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THE YUKOS MODEL CAR 2004 LE MANS 24 HOURS
With the financial help of my Yukos friends (involved in FIA GT and Le Mans racing) an Endurance Nations Cup for racers of 8 European countries will be organised on December 18-19, 2004. Each nation enters 2 or 3 experts (driving LMP cars), 2 or 3 youngsters (driving GTS cars) and 2 or 3 amateurs (driving GT cars). In each of the three classes (LMP, GTS, GT) the handout cars will be assembled by the SPP/LMS of Tamar Nelwan, so that the endurance race over 24 hours (3 heats of 8 hours) can go with nearly perfect 1/24th similar model cars, assembled at the highest model standards (including decals, number shields and sun stroke). All assembled cars will be copies of race cars seen at this year's Le Mans 24 hours - among them the 16 cars having finished at the 16 first places. Invited nations are res. Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Selections of the racers will be done by the national coaches, taking the all-time IOC-ranking in consideration on making their choice.
All cars will be raced during 24 x 20 minutes = 8 hours (with 24 cars that makes 3 heats of 8 hours = 24 hours). Time schedule was made in such way that all racers have minimum 8 hours of sleep. Nobody can do more than 4 consecutive stints (Johnny Herbert's maximum at Le Mans this year) and if there are 3 racers per car a new stints-round is only possible after the two other racers had their stint.
In each class the cars win res. 20, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 2 and 1 point for
their nation. The nation having won most points receives € 2,250 cash (€ 250 per team member) to be divided over all racers of the winning nation. The race will be contested on the MRTU Blue King (Uden, NL) on Saturday/Sunday December 18/19 of 2004.
Racers will receive free hotel on Friday and Saturday. There are NO entry fees. Racers under 22 years coming by plane will have their plane ticket paid by IMCA with a maximum of € 250 per ticket (only valid for Spain, Portugal and Denmark). It's a unique opportunity to attend the PERFECT model car race, being in all aspects a model car version of this year's Le Mans 24 hours. Please confirm your entry by e-mail to jppro@pandora.be by June 30, 2004. [JPVR] |
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We all know that slot-racing became an hyper individualistic hobby sport. Endurance racing is one of the means to cultivate a solid team spirit among racers. By organising a competition for racers of several nations, with a solid prize for the winners, team spirit is upgraded to the full one hundred per cent! In order to win the prize the three teams of the same nation (experts with their LMP1 cars, youngsters with their GTS cars and amateurs with their GT cars) have to be extremely competitive. Since all cars are assembled by real model car specialists (Tamar Nelwan, Martin Bartelmes and others) not the cars will make the difference among racers, but their racing abilities!
It's no secret that top favourite is Holland: they are racing on their own national King track and they have the best experience with actual Le Mans cars. But what to think about the German model car racers, being also involved since years in Le Mans model car racing and having an arsenal of top racers. Or what to do with Czechia, always great in competition betsween racers of several nations and having with Josef Korec, Vladimir Horky and Frantisek Poledna the best all-rounders of the world in their ranks? And then you have Spain. Let's not forget the 2000 Nations Cup at Roeselare - the last based upon endurance race principles - where the Spanish drivers could only be beaten thanks to a ...soccer tournament where Belgium collected more bonus points than Spain. And there is of course Belgium with its miracle racer 'Piki' van Rossem and with its unbeatable youngster's trio: Yves Welter jr/Gilles Dohogne/Youri van Rossem. Back after 4 years of absence is France. Can Bruno Chailleux & Cie give full evidence that France is always the great slot-racing nation it was in the past? |
New is Denmark, where model car racing is booming thanks to relentless efforts by Päl Hanson and Henrik Hasager. A Le Mans 24 hour race without Britons is impossible. Portugal was already earlier seen in international model car racing and can now start with equal arms, what was not the case in the past. Only Italy and England will be absent as great European slot-racing nations. Indeed, there are no more Italian youngsters interested in 1/24th model car racing. Salvatore Noviello - in 2001 still model car world champion - and federation president Giovanni Montiglio are unable to align three decent teams. England never answered the invitation, despite 8 mails. Moreover most Britons have no model car experience.
There can be little doubt that the Yukos 24 hours - being a superb model car version of the 2004 Le Mans 24-hours - will be the ULTIMATE MODEL CAR RACE. If the national coaches (Tamar Nelwan for Holland, dr. Günther Riehl for Germany, Josef Korec for Czechia, Francesc Reyes for Spain, JPVR for Belgium, Bruno Chailleux for France, Henrik Hasager for Denmark and Jorge da Cruz for Portugal) can allign their best racers, the Yukos 24 hours will spread the same thrill and suspense as this year's 1/1 scale Le Mans 24 hours. Impossible to forecast which team will win in LMP1, in GTS or in GT.
Let's remember the very simple point's system. The 8 first in each class (LMP1, GTS, GT) win for their nation res. 20, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 2 and 1 points. On Friday evening their will be a Yukos 2004 Le Mans Quiz among the entrants. Here the 8 nations can collect bonus points: res. 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point(s). Addition of all race points + bonus points won per nation will give the winner of the Yukos Nations Cup. |
![[Spain]](http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/e/es.gif){kind=small}
