7th BRUSSELS X-MAS RACES (AALST: December 20)
39°C FEVER CAN'T STOP "PIKI" TO WIN TWICE
Gilles Dohogne R.O.Y. but N. de Wachter & Youri best youngsters

Music? The three best racers at the 7th and last BXL X-Mas Racing in history with f.l.t.r. "Piki" van Rossem (B), Youri van Rossem (B) and rookie Nick de Wachter (NL). RIGHT: The 6 cars at the A final of the X-Mas Night Race, with JPVR's #43 Dodge STP Cheerios, Antonin Vojtik's #31 Cingular Dodge, Nick de Wachter's #28 Havoline Ford, Youri's #23 Stacker 2 Dodge, Piki's #18 Interstate Pontiac and Tamar Nelwan's #10 Valvoline Pontiac. Five of the 6 cars were mounted on a PlaFit Springsteel chassis, only Vojtik's car was mounted on a MoMo chassis.
	SPLENDID VENUE IMCA's two BXL X-Mas Races were the two last international IOC races of the 2003 season. They were contested at the brand new Belgian Model Car Centre, being one of the most luxuous clubs in Europe, with against the walls pictures of JPVR's vintage Ferraris together with a reproduction of a painting of Belgium's René Magueritte. Thanks to help of Bob Demeyer and Herman Helskens the racing premises were ready one week before the race. Track is a 25-metre Carrera 6-laner, designed 17 years ago by Sergio Maresca and Jan Limpach, totally flat and without bridge. First practical tests were done one week before the race in presence of Philip de Vries, Tamar Nelwan, Ton Jacobs, Peter Reijerkerk, Nick de Wachter and 'Piki'. During those tests the #97 Ford Sharpies Rubbermaid, built for Yves Welter jr, was the fastest in 4"942. During the week preceding the BXL X-Mas Races two digital Märklin trains were added to the track offering a splendid view of a real model car track. First to arrive on Friday afternoon was Ralph Klose from Germany. Unfortunately he couldn't stay for the race since his wife Barabara is not feeling well after a chirurgical operation. Next to show were the five racers of Sweden: Lasse Äberg, Mikail Silén, Michael Landrud, Stefan Törnfeldt and Anders Gustafson, together with the three racers from Denmark: Päl Hanson, Thomas Mörtensen en Henrik Hasager. Shortly later they were followed by the Dutch racers: Tamar Nelwan, Nick De Wachter, Ton Jacobs and Peter Reijerkerk. They came together with wizard Philip de Vries and Mac De Wachter - none of those two entering the race. Of the Belgians only JPVR was present. Then came the four Spanish racers: Francesc Reyes, Juanma Torres, Jordi Borras and Daniel Gonzalez. Last to show was Italy's Salvatore Noviello. Daniele Malangone (ill) was not there. During the evening the news arrived that triple model car world champion 'Piki' was ill, and that probably he should not show on Saturday. For wizard Philip de Vries, having prepared cars for 'Piki', JPVR, Gilles Dohogne, Yves Welter and Youri that caused a problem. So Michael Landrud was asked to test the Philip de Vries cars for the case it should be necessary to replace 'Piki'. Landrud drove the test car without mistakes, but totally new in 124 model car racing, he missed a little bit of the speed necessary to be a winner at his first model car meeting. Fastest man during the Friday practice was Nick de Wachter, realising laps in 4"95. Very close were Tamar Nelwan and Francesc Reyes. Also Juanma Torres could turn in 5"00. Noviello's car was not fast at all, and among the Swedes only Anders Gustafson was fast. With 'Piki' being ill, there were no good cars available for Landrud and Silén. On Saturday morning 2000 model car world champion Geert Mertens and Stoffel Vos were the first to show for free practice. Mertens came from a party at his work, without any sleep. His car was terribly slow: it was not the Mertens of the great days, seen the last time this year at the Belgian Nats, where he could beat 'Piki'. Then came John van Hoornaar (finding no good set-up fot his #6 Viagra Ford) and the Belgians from Wallonia with 1986 world champion Georges Baikry, but without Jean-Yves Deblanc. Gilles Dohogne, dad of Gilles, offered JPVR a special Ferrari watch, which he made himself. Yves Welter sr decided to give his own #32 Tide Ford to Georges Baikry, driving himself the #45 Sprint Dodge he earlier raced at Porto. Yves jr tested his #97 Ford Sharpies, but found that the car was not so fast as one week earlier. Then came Bob Demeyer with son Yannick and with Youri. At free practice Youri was as fast as Gilles Dohogne, but Yannick's car, still in IMCA 2003 configuration, missed 1/10th of a second to be among the fastest. Shortly before the end of free practice Wim Eekelers showed with his #15 NAPA Chevy, achieving laps as fast as the racers from Denmark. Practice was already over when at once 'Piki' showed together with Olivier Demoen.
Very strong entry with reigning scale car world champion Michael Landrud (S), ex-double wing car world champion Lasse Äberg (S), ex-quadruple scale racing world champion and IOC #1 Vladimir Horky (CZ), ex-wing car vice world champion Anders Gustafson (S) and IOC #2 and ex-triple world champion Josef Korec (CZ)
The struggle for 2003 R.O.Y. went between the young Gilles Dohogne (B) and scale racing world champion Michael Landrud, here seen during a direct man-to-man combat at the X-Mas Night Race. Winner was Gilles Dohogne, undoubtedly a future world champion, just as his friend Yves Welter jr (not on the pic).
The entire field of 2002 Winston Cup Nascar cars with in front John van Hoornaar's #6 Viagra Ford, Geert Mertens's #24 DuPont Chevrolet, Josef Korec's #20 Home Depot Pontiac, Stefan Törnfeldt's #5 concourse winning Kellogg's Chevrolet, Tamar Nelwan's #10 Valvoline Pontiac, Nick de Wachter's #28 Ford Havoline, Anders Gustafson's #17 De Walt Tools Ford, Piki's #18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac, etc.
Was this the very last time that the 124 Nascar cars were seen at the start of an international race? It will depend upon the willingness of 75 slot-racing manufacturers to sponsor the 2004 Ultimate G7 Race where the Nascar cars will be seen in the pre-program races. Now that Winston is no longer main sponsor of the Nascar series, IMCA has no longer its budget to sponsor the yearly IMCA Nats. Without help of the slot-racing manufacturers the IMCA X-Mas Races will be the last international races organised by JPVR.
	CONCOURSE TO TÖRNFELDT Prior to technical control 37 cars lined up for Concourse. There was not enough time to do it on base of objective criterions. Already after the first votes it became obvious that the #5 Chevrolet Kellogg's as made by Claes Törnfeldt for his brother Stefan, should be the winner of the $ 200 US. Eventually Törnfeldt collected 123 votes. Second place went to the #97 Sharpie/Rubbermaid 1,000,000 $ Ford of Yves Welter jr, a body assembled by Tamar Nelwan. The car obtained 36 votes. The #01 Pontiac US Army of Peter Reijerkerk was third with 27 votes, immediately followed by the #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet of Josef Miskolci, having obtained 26 votes. Then came the #6 Viagra Ford of John van Hoornaar (17 votes), the #23 Stacker 2 Dodge of Youri, but assembled by Tamar Nelwan (15 votes), the #10 Valvoline Pontiac of Tamar Nelwan himself with 14 votes, the #32 Ford Tide of Yves Welter sr with 13 votes, the #20 Pontiac Home Depot of Josef Korec with 10 votes and the #18 Pontiac Interstate Batteries of 'Piki' van Rossem (but assembled by Tamar Nelwan) with 9 votes. There can be no doubt that should the objective criterion's list have been applied, that the #10 Valvoline Pontiac and the #29 GM Goodwrench should have scored much better, but nobody had problems with the first place of Törnfeldt.       X-MAS EVENING RACE TECHNICAL CONTROL - At technical control 17 of the 37 cars didn't meet the minimum technical conditions, what inspired IMCA's Race Director Bob Demeyer to give a short speech where he asked what could be done more to let understand racers the basic principles of the technical rule book. Most of the refused cars had ballast before the front axle (especially the MoMo cars), and needed to be made respecting the rules. However, 15 minutes later all cars where O.K. and the race could be started. THE QUALIFICATIONS - 37 cars showed for the X-Mas Evening Race, among them the cars of Olivier Demoen and 'Piki' having achieved not one single lap during free practice. For Demoen, one of the candidates to win the first prize among the amateurs, the #22 Caterpillar Dodge, assembled at the last minute by Yves Welter jr, was really not race-ready. Roadholding was disastrous and after a very poor qualification time Olivier decided not to start in the eventual race. Surprisingly Mikail Silén, who was offered John van Hoornaar's car, having won one year earlier the X-Mas Night Race, decided to use the #66 Blue Lightning Ford, having a problematic road holding. Michael Landrud started with JPVR's old car, having won the Nascar Series of the SRC Grimbergen, a car assembled last year by Brian Saunders. First to realise a top time was Juanma Torres de Perez, achieving a fastest lap in 5"262, being by far the fastest amateur, since Bob Demeyer (2nd amateur) came no further than 5"588, followed by Patrice Dohogne (5'631) and Stoffel Vos (5"637). The 8 youngsters at the start went all 8 pretty fast with Daniel Gonzalez causing a stir with his 5"225, which was faster than the 5"273 by Youri van Rossem, the 5"319 by Yves Welter jr, the 5"321 by Antonin Vojtik, the 5"330 by Jordi Borras, the 5"344 by Yannick Demeyer and the 5"457 by Gilles Dohogne. Gonzalez's pole position, however, could not be maintained since Holland's Nick de Wachter realised a fabulous 5"195 and won the pole. Of the 8 youngstes no less than 7 finished among the top-12. Several international experts disappointed. Anders Gustafson, Stefan Törnfeldt and Mikail Silén clocked times above 5"7. Jozef Miskolci and Geert Mertens (!) came no further than 5"6. Georges Baikry, Michael Landrud, Vladimir Horky and John van Hoornaar clocked only 5"5s. Jan Korec and Lasse Äberg needed 5"4s for their fastest lap. Eventually only 4 expers could qualify among the top-12: "Piki" van Rossem in 5"234 (3rd time), Tamar Nelwan in 5"260 (4th time), Josef Korec in 5"267 (6th time) and Salvatore Noviello in 5"344 (11th time). With their fresh handout rear tires all cars were considerably slower than during free practice, since they all were 3/10ths of a second slower.
At Friday's free practice Francesc Reyes (E) had one of the fastest cars, but at the Saturday races his car had not the good road holding. Yves Welter jr (B), right from him, had undoubtedly the fastest car at the prepractice one week before the race, but at race day the car missed that last bit of punch to become 2003 R.O.Y. Nevertheless Welter is undoubtedly a future world champion.
Tamar Nelwan (NL) could TQ at the X-Mas Night Race, where he finished 4th. At the X-Mas Evening Race he finished 3rd. Antonin Vojtik (CZ) finished twice in the top-10 and could be next year the successor of country mate Josef Korec for winning the Mello Yello Junior Worlds (if sponsor money will be found to organise them).
	THE RACE - The 6 racers for the A Final were Nick De Wachter (NL), Daniel Gonzalez (E), "Piki" van Rossem (B), Tamar Nelwan (NL), Junanma Torres de Perez (E) and Josef Korec (CZ). In the B Final we found Youri van Rossem (B), Yves Welter jr (B), Antonin Vojtik (CZ), Jordi Borras (E), Salvatore Noviello (I) and Yannick Demeyer (B). In the C Final we had Francesc Reyes (E), JPVR (B), Francesc Reyes (E), Jan Korec (CZ), Gilles Dohogne (B) and Lasse Äberg (S). It was obvious that the winner was to be found among them, not in the remaining three finals.  After Finals D, E and F positions were as follows: 1. Jozef Miskolci (CZ) 316 laps, 2. Michael Landrud (S) 314 laps, 3. Vladimir Horky (CZ) 314 laps, 4. Georges Baikry (B) 313 laps, 5. John van Hoornaar (NL) 312 laps, 6. Ton Jacobs (NL) 311 laps, 7. Geert Mertens (B) 310 laps, 8. Anders Gustafson (S) 309 laps, 9. Patrice Dohogne (B) 304 laps, 10. Bob Demeyer (B) 302 laps. Before the start of the C-Final there was a big surprise when Bjarne Liliendahl (S), Barry Magee (GB) and Mats Hummel (S) visited the Belgian Model Car Centre. At once we realised that no less than five racers, present at the real first slot-racing world championship of 1978, were found together at Aalst: Lasse Äberg, Stefan Törnfeldt, Barry Magee, Bjarne Liliendahl and Philip de Vries. It was the moment to refresh the memories by telling the old stories, forgotten by most young racers. The C Final was entirely dominated by young Gilles Dohogne, who achieved 327 laps, 11 more than what was done by Miskolci. Initially there was a strong combat between Francesc Reyes, JPVR and Lasse Äberg for the second place, but after mid-race only JPVR was able to follow the unchained Gilles Dohogne. Eventually he finished 4 laps down to Gilles. After the C Final top-10 standings were: 1. Gilles Dohogne 327 laps, 2. JPVR 323 laps, 3. Jozef Miskolci 316 laps, 4. Lasse Äberg 315 laps, 5. Michael Landrud 314 laps, 6. Vladimir Horky 314 laps, 7. Francesc Reyes 313 laps, 8. Jan Korec 313 laps, 9. Georges Baikry 313 laps, 10. John van Hoornaar 312 laps. The B-Final saw initially a close combat between Youri van Rossem and Yves Welter jr. Welter, one of the best European model car racers, however had problems with a too slippery car and couldn't follow Youri, achieving 327 laps, just as did Gilles Dohogne in the previous final. Since at IMCA races no lane segments are noted, and racers of higher finals are always ranked above racers of lower finals, Youri was now leading the race with only the A Final to go. Top-10 positions, with 6 racers to go, were: 1. Youri van Rossem 327 laps, 2. Gilles Dohogne 327 laps, 3. JPVR 323 laps, 4. Yves Welter jr 322 laps, 5. Antonin Vojtik 319 laps, 6. Jordi Borras 317 laps, 7. Jozef Miskolci 316 laps, 8. Salvatore Noviello 315 laps, 9. Lasse Äberg 315 laps, 10. Michael Landrud 314 laps. Yannick Demeyer had a very difficult race and performed far beneath his intrinsic value. He achieved only 313 laps after some minor problems. The A Final was essentially a combat between "Piki" van Rossem and Nick de Wachter. It was obvious that "Piki" was certainly not in the form of his life. With 39° C fever he restricted his race to calculate his position by comparing it with the position of Nick de Wachter. Meanwhile Tamar Nelwan did great efforts to attack his country mate, however without succeeding to pass him. At the finish "Piki" had an advance of 2 complete laps on the surprisingly fast Nick de Wachter and 4 on Tamar Nelwan. Since they achieved res. 333, 331 and 329 laps, they took the three first places in the overall standings.
1997 ISRA world champion and 2001 IMCA world champion Salvatore Noviello (I) failed to finish among the top-10 at the X-Mas Races, due to a wrong prepared car. Jordi Borras (E) was the whole week-end slower than his three Spanish team mates, but remains a fixed value for upcoming Mello Yello Junior Worlds.
Josef Korec (CZ) and 'Piki' van Rossem (B) won easily the team ranking at the X-Mas Night race where they finished res. 6th and 1st. Earlier this year they won the BNL Race Festival with FIA GT cars.	Of the 3 other A finalists Josef Korec was the only one to finish within the top-8 and within the points. With 321 laps he finished 8th overall. Daniel Gonzalez did one lap less and finished 9th. Juanma Torres de Perez achieved 318 laps, good for a 11th place overall. By far he was the winner of the amateurs class.  Top-6 standings per class were: AMATEURS: 1. Juanma Torres de Perez (E) 318 laps, 2. Ton Jacobs (NL) 311 laps, 3. Patrice Dohogne (B) 304 laps, 4. Bob Demeyer (B) 302 laps, 5. Thomas Mörtensen (DK) 299 laps, and 6. Peter Reijerkerk (NL) 296 laps. YOUNGSTERS: 1. Nick de Wachter (NL) 331 laps, 2. Youri van Rossem (B) 327 laps, 3. Gilles Dohogne (B) 327 laps, 4. Yves Welter jr (B) 322 laps, 5. Daniel Gonzalez (E) 320 laps, 6. Antonin Vojtik (CZ) 319 laps. It should be noted that those 6 youngsters finished all 6 among the top-10 in the overall ranking. EXPERTS: 1. "Piki" van Rossem (B) 333 laps, 2. Tamar Nelwan (NL) 329 laps, 3. Jean Pierre van Rossem (B) 324 laps, 4. Josef Korec (CZ) 321 laps, 5. Jozef Miskolci (SK) 316 laps and 6. Salvatore Noviello (I) 315 laps. It should be noted that PlaFit Springsteel cars took no less than the 7 first places at the X-Mas Evening Race, 6 of them having been prepaired by wizard Philip de Vries. First MoMo car was Josef Korec's. It's time that MoMo finds also a wizard in setting up its chassis, otherwise a majority of racers will return to the older PlaFit cars. It's worth also that none of the entrants used a Schoeler chassis. Only Ralph Klose showed with such chassis, but during free practice he was considerably slower than the Momo and PlaFit cars. The problem is that Uwe Schoeler - even not speaking English - has no real racing team. Noteworth too is that after the X-Mas Evening Race Gilles Dohogne took the lead for the 2003 R.O.Y. ranking, since he had already 51.5 points against 48 for Michael Landrud and 41.5 for Yves Welter jr.
USRA Nats winner Mikail Silén (S), here together with Yves Welter sr (B), organiser of the famous Eupen 24 hours race. For Silén it was the real first time in his life he drove hard plastic cars. Welter sr., who came to avoid the last place, succeeded very well since in his heath he was a long time second behind Peter Reijerkerk (NL).	7th X-MAS NIGHT RACE QUALIFICATIONS - After the X-Mas Evening Race all entrants had 15 minutes to control their cars in view of the X-Mas Night Race. John van Hoornaar - last year still winner - decided not to start: his car was unable to follow the much faster cars prepared following the new technical rules.  First to qualify was the #32 Ford Tide of Wim Eekelers. During the first race he lost 6 laps due to a bad plugged in controller, otherwise he should have finished ahead of Mikail Silén. He failed to improve his time at the Evening race. Bob Demeyer maintained long time the pole position with 5"551, which was better than what should later be done by Geert Mertens, Jozef Miskolci, Anders Gustafson, Stefan Törnfeldt or Mikail Silén. Among the amateurs he had the best time, especially since Juanma Torres de Perez had to race the X-Mas Night Race together with the international experts. Later Ton Jacobs (5"558) and Patrice Dohogne (5"565) could do no better among the amateurs. After Bob Demeyer it was up to Yannick Demeyer to set a new pole, in a very sharp 5"169, which was better than TQ at the X-Mas Evening Race. Several experienced top racers disappointed, among them Vladimir Horky (5"533), Georges Baikry (5"601), Anders Gustafson (5"462). Antonin Vojtik was the first to go under the 5"169 of Yannick Demeyer with 5"129. Immediately after Youri van Rossem set a new pole in 5"071, a time improved by Tamar Nelwan with 5"033. Of the last qualifiers Nick de Wachter (5"087) and "Piki" van Rossem (5"046) could not improve Tamar's time. Very disappointing was the 5"537 of Daniel Gonzalez, still second best qualifier at the X-Mas Evening Race. So Tamar Nelwan realised the pole. Jozef Korec missed the A Final with 5"148, since JPVR did 1/1000Nd of a second better to take the 6th spot. The 6 A Finalists were: Tamar Nelwan (NL), "Piki" van Rossem (B), Youri van Rossem (B), Nick de Wachter (NL), Antonin Vojtik (CZ) and JPVR. Qualified for the B Final were: Josef Korec (CZ), Yannick Demeyer (B), Jordi Borras (E), Salvatore Noviello (I), Francesc Reyes (E) and Yves Welter jr (B). Michael Landrud, who could use JPVR's STP Cheerios Dodge missed with 5"273 the B Final. In the C Final he found his direct opponent for the 2003 R.O.Y. title Gilles Dohogne, together with Juanma Torres de Perez (E), Jan Korec (CZ), Lasse Äberg (S) and Anders Gustafson (S). Of the top racers Vladimir Horky (CZ), Jozef Miskolci (SK), Geert Mertens (B), Georges Baikry (B), Stefan Törnfeldt (S) and Mikail Silén (S) reached only the D Final or lower. THE RACE - With all 10 amateurs in the D, E and F-final interest of the three first heats went nearly exclusively to the battle among amateurs. During a long time it seemed as if Patrice Dohogne should be the winner among the amateurs. At the E Final he had a serious battle with Georges Baikry. With one segment to go it was nearly sure that Patrice should be the winner of that E Final. However he had a horrible run on blue, achieving only 49 laps. With 8 of the 10 amateurs having done their final positions among the amateurs were: 1. Patrice Dohogne 308 laps, 2. Päl Hanson (DK) 298 laps, 3. Peter Reijerkerk (NL) 296 laps, 4. Thomas Mörtensen (DK) 294 laps, 5. Yves Welter sr (B) 283 laps, 6. Wim Eekelers (B) 282 laps, 7. Stoffel Vos (B) 278 laps, 8. Henrik Hasager (DK) 248 laps. Of them Stoffel Vos lost more than 10 laps with technical problems at his real first run. Later his car seemed not be in order to realise sharp performances. Then followed the D Final with at the start the two last amateurs: Bob Demeyer and Ton Jacobs. Already after two segments it became obvious that Jacobs was nearly as fast as Dohogne in the previous final, and Bob nearly as fast as Hanson. With only two segments to go Ton had exactly the same number of laps as Patrice did, while Bob had one lap more than Hanson. The one but last segment seemed to be disastrous for Ton: on black he made laps of only 6".
Race director Bob Demeyer was, as always excellent. His short speech didn't miss impact. At the X-Mas Night Race Bob finished as 3rd amateur after a long combat with Denmark's Päl Hanson. Also on the pic Slovakia's Josef Miskolci who finished twice 12th.
Although there was no time to do concourse as at the Modeller's Worlds, based upon a list with objective criterions, the Kellogg's Chevy, made by Claes Törnfeldt for his brother Stefan, was a 20/20 car should it have had the correct wheel inserts. It won concourse, far ahead of all other cars.
	But Bob too missed speed to beat Päl Hanson for the third place. With one segment to go Ton was two laps down to Patrice to win the amateurs class, while Bob had two laps more than Hanson to finish third. Well assisted by Mac de Wachter, who gave Ton lap by lap information about his lap times, Jacobs succeeded to undo his arrears on Patrice Dohogne. Eventually he won the amateurs class, two laps faster than Dohogne. For Bob things went much more difficult. In his last segment he was slower than Hanson and it seemed he should loose his third place after a couple of deslottings. Eventually he could pass the start-finish line when power came off, giving him the lap he needed to beat Hanson for the third place. So final standings among the amateurs were: 1. Ton Jacobs (NL) 309 laps, 2. Patrice Dohogne (B) 307 laps, 3. Bob Demeyer (B) 299 laps, 4. Päl Hanson (DK) 298 laps, 5. Peter Reijerkerk (NL) 296 laps, 6. Thomas Mörtensen (DK) 294 laps, 7. Yves Welter sr (B) 283 laps, 8. Wim Eekelers (B) 282 laps, 9. Stoffel Vos (B) 278 laps, 10. Henrik Hasager (DK) 248 laps. With three finals to go overall top-10 was as follows: 1. Jozef Miskolci (SK) 322 laps, 2. Geert Mertens (B) 312 laps, 3. Georges Baikry (B) 309 laps, 4. Ton Jacobs (NL) 309 laps, 5. Vladimir Horky (CZ) 308 laps, 6. Patrice Dohogne (B) 307 laps, 7. Stefan Törnfeldt (S) 301 laps, 8. Bob Demeyer (B) 299 laps, 9. Päl Hanson (DK) 298 laps, 10. Peter Reijerkerk (NL) 296 laps. The weak performance of Vladimir Horky - ill at the 2003 IMCA Nats - caused a stir. Normally Horky is always a top-8 finisher in Nascar races. At Porto, at the Gasking Trophy, on Blue King, he was, earlier this year, still second, but now the IOC #1 in the world was even beaten by amateurs. The set-up of his car was totally wrong for a track as the Carrera 6 at the Belgian Model Car Centre, since Horky's car was much too slow in the two chicanes. Disappointing too was the performance of Geert Mertens who, since the Belgian Nats, was no more seen with a fast car. For Mertens, in 2000 still model car world champion, 2003 was the worst year of his slot-racing carreer. At international races he scored not one single IOC-point, and in the continuous annual ranking he dropped to rank 60, a place unworthy all his racing talent. Last but not least USRA Nats winner Mikail Silén had a difficult week-end with the model cars he discovered. Setting-up a model car is totally different with setting-up a wing car. Here the Swedes have still a lot to learn.
The Rubbermaid/Sharpie Ford of Yves Welter - body assembled and painted by Tamar Nelwan - was second at Concourse. Here too wheel inserts were missing.
Peter Reijerkerk's US Army Pontiac, with wheel inserts (!) won the third place at Concourse.
	The C Final can be described as the struggle for 2003 R.O.Y. honours between scale racing world champion Michael Landrud from Sweden and vice-junior world champion Gilles Dohogne from Belgium. It was a splendid race with Dohogne and Landrud found always together, giving a demonstration of all the beauty of close racing. Unfortunately for Landrud he lost two laps on Gilles during the four first segments. If he wished to win the 2003 R.O.Y. title he had to finish ahead of Gilles Dohogne. During the second half of the C Final he tried in vain to undo his two laps arrears with the STP Cheerios Dodge in a set-up of wizard Philip de Vries. The three following segments Dohogne and Landrud were found wheel to wheel during 15 minutes. Gilles had no problems to follow the 2003 ISRA world champion and could increase his advance over Landrud even by one lap at the last segment. With two finals to go top-10 ranking was as follows: 1. Gilles Dohogne (B) 331 laps, 2. Michael Landrud (S) 328 laps, 3. Jozef Miskolci (SK) 322 laps, 4. Juanma Torres de Perez (E) 316 laps, 5. Jan Korec (CZ) 316 laps, 6. Lasse Äberg (S) 315 laps, 7. Geert Mertens (B) 312 laps, 8. Georges Baikry (B) 309 laps, 9. Vladimir Horky (CZ) 308 laps, 10. Patrice Dohogne (B) 307 laps. The B Final was interesting since one of the entrants, Yves Welter jr (B) was the last racer being able to beat Gilles Dohogne for the 2003 R.O.Y. honours. Here we saw another splendid example of close racing with Josef Korec, Yves Welter jr and Salvatore Noviello following eachother as if their cars were wagons of a train. Initially Yannick Demeyer could follow that train, but after a couple of deslottings he could no longer follow the train. Towards the second half of the race Korec succeeded to take a lap on Welter and Noviello and he maintained this position until the end, despite furious attemps of a brilliant Welter to undo that arrear. Welter succeeded in lapping ex-world champion Salvatore Noviello and finished second. After five of the six finals top-10 positions were: 1. Gilles Dohogne (B) 331 laps, 2. Josef Korec (CZ) 329 laps, 3. Yves Welter jr (B) 328 laps, 4. Michael Landrud (S) 328 laps, 5. Salvatore Noviello (I) 327 laps, 6. Yannick Demeyer (B) 324 laps, 7. Jozef Miskolci (SK) 322 laps, 8. Jordi Borras (E) 320 laps, 9. Juanma Torres de Perez (E) 316 laps, 10. Jan Korec (CZ) 315 laps. The A Final started as a big surprise since the 11 years old Youri van Rossem took immediately the lead and could keep it during the two first segments, followed by his brother "Piki", by Nick De Wachter and by Tamar Nelwan. During the third segment Youri was passed by "Piki" but had no problem to let Nick de Wachter and Tamar Nelwan behind. Struggle for the fifth place went between Antonin Vojtik and JPVR.
Fourth place at Concourse went to Jozef Miskolci's #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. The car should have finished higher - just as Tamar's #10 Valvoline Pontiac - should objective criterions have been applied.
Fifth place at Concourse went to the Viagra Ford of John van Hoornaar, last year still winner of the X-Mas Night Race, but now handicapped by the fact that he did only two races in 2003.
	At mid-race Youri was passed by Nick de Wachter, being now three laps down to leader "Piki". Youri was now third, one lap down to Nick. During the fifth segment, however, Youri took that lap back and was again second behind his older brother. Tamar Nelwan followed now pretty close, so that during the last segment we had a trio De Wachter-Youri-Nelwan fighting for the second place. Since "Piki" had already an advance of four laps it was obvious that he should win the X-Mas Night Race too. In a splendid last segment "Piki' achieved a record of 58 laps, while Nick de Wachter could take two laps on Youri, feeling Tamar pretty close behind. At the finish Tamar came some 30 centimetres short to beat Youri for the third place. Top-10 at the finish was: 1. "Piki" van Rossem 342 laps, 2. Nick de Wachter (NL) 336 laps, 3. Youri van Rossem (B) 334 laps, 4. Tamar Nelwan (NL) 334 laps, 5. Gilles Dohogne (B) 331 laps, 6. Josef Korec (CZ) 329 laps, 7. Yves Welter jr (B) 328 laps, 8. Michael Landrud (S) 328 laps, 9. Antonin Vojtik (CZ) 327 laps, 10. Jean Pierre van Rossem (B) 327 laps. Standings per class at the YOUNGSTERS gave: 1. Nick de Wachter (NL) 336 laps, 2. Youri van Rossem (B) 334 laps, 3. Gilles Dohogne (B) 331 laps, 4. Yves Welter jr (B) 328 laps, 5. Antonin Vojtik (CZ) 327 laps, 6. Yannick Demeyer (B) 324 laps, 7. Jordi Borras (E) 320 laps, 8. Daniel Gonzalez (E) 306 laps.
For the third consecutive year JPVR himself drove the John Andretti #43 Pontiac STP Cheerios. Although the car missed the punch of the Sunday pretests JPVR finished once 6th with the car and once 10th. At the X-Mas Night Race Michael Landrud could drive the car to finish 8th, one lap faster than IMCA's geezer.
The colourful Nascar WCS field shortly before the start of the BXL X-Mas Races. Was this the real last time that Nascar cars were seen together at the start of an international model car meeting?  Now that Winston is no longer sponsor of the Nascar Series, there is no more Nascar sponsoring money for slot-racing, and without decent sponsoring income it's impossible to cover the racer's transport and hotel costs. 2004 will be a very difficult year for IMCA's fundraiser JPVR.
View of the new track in the Belgian Model Car Centre with from left to right: Jordi Borras (E), Youri van Rossem (B), Philip de Vries (NL, looking at the computer), JPVR (B), Peter Reijerkerk (NL), Mikail Silén (S) and Wim Eeckelers (B). It should be noted that the track - offering here anachronisic image - has been built in function of the Franco Gianotti Memorial Race with Le Mans 1964-67 cars, which will be organised each year, even if IMCA has to continue without further sponsoring money.
A Final at the X-Mas Night Race with from l.t.r. "Piki" van Rossem (B), Nick de Wachter (NL), Tamar Nelwan (NL), JPVR (B), Youri van Rossem (B) and Antonin Vojtik (CZ). In front wizard Philip de Vries (NL): he looks and sees that five of his cars are together in the highest final.
RESULTS X-MAS EVENING RACE 1 VAN ROSSEM "Piki" (EXP) B PlaFit Springst #18 Pontiac Interstate 5,234 333 57 55 56 54 56 55 2 De Wachter Nick (YNG) NL PlaFit Springst #28 Ford Havoline Texaco 5,195 331 54 56 55 56 54 56 3 Nelwan Tamar (EXP) NL PlaFit Springst #10 Pontiac Valvoline 5,260 329 55 55 54 56 54 55 4 Van Rossem Youri (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #23 Dodge Stacker 5,273 327,1 54 55 54 55 55 54,1 5 Dohogne Gilles (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #5 Chevrolet Kellogg's 5,457 327 56 55 53 54 54 55 6 Van Rossem Jean Pierre (EXP) B PlaFit Springst #43 Dodge STP Cheerios 5,382 323 54 53 55 53 53 55 7 Welter Yves jr (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #97 Ford Sharpie/Rubbermaid 5,319 322 53 53 54 54 53 55 8 Korec Josef (EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #20 Pontiac Home Depot 5,267 321 53 53 54 53 53 55 9 Gonzalez Daniel (YNG) E MoMo SW1 #12 Ford Alltel 5,225 320 53 53 54 53 52 55 10 Vojtik Antonin (YNG) CZ MoMo SW1 #31 Chevrolet Cingular 5,321 319 54 53 52 55 54 51 11 Torres de Perez Juanma (AMA) E MoMo SW1 #88 Ford UPS 5,262 318 54 52 54 51 52 55 12 Borras Jordi (YNG) E MoMo SW1 #26 Ford K-Mart 5,330 317 54 53 51 54 53 52 13 Miskolci Jozef (EXP) SK MoMo SW1 #29 Pontiac GM Goodwrench 5,644 316 51 54 52 52 55 52 14 Noviello Salvatore (EXP) I MoMo SW1 #9 Dodge Dodge Dealers 5,344 315 53 53 52 52 50 55 15 Äberg Lasse (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #77 Ford Jasper Engines 5,419 315 54 52 52 53 52 52 16 Landrud Michael (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #14 Pontiac Conseco 5,544 314,2 54 51 52 53 52 52,2 17 Horky Vladimir (EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #40 Dodge Coors' 5,536 314,1 51 53 51 53 54 52,1 18 Reyes Francesc (EXP) E MoMo SW1 #2 Ford Miller Lite 5,364 314 51 54 52 52 54 51 19 Korec Jan (EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #41 Dodge Target 5,397 313,1 54 52 52 53 52 50,1 20 Demeyer Yannick (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #36 Pontiac M & M's 5,344 313 50 53 53 52 52 53 21 Baikry Georges (EXP) B MoMo SW1 #32 Ford Tide 5,530 313 54 53 51 53 51 51 22 van Hoornaar John (EXP) NL MoMo SW1 #6 Ford Viagra 5,542 312 53 51 51 52 52 53 23 Jacobs Ton (AMA) NL PlaFit Springst #01 Pontiac US Army 5,748 311 53 51 50 53 53 51 24 Mertens Geert (EXP) B MoMo SW1 #24 Chevrolet DuPont 5,676 310 52 51 52 51 51 53 25 Gustafson Anders (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #17 Ford DeWalt Tools 5,702 309 51 52 51 52 51 52 26 Dohogne Patrice (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #48 Chevrolet Löwe 5,631 304 51 50 51 51 49 52 27 Demeyer Bob (AMA) B PlaFit Springst #1 Chevrolet Pennzoil 5,588 302 54 50 50 51 48 49 28 Mörtensen Thomas (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #25 Chevrolet UAW Delphi 5,769 299 50 50 50 49 50 50 29 Reijerkerk Peter (AMA) NL PlaFit Springst #90 Ford Sauer's Duke 6,044 296 50 51 49 50 48 48 30 Hanson Päl (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #44 Dodge Brawny 5,800 294 49 48 49 50 50 48 31 Vos Stoffel (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #8 Chevrolet Budweiser 5,637 293 49 50 50 51 48 45 32 Törnfeldt Stefan (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #05 Chevrolet Kellogg's 5,764 288 48 48 47 49 46 50 33 Silén Mikael (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #66 Ford Blue Lightning 5,834 281 46 48 48 46 46 47 34 Eekelers Wim (AMA) B PlaFit Springst #15 Chevrolet NAPA 5,865 280 46 40 49 49 49 47 35 Welter Yves sr (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #45 Dodge Sprint 6,374 279 49 46 46 46 46 46 36 Hasager Henrik (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #30 Chevrolet AOL 6,150 252 45 39 42 39 44 43 RESULTS X-MAS NIGHT RACE 1 VAN ROSSEM "Piki" (EXP) B PlaFit Springst #18 Pontiac Interstate 5,046 342 57 55 58 57 57 58 2 De Wachter Nick (YNG) NL PlaFit Springst #28 Ford Havoline Texaco 5,087 336 56 56 55 57 56 56 3 Van Rossem Youri (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #23 Dodge Stacker 5,071 334,1 57 56 55 55 57 54,1 4 Nelwan Tamar (EXP) NL PlaFit Springst #10 Pontiac Valvoline 5,033 334 55 56 54 57 56 56 5 Dohogne Gilles (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #5 Chevrolet Kellogg's 5,242 331 55 56 55 54 56 55 6 Korec Josef(EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #20 Pontiac Home Depot 5,148 329 54 55 55 54 56 55 7 Welter Yves jr (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #97 Ford Sharpie/Rubberm 5,228 328 55 55 54 54 55 55 8 Landrud Michael (EXP) S PlaFit Springst #42 Dodge STP Cheerios 5,273 328 55 54 56 54 54 55 9 Vojtik Antonin (YNG) CZ MoMo SW1 #31 Chevrolet Cingular 5,129 327 54 54 55 55 55 54 10 Van Rossem Jean P (EXP) B PlaFit Springst #43 Dodge STP Cheerios 5,147 327 54 55 55 54 54 55 11 Noviello Salvatore (EXP) I MoMo SW1 #9 Dodge Dodge Dealers 5,184 324 56 54 52 54 54 54 12 Demeyer Yannick (YNG) B PlaFit Springst #36 Pontiac M & M's 5,169 323 54 52 55 54 52 56 13 Miskolci Jozef (EXP) SK MoMo SW1 #29 Pontiac GM Goodwrench 5,538 322 55 53 53 55 54 52 14 Borras Jordi (YNG) E MoMo SW1 #26 Ford K-Mart 5,172 320 55 52 52 55 53 53 15 Torres de Perez Juanma (EXP) E MoMo SW1 #88 Ford UPS 5,285 316 55 52 51 53 54 51 16 Korec Jan (EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #41 Dodge Target 5,303 316 55 51 51 53 53 53 17 Äberg Lasse (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #77 Ford Jasper Engines 5,315 315,1 53 51 53 53 53 52,1 18 Reyes Francesc (EXP) E MoMo SW1 #2 Ford Miller Lite 5,215 313 53 53 51 53 50 53 19 Mertens Geert (EXP) B MoMo SW1 #24 Chevrolet DuPont 5,562 312 52 53 52 52 52 51 20 Baikry Georges (EXP) B MoMo SW1 #32 Ford Tide 5,601 309 52 51 50 52 51 53 21 Jacobs Ton (AMA) NL PlaFit Springst #01 Pontiac US Army 5,558 309 52 50 53 51 50 53 22 Horky Vladimir (EXP) CZ MoMo SW1 #40 Dodge Coors' 5,533 308 50 50 52 51 53 52 23 Dohogne Patrice (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #48 Chevrolet Löwe 5,565 307 51 52 51 51 53 49 24 Gustafson Anders (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #17 Ford DeWalt Tools 5,462 306 51 54 53 51 45 52 25 Gonzalez Daniel (YNG) E MoMo SW1 #12 Ford Alltel 5,537 306 52 50 51 52 50 51 26 Törnfeldt Stefan (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #05 Chevrolet Kellogg's 5,691 301 50 50 50 51 49 51 27 Demeyer Bob (AMA) B PlaFit Springst #1 Chevrolet Pennzoil 5,551 299 52 49 49 51 49 49 28 Hanson Päl (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #44 Dodge Brawny 5,603 298 50 49 50 49 50 50 29 Reijerkerk Peter (AMA) NL PlaFit Springst #90 Ford Sauer's Duke 5,760 296 49 51 49 48 50 49 30 Mörtensen Thomas (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #25 Chevrolet UAW Delphi 5,617 294 50 48 48 47 51 50 31 Silén Mikael (EXP) S MoMo SW1 #66 Ford Blue Lightning 5,734 287 47 51 45 46 49 49 32 Welter Yves sr (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #45 Dodge Sprint 6,035 283 46 47 48 45 48 49 33 Eekelers Wim (AMA) B PlaFit Springst #15 Chevrolet NAPA 5,937 282 48 47 47 48 46 46 34 Vos Stoffel (AMA) B MoMo SW1 #8 Chevrolet Budweiser 5,707 278 40 47 48 46 48 49 35 Hasager Henrik (AMA) DK MoMo SW1 #30 Chevrolet AOL 6,408 248 36 44 34 45 45 44 36 van Hoornaar John (EXP) NL MoMo SW1 #6 Ford Viagra NQ 0