BR) who were involved in a continuous battle for the title of Amateur's World Champion. Everything was decided in the last round. Initially Hasager was a strong leader, ahead over Triginelli, but after a couple of deslottings of the Danish racer, Triginelli succeeded - not without problems - to pass Hasager. During the 10 last segments we witnessed a splendid combat between the two. Eventually Triginelli won with less than two laps advantage, taking the title. David Lahoz of Spain caused a surprise by finishing as third amateur, ahead of John Emmons (USA), Mack de Wachter (NL) and Paul Heath (NZ). Especially Mack had serious problems with his cars, prepared by Thomas Spicker. In his first race he lost both front wheels, in his second the motor came off and in his third he had to retire with motor problems. Of all Slotvisions at the start, only those raced by Josef Korec (among the experts) and by Niemas/Kroll-mann (in a Dieter Jens configuration) were really competitive. The fact that Thomas was no longer there to help his racers may explain it all.

Among the Amateurs Brazil's Marcello Triginelli (mid), who entered his real first model car event, won ahead over Henrik Hasager (DK) and the surprising David Lahoz (E). So Triginelli is the new amateur's world champion and successor of Gabriel Inäbnit (CH).

 FINAL RANKING F. GIANOTTI TROPHY (May 6-8)

Racers

Constructor

Chassis

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

17th BENELUX TROPHY: F. GIANOTTI ROUND #1 (May 6-7)

F.l.t.r. Salvatore Noviello (I), Matthias Parke (D), Nick de Wachter (NL), Michael Niemas (D), Daniele Malangone (I) and Gabriel Inäbnit (CH). Their cars won the 6 first places at the last round.

5th R.O.C.: F. GIANOTTI ROUND #2 (May 7)

6th LM CLASSIC TEAM RACE: F. GIANOTTI ROUND #3 (May 7-8)

2005 IMCA CONSTRUCTOR'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (May 7-8)

NELWAN CONSTRUCTOR WORLD CHAMP

After fight with Parke and Schwaar until last race!

An emotionally affected Tamar Nelwan in the Constructor's World Championship shirt. Pitter Schwaar finished third, last year's Constructor World Champion Matthias Parke finished second. We see also Günther Riehl, Francesc Reyes and Geert Mertens.

Matthias Parke (D) is perhaps not the easiest person in the world, but he is undoubtedly one of the best constructors of model cars in the world. At the 2005 Constructor's World Championship he was not beaten by Tamar Nelwan (NL) but by a complete team. Indeed, in order to defeat Matthias Parke the Dutchman worked with a complete team. He had Andreas Laufenberg (D) to prepair the tyres for his 11 cars, could count on Nick de Wachter (NL) to do the perfect set-up of all the chassis, found in Mario (D) a perfect co-ordinator, informing the racers continuously about their standings, was helped by Gabriel Inäbnit (CH) to prepair the bodies, and was working himself day and night to hold everything under control. Moreover, with Salvatore Noviello (I) and "Piki" van Rossem (B) he had the best racers in his team. Of those two "Piki" realised the lap record of the week end by clocking a lap in 4"8326 on lane green with the yellow Belgian Ferrari 512S Coda Lunga, built by Tamar & Co. Nick de Wachter himself showed with a constructor's shadow team, holding Parke off of more points. Matthias Parke, from his side, stood completely alone. There was no team behind him to co-ordinate anything. With Kai Kivekäs (SF), Daniele Malangone (I) and Günther Riehl (D), he had three good racers to support him, however not of the same calibre as Tamar's racers. Being decided to go for it until the last minute, he was allowed that in the last race the IOC #1, Josef Korec (CZ), could join his team. He and Korec did what they con to win the decisive last race, where they were beaten by Noviello/Piki on one of Tamar's car and were they were hold off the second place by the Nick de Wachter Ferrari driven by himself and Youri. The difference between that car and Matthias's was extremely narrow, otherwise Parke should have collected 4 points more (he finished 5.3 points down to Tamar in the overall ranking).

But now it comes. On consulting all dates of the IMCA lap counter we discovered that at the last heat of the last round Dan Debella totalised 206 laps instead of 196 (which was a typing error). So he, driving one of Parke's cars, finished as fifth expert, good for 4 points, not as sixth expert, good for 2 points. That means that, if Matthias Parke and Josef Korec should have finished second in the last round, not Tamar, but Parke should have been the winner. More evidence at what point Parke is an excellent constructor, cannot be given. He alone against the complete Dutch-German coalition of Tamar Nelwan & Co, failed to win his second constructor's title for only a couple of inches!
Among the other constructors Pitter Schwaar (D) was in the running for victory until the real last round. Here he committed an unbelievable error by giving his fastest car at the last round in hands of young Robby Cuppens (D), lacking experience in international racing. Robby realised the pole at the last race, but could not maintain his position during the race. Should Pit have given his #18 Porsche 917K in hands of Youri van Rossem (B), instead of his much slower Filipinetti Ferrari, he could had won the 20 points for experts instead of none. It's for sure that if Yves Welter jr (B) and Gilles Dohogne (B) should have been there, Schwaar had a real chance to beat Tamar Nelwan and Matthias Parke.
Of the other constructors Nick de Wachter (NL) lost lots of concourse points with his three Porsches 911S having been built at the real last minute. Otherwise he could have won 30 points more. Dieter Jens (D) collected 20 points with his Chevron-Mazda (on a Slotvision chassis), but struggled with problems on his KG Salzburg Porsches. Thomas Spicker (D) lost lots of points by being absent once the races had started. So his racers had to do it without team captain. [JPVR]

FINAL RANKING 2nd CONSTRUCTOR'S WORLD TROPHY

Racers

Chassis

Concourse

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

New Zealand's Paul "Split" Heath won the Modeler's world championship ahead of Matthias Parke (D) and Michael Niemas (D). He worked during 6 months every week-end at his Opel Astra V8 and had to fly 22 hours from New Zealand to Brussels. On the picture we recognise also Fred Hood (USA), Francesc Reyes (E) and Robbie Cuppens (B).

Paul "Split" Heath of New Zealand is the 8th Concourse world cham-pion. He showed with a splendid Opel Astra V8 with a hyper detailed motor in front. Due to arrears on the time schedule the selection of the cars having scored a 20/20 was a little bit fast. For one of the Mercedes cars having be quoted 20/20 there was even a serious error, since, in fact, it was a prepainted body. Eventually only 9 cars of the 33 present were entered for the ultimate voting. There was the 24h Service Mercedes DTM of Matthias Parke (D), the Warsteiner Mercedes DTM of Kai Kivekäs (SF), the Original Teile Mercedes DTM of Kevin Krollmann (D), the Sport Bild Opel Astra V8 of Michael Niemas, the SAT1 Opel Astra V8 of Gabriel Inäbnit (CH), the Warsteiner Mercedes DTM of Martin Borch (DK), the Warsteiner Mercedes DTM and Opel PM of Matthias Parke (D) and of course the PM Magazin Opel Astra V8 of Paul "Split" Heath. Since Pitter Schwaar had no DTM car present, a major candidate for victory disappeared.
Of those car at least four were as good as perfect. On his SAT1 Opel Gabriel Inäbnit had made perfect decals and replaced the name of the original driver by his own name. The Sport Bild Opel Astra V8 of Michael Niemas was perfect until the last detail. But those two cars were eventually let behind by the Keke Rosberg Mercedes of Matthias Parke, being the most beautiful DTM car ever seen. However, it was obvious, already before the voting, that the Opel Astra of Paul "Split" Heath should be the winner. With its opened wing doors and its brilliant motor in front, the car was so spectacular, that most of the voters forgot the small errors made by "Split".

From each country one person could give res. 5, 3 and 1 point(s) to each of the 8 cars. After the first votes Split's car took a considerable advance over all others. But when JPVR voted for Belgium and gave 5 points to Parke's car, 3 points to Inäbnit's car and 1 point to Niemas's car, the remaining votes changed. Insinuations that Chris Radisich gave a 5-pointer to his country mate "Split", were based upon a misunderstanding from a German text.  Eventually Split's car got 39 votes, Matthias's won 32 votes with his Rosberg Mercedes and 1 vote with his Warsteiner Mercedes (33 votes in total), Niemas won 20 votes with his Sport Bild Opel, Inäbnit won 15 votes with his SAT1 Opel and Martin Borch got one vote with his Warsteiner Mercedes. So even, if Radisich's votes should have been declared void, Split should still have been the winner.
Personally I think that most racers agreed that Parke's 24h Service Mercedes was the moral winner, but they had such admiration for all the work done by Split on his Opel Astra, that they were afraid to rank the Kiwi as second. Already last year "Split" finished as second behind George Kimber (GB). This year good old George couldn't show since the IMCA Nats were contested at the same date as the BSCRA 132 Nats (where George reached twice the main final!)
Noteworth also is that the Audi TT-R built by Tamar Nelwan (NL) for Youri should have been among the 20/20 cars should he not have forgotten the towing brackets in front and in rear. Together with the Audi TT-R of Andreas Laufenberg (D), it was the lonely other Audi being a good copy of the original race cars.  [JPVR]

LATEST NEWS: 124 DTM PRACTICE AT 10am!

Race Location will be closed on Wednesday!  Own controllers at F. Gianotti Races - Free Practice 124 DTM cars from 10-13h!

April 29 - Once more Dennis Vogel - the 2001 juniors world champion - gives fofait, less than one week before the start. It's not the first time that Vogel acts in such way. In Ostend, at the 2002 Worlds, he refused to start and to defend his title after a dispute with his own national team coach. This behavior cost him one year of suspension at international racing in 2003. This year Vogel asked Nick de Wachter to build a good DTM car in view of the Worlds. At no moment he told that he shouldn't show. His excuse this year is that the entry fees are too high for him. Vogel will be replaced at the Franco Gianotti Trophy by Christian Schnitzler from Germany. Vogel - totally unreliable - risks now a three year suspension in international racing. It's hard to see how some constructor will select him any longer for the 2006 Barcelona Worlds.
In the Swedish team Stefan Törnfeldt will be replaced by model car racer Niklas Lindblum. As one knows Stefan's brother Claes passed away, so that Stefan is now alone to run the business he started up with his brother. Stefan was unable to take free for four days.
Among the amateurs Stoffel Vos knew only yesterday that he is unable to show at the rounds of the Franco Gianotti Trophy. He too risks a one year suspension from international racing. He probably will be replaced by Fréderic Comhaire.

* We remember that it's totally useless to show at the raceway on Wed-nesday May 3, since we have to install the new lap counter, to test it, and since we have to move the tables to the income hall during the late evening. So, please, don't show on Wednesday.
* Several racers had objections against the fact that no entering the 132 Worlds gave an illegal advantage to those racers involved in the 124 DTM Worlds. So we decided that free practice for all 124 DTM cars will be from 10.00h thru 13.00h on Tursday morning. At 13.00h those cars go to the enclosed zone. They'll quit the enclosed zone only to mount the Sakatsu rear handout wheels (2'30" per group of 8 racers). Technical Control of 124 DTM cars will be from 20.00h thru 20.15h for the DTM cars entering the Mello Yello World Championship for Juniors and from 23.00h thry 24.00h for the other cars. IMPORTANT: This imlies that all 124 DTM should be ready no later tan 13.00h on Thursday!
* Free practice of classic cars, entering the Constructor's Worlds, is from 7.00h thru 10.00h on Thursday morning.
* Several racers asked us if they can use their own controllers. This will be allowed at the races of the Franco Gianotti Trophy. At the other races NSR digital controllers fixed to the track will be used since there is no time to check all controllers on Thursday and Friday. [JPVR]

Who can beat Nick de Wachter? Niemas!

Are Matthias's cars better than Nick's? First Test Results

April 16 - Three weeks before the start of the 15th Model Car World Championship it's good to make some forecasts. Top favourite is Hol-land's Nick de Wachter, the reigning world champion.  He's an excellent model car builder from the school of wizard Philip de Vries, having out-classed his master. Although he has no experience with Wiesel/Ortmann rubber tires, he prepared the main race very precisely, especially after having found Andreas Laufenberg as the man to learn him how to use such rubber tires.
A world championship is a total other race than a simple national race. The system of prequalification, quarter-finals, semi-finals and main final results in a strong pression on the shoulders of all entrants. Up to now it never happened that a racer without strong international experience could win the Model Car Worlds. Very experienced international racers as 'Piki' (B), Salvatore Noviello (I), Josef Korec (CZ) and Geert Mertens (B) are undoubtedly candidate-winners should Nick de Wachter fail. But I think also on the Swedish wing car racers Lasse Åberg and Anders Gustafson. Especially Åberg - twice wing car world champion - is always dangerous. Last year he entered for the first time the ISRA Worlds for scale cars and finished as runner-up to Petr Krcil (CZ). Ten years ago, in Mörfelden, Åberg en Gustafson were very fast with model cars. Gustaf-son won even the Race of the Champions that year.
But it seems that the 15th Model Car Worlds will become a contest among pure model car constructors [such as Thomas Spicker (D) with his own Slotvision, Dieter Jens (D) with Slotvision or Schoeler, Matthias Parke (D) with MoMo, Nick de Wachter (NL) with PlaFit, Yves Welter jr (B) with PlaFit, Francesc Reyes (E) with MoMo, Josef Korec (CZ) with MoMo, etc.], no longer a contest among pure flyers such as Salvatore Noviello (I), as 'Piki' (B), as Antónin Vojtik (CZ), etc.  From Spicker the market expects that he can prove that his Slotvision chassis is the best on the market. Compared to that other excellent model car builder, Matthias Parke, Spicker has the advantage to have, just as Jens, a strong international experience. Should Spicker fail there is always Dieter Jens. However it's not impossible that he'll use the new Schoeler chassis instead of the Slotvision.
Very experienced too are Luiz "Gugu" Bernardino (BR) and Jozef Miskolci (SVK). In a top day they can come out as a winner. But my personal three favourites are Yves Welter jr (B), Dan Debella (USA) and above all the young Michael Niemas (D).  Welter finished last year second to Nick de Wachter, both at the 124 Model Car Worlds and at the Mello Yello Junior Worlds. He races nearly every week-end somewhere in Europe. Debella is a perfectionist and certainly will not show as a tourist but with the intention to win. Michael Niemas was already present at the 2000 Worlds at Roeselare. He improved a lot and is one of the most reliable young racers. Moreover he has experience in 1/1 autosport racing where he scored fine results in Formule BMW/ADAC, despite a restricted racing budget. To me he seems the man who can beat Nick. [JPVR]

Lasse Åberg (S)

Yves Welter jr (B)

Dan Debella (USA)

Thomas Spicker (D)

Dieter Jens (D)

Anders Gustafson (S)

'Gugu' Bernardino (BR)

Jozef Miskolci (SVK)

Antónin Vojtik (CZ)

                        WHAT's NEW
* Race director Bob Demeyer - active at the Worlds of 2001-2004 - is no longer active and will be replaced by Mack de Wachter (NL).
* There is excellent power on the track now that Peter van Erkel (NL) - the power supply specialist at Philips - changed the complete power system and rebraided the track by placing cupper wire under the plastic rails. Number of power connections was increased from 3 to 8 on all lanes.
* A new lap counting system - PDS counter - will replace the old system, so that manual errors are excluded.
* The bar will be placed in the income hall and the quality of the sandwiches will be improved. There will be continuously two bar men.
* All entry fees for the complete meeting are to be paid upon arrival.
* Each entrant will receive 2 t-shirts with his/her name in front together with the IOC rank number, the national flag and the number of earlier won worlds (indicated by rainbow flags). Experts will find their name in black on their t-shirts, youngsters in blue and amateurs in red.
* There is a new Nations Cup, a sculpture made by André Chaudy. The Cup will go after the meeting definitively to the captain of the winning national team. There is no longer a Belgium B team, but one team per country.
* Concourse will be this year much more severe than in the previous years. Racers intended to go after the concourse world title should consult the concourse list with objective criterions as published in art. 12 of the 2005 IMCA Rule Book. There will be voting by the captains of the national teams for only those cars having scored a 20/20.
* The following racers will be considered by IMCA as the national captains: Germany (10 entrants): Dieter Jens (IOC #10); Belgium (7 entrants): JPVR (IOC #3); Czechia (4 entrants): Josef Korec (IOC #2); Sweden (3 entrants): Lasse Aberg (IOC #26); USA (3 entrants): Fred Hood (IOC #31); Netherlands (3 entrants): Tamar Nelwan (IOC #18); Brazil (3 entrants): 'Gugu' Bernardino (IOC #14); Italy (2 entrants): Salvatore Noviello (IOC #5); Spain (2 entrants): Francesc Reyes (IOC #97); New Zealand (2 entrants): Chris Radisich (IOC #89); Denmark (2 racers): Henrik Hasager (IOC #210); for countries showing with only one selected racer such as Slovakia, Finland, Switzerland and Austria the lonely entrant is obviously the national coach. [JPVR]