8th IMCA X-MAS (Warm-Up) RACE

AALST, DECEMBER 17, 2005 (B)

"PIKI" BEATS NIEMAS, YOURI, NOVIELLO

Top-5 for the cars assembled by Michael Niemas

Except for Josef Korec, who's wife is highly pregnant, the best model car racers of the moment were seen together at the last meeting organised by JPVR. Only 21 racers showed but the quality of the entry field was high. The race went under the modified rules with the same hard plastic body for all racers. For world champion Salvatore Noviello it was a big deception to see that Matthias Parke, who promised him to assemble for him a decent car, was absent (due to an eyes-disease). So it was decided that Salvatore could race JPVR's car, an excellent car assembled by Michael Niemas. The young German assembled in total five cars: one for himself, three for JPVR and his two sons, and one for Dan Debella. Contrary to what happened at the EuroNats in Neumunster, it were excellent cars. Full evidence was given already at the qualifications where the Niemas-cars realised the five sharpest times, with a pole position in 4"868 (new track record) for Michael Niemas himself. Then followed "Piki" van Rossem in 4"950 and Youri van Rossem in 5"002.
The cars were raced with the traditional Fox motors since the 66 new ProSlot Euro Mk1 motors of Dan Debella were in his bags having been sent by error to Manchester instead of Brussels. All attemps at American Airlines to have them in time were at no avail.
Other fast cars on the track were those of the Dutch racers Nick de Wachter (the 2004 world champion) and Tamar Nelwan. Some of the Spanish cars were extremely fast at free practice but disappointed at the qualifications and the race. Very interesting was the Metris Mk2 car of Alvaro Sarabia, seeming very competitive should it have been raced by one of te more experienced top racers. Such an experienced racer was certainly Daniel Gonzalez, the 2005 Junior's World Champion. Unfortyunately he was ill, not able to defend his chances in the best way.
Another excellent car was that of the raising star Kai Kivekäs (SF), showing an excellent road holding. Contrary to former years America's Fred Hood was present with a competive car. Disappointingly slow was the car built by Raimond van Campenhout for his son Björn. During the mid-1980s Raymond worked several years as tuner of slot-racing cars for JPVR. He always had an excellent reputation as assembler of excellent cars. But being quite new in assembling of model cars he seems having to learn quite a lot before being competitive in this (for him) new form of slot-racing.
Prior to the race Michael Niemas won concourse with Piki's #1 car (40 votes) ahead of the Swiss car of Gabriel Inäbnit (32 votes), the splendid Canadian car of Mark Campbell (29 votes), the Slovakian car of Jozef Miskolci (25 votes, but being not ready for the warm-up race) and the Dutch car of Tamar Nelwan (24 votes). Very nice was the body Achim Zanders had in his bags. Unfortunately the work at his new Francorchamps track let him not enough time to finish the car, so that he had to enter with a borrowed car. On his web site one can find a good article on the 2005 X-Mas Races.

The race went over 4 heats of 6 x 4 minutes. In heat D, with the slowest racers Björn van Campenhout (B) was initially led by both Achim Zanders (D) and Mark Campbell (CDN), but during the two last segments he could pass them both to win his heat.
Heat C started as a disaster for the 2004 world champion Nick de Wachter (NL), since his car refused to start. He could achieve only one single lap during the first segment. Fastest man here was the 2000 world champion Geert Mertens (B), achieving 265 laps, followed by Francesc Reyes (E) and Alvaro Sarabia (E). Positions of the three last named changed continuously during the race.
Since JPVR and Salvatore Noviello had to race the same car, and since both should normally haved to start in the highest heat, it was decided that JPVR should do heat A and Salvatore heat B. In that heat B there was initially a close combat among Salvatore Noviello, Kai Kivekäs (SF) and Gabriel Inäbnit (CH). The first named was pulling quickly away from the two others, so that at the finish he had only eleven laps more than Kivekäs and twelve laps more than Inäbnit. Daniel Gonzalez (E), Dan Debella (USA) and Fred Hood (USA) followed a couple of laps further.
In heat A we found "Piki" van Rossem, Youri van Rossem, Jean Pierre van Rossem, Michael Niemas, Tamar Nelwan and Juanma Torres. Of them "Piki" van Rossem (B) took immediately the lead. At the end of the first segment he had one lap more than the trio Youri van Rossem, Michael Niemas and JPVR. Torres followed already at two laps, Nelwan at three laps. During the second segment Michael Niemas (D) succeeded not only to pass "Piki", but also to put him at the end of the segment at one lap, just as his younger brother Youri. Torres moved now into fourth position at three laps from Niemas, with JPVR one lap further. At mid-race Niemas was still leading, followed at one lap by "Piki". Youri van Rossem (B) had a troublesome run on green and followed now at three laps. Meanwhile Jean Pierre van Rossem (B) succeeded to undo his arrears on Juanma Torres (E). Both were now together in the same lap. During the fourth segment Youri had a splendid run on yellow (48 laps) and followed now at two laps from Niemas and at one lap of his older brother. For the fourth place JPVR took four laps over Torres, whilst Tamar was threating the Spaniard for the fifth place. During the fifth segment JPVR had a horrible run on white, deslotting twice ahead of Niemas, making the German loosing two laps on "Piki", so that Niemas lost the lead and followed now at one lap. During the last segment Niemas lost another lap on "Piki" van Rossem (B), who won the race. Youri finished as third. Tamar Nelwan (NL) succeeded during the last segment to pass Juanma Torres, to take rank 7 overall. In the scratch standings Noviello was fourth, Kivekäs sixth. [JPVR]

The five most beautiful cars at Concourse with Piki's car in the Belgian colours (assembled by Michael Niemas) preceeding the Swiss car of Gabriel Inäbnit, the Canadian #33 car of Mark Campbell, the Slovakian #7 car of Jozef Miskolci and the orange Dutch car of Tamar Nelwan.

The #1 car of "Piki" van Rossem, not only winner of Concourse, but also winner of the two 2005 X-Mas Races. In 2003 "Piki" won also both X-Mas races, despite the fact that he had 39° Celsuis feaver. That year "Piki" won the IMCA World Championship.

The German car of Michael Niemas finished twice as second after a splendid combat with Piki's car.

Picture of Heat B won by Salvatore Noviello. We recognize as racers Dan Debella, Fred Hood, Kai Kivekäs, Daniel Gonzalez, Salvatore Noviello and Gabriel Inäbnit. [Picture: Achim Zanders]

1st IMCA MODEL CAR WORLDS REVENGE RACE

AALST, DECEMBER 17, 2005 (B)

"PIKI" BEATS NIEMAS, NOVIELLO, YOURI

Top-5 again for the cars assembled by Michael Niemas

Jean Pierre van Rossem at the start for the very last race of his long career. Start of the Main Final of the 1st Model Car Revenge Race with f.l.t.r. Michael Niemas (D), 2001-2005 world champion Salvatore Noviello (I), 2004 world champion Nick de Wachter (NL), 1985 world champion JPVR, 2003 world champion "Piki" van Rossem (B) and his younger brother Youri van Rossem. Picture: Jozef Miskolci. In the back we see Bob Demeyer, for the last time as IMCA race director.

The second X-Mas Race was a real Revenge Race for the 2005 Model Car World Championship, since five of the six main finalists were found together at the start: Salvatore Noviello (I, winner of the 2005 Worlds), Nick de Wachter (second at the 2005 Worlds), "Piki" (third at the 2005 Worlds), Michael Niemas (fifth at the 2005 Worlds) and Geert Mertens (sixth at the 2005 Worlds). Out of the top-10 of the 2005 Worlds we had also Youri van Rossem (ninth) and Kai Kivekäs (tenth) at the start, what makes seven of the top-10. Missing were Andreas Laufenberg (D), Antónin Vojtik (CZ) and Matthias Parke (D). There were 20 racers of 10 different nationalities at the start. With Achim Zanders (D) having to return to Germany his free place went to Peter van Erkel (NL), the man who installed the power unit for the Worlds. In 1994 and 1995 he made several good IMCA races. Famous was his Alpine-Renault A210 Berlinette he raced at the 1994 Rouen 24 hours on special Cox tyres. Van Erkel could take the free place since Theo van Ginderhuysen (B) could not stay until the end of the race.
Prior to the race the new ProSlot Euro Mk1 motors eventually arrived from Manchester, where they were forgotten by American Airlines. Time to test them was very short, too short. The new motors are very professional. A variant with neodynium magnets was not present. The motor is best raced at 14 Volts with a 8T pinion and 42T spur gear. Then it has a terrible braking. Unfortunately not enough 8T pinions were available, so that it was decided to race the Fox motors. During the coming weeks Niemas, Torres, Nelwan, Kivekäs and others will test the new motors. After this testing it will be decided what's the best gear ratio which will be applied at the Euregio 36 hours and at the Barcelona Worlds.

QUALIFICATIONS
Already at the qualifications it became obvious that "Piki" van Rossem would absolutely win the Revenge Race. By turning a rather slow lap he tried to save his tyres as well as possible. During a long time Gabriel Inäbnit (CH) had the best time: 5"042. Big was the surprise that no one of the top guns could improve that time. With 5"052 Youri van Rossem (B) came provisionally no further than the second place. Nick de Wachter (NL) realised 5"066, his country mate Tamar Nelwan (NL) 5"080. Salvatore Noviello (I) disappointed with 5"107. "Piki" went for 5"179. Eventually the last qualifier, Michael Niemas (D), set the pole position in 4"979.

QUARTER FINALS
There were four Quarter Finals with five cars. Only the three best finishers of each Quarter could make the move to the Semis. Quarter D went with Nick De Wachter (NL), Tamar Nelwan (NL), Geert Mertens (B), and Juanma Torres (E). Daniel Gonzalez (ill) preferred not to start. Already after the first segment Mertens took one lap over De Wachter and Torres, whilst Nelwan followed at one lap. During the second segment Mertens increased his advance by one lap. Nelwan succeeded to come in the same lap from Torres but had to fight until the last segment to pass the Spaniard. Torres fought back but deslotted a couple of times during the last minutes, loosing all his chances to make the move. Mertens won with 203 laps, against 201 for De Wachter, 198 for Nelwan and 196 for Torres. Fastest lap time here was 5"005 for Nick de Wachter.

Youri van Rossem looks at the cars of the main final, shortly before the start. F.l.t.r. we find the cars of Michael Niemas (#14), Salvatore Noviello (#4), Nick de Wachter, JPVR (#38), "Piki" and Youri (#5). Since Noviello and JPVR had to drive the same car after Parke's withdrawal, it was decided that JPVR should use for the main final Dan Debella's #38. Debella himself finished 8th overall in his very last race with the #38. [Picture: Jozef Miskolci].

The six finalists: #5 Youri van Rossem, #1 "Piki" van Rossem, #38 JPVR (in fact Dan Debella's car), #25 Nick de Wachter, #4 Youri van Rossem and at the end Michael Niemas. Five of those cars were built by Niemas, proving that he's actually the best tuner of top-cars. [picture: Jozef Miskolci)]

Reigning world champion Salvatore Noviello looks at the cars of the main final, shortly before the start. [Picture: Jozef Miskolci]

In Quarter C we found Youri van Rossem (B), Kai Kivekäs (SF), Dan Debella (USA), Francesc Reyes (E) and Björn van Campenhout (B). During the first segment Youri, Kai and Dan achieved all three 34 laps. Francesc Reyes, organiser of the 2006 Barcelona Worlds, lost 10 laps on technical problems, whilst Björn van Campenhout had a lazy motor. During the following segment Youri took three laps over Kai and Dan. Since Reyes lost again six laps, the decision who should make the move was already taken. At the finish Youri van Rossem was the fastest with 205 laps, followed by Kai Kivekäs with 201 laps, Dan Debella with 199 laps, Francesc Reyes with 176 laps and the unlucky Björn van Campenhout with 157 laps. Fastest race lap was here for Youri in 4"921.
In Quarter B we had Gabriel Inäbnit (CH), Jean Pierre van Rossem (B), "Piki" van Rossem (B), Peter van Erkel (NL) and Mark Campbell (CDN) as starters. After the first segment the four first achieved all four 33 laps. Campbell lost five laps. During the following segment Inäbnit took one lap over JPVR, two over "Piki" (saving his tyres) and two over Peter van Erkel. Positions changed no longer and at the finish we found Gabriel Inäbnit as winner with 199 laps, JPVR with 197 laps, "Piki" with 195 laps, Van Erkel with 190 laps and Campbell with 172 laps. Fastest lap was for Gabriel Inäbnit in 5"022.
In Quarter A we started with Michael Niemas (D), Salvatore Noviello (I), Fred Hood (USA), Jozef Miskolci (SVK) and Alvaro Sarabia (E). Immediately after the start Niemas and Noviello were pulling away from the rest of the field. After one segment they had one lap over Miskolci and Hood, racing nose to tail. Sarabia came two laps further. During the following segment Miskolci moved into second place, ahead of Noviello, but three laps down to Niemas. The next segment Noviello could take back his second place, but Miskloci had always one complete lap over Fred Hood (and five over Sarabia).  Positions did not change at the fourth segment. With two segments to go it seemed as Miskolci should make the move to the Semis, and not Hood, who was always one lap down. At the fifth segment, however, Hood could undo his arrears and even pass Miskolci. Both started the last segment in the same lap, with Hood a quarter of the straight ahead over Miskolci. With the Slovak on the fast green (inner) lane and the American on the slaw black (outer) lane, everybody expected that Fred Hood should miss the move. However, he was racing as in his best days, and could maintain his small advance. Towards the end Miskolci became so nervous that he deslotted a couple of times, enough to finish one lap down to Fred. Winner was Niemas with 202 laps, followed by Noviello (198), Hood (194), Miskolci (193) and Sarabia (190). Fastest race lap was 4"998 for Niemas.

SEMI FINALS
The twelve semi finalists were Youri van Rossem (205), Geert Mertens (203), Michael Niemas (202), Kai Kivekäs (201), Nick de Wachter (201), Gabriël Inäbnit (199), Dan Debella (198), Salvatore Noviello (198), Tamar Nelwan (198), JPVR (197), "Piki" (195) and Fred Hood (194). None of the four Spaniards made the move, what was a big surprise. 
Semi B went with Mertens (B), Kivekäs (SF), De Wachter (NL), Inäbnit (CH), Niemas (D) and Noviello (I). During the first segment Noviello and Niemas (36 laps) took one lap over De Wachter and Inäbnit, three over Mertens and four over KiveKäs (who lost at the start three laps on fixing his body). During the second segment De Wachter could join Noviello. Both followed one lap down to Niemas. Inäbnit, who had no problems to follow the leaders during the first segment could no longer follow and lost two laps after a couple of deslottings. He had now 68 laps, three less than the leader, one more than Mertens and two more than Inäbnit. None of them could finish among the top-3. After 6 x 3' Niemas was the winner with 210 laps. Noviello (208) and De Wachter (208) were second and third. Mertens finished as fourth (204), followed by Kivekäs (202) and Inäbnit (201). Fastest race lap went to Niemas in 4"832, a new track record. 
Semi A saw at the start the three Van Rossems, two Americans (Fred Hood and Dan Debella) and one Dutchman (Tamar Nelwan). "Piki" took immediately the lead with 36 laps ...on the slowest white lane. Youri followed at one lap on black, all others at two laps. Having made a tremendous poor start on his favourite yellow lane JPVR was hanging in last position. During the second segment Piki maintained the lead, followed at one lap by an astonishing Fred Hood and Youri. JPVR was fourth on three laps, Debella fifth on four laps and Nelwan sixth on five laps. At mid-race we found "Piki" leading with 107 laps, followed by Youri (105), Hood (103), JPVR (101), Debella (101) and Tamar (100). After four segments Piki (142 laps) was leading Youri (139), Hood and JPVR (136), Debella (135) and Nelwan (132). During the one but last segment JPVR could pass Hood for the third place and during the last segment Hood was also passed by Dan Debella having done a superb last race half. "Piki" was the winner with 211 laps, followed by Youri 207 laps, JPVR 205 laps, Dan Debella 203 laps, Fred Hood 202 laps and Tamar Nelwan 189 laps. "Piki" improved the track record by achieving a race lap in 4"811. So the six main finalists were "Piki" (211), Niemas (210), Noviello (208), De Wachter (208), Youri van Rossem (207) and JPVR (205).

One of the very last images of the IMCA track. The day after the race the track was dismantled and sold to a fitness centre in Wervik (B). It will be no more used for international competition. [Picture: Jozef Miskolci].

Bob Demeyer is for the last time in his life race director. Here he checks the car of Jozef Miskolci. [Picture Jozef Miskolci]

Quarter Final C with f.l.t.R. Kai Kivekäs (SF), Francesc Reyes (E), Youri van Rossem (B), Dan Debella (USA) and Björn van Campenhout (B). We see also Raymond van Campenhout, "Piki" and Bob Demeyer. [Picture received from Dan Debella].

For Jean Pierre van Rossem, during more than 40 years promotor of international slot-racing, it's now definitively over. Behind him his collection of all 1970 Le Mans cars. The complete collection (more than 60 cars) is for sale at a total price of € 40,000. With JPVR the Belgian Model Car Centre disappears definitively. The day after the race the track was moved to a fitness centre in Wervik (B).

MAIN FINAL OF THE VERY LAST IMCA RACE BY JPVR
Since Noviello and JPVR, having raced the whole day the same car, are both qualified for the main final, it is decided that JPVR will use Dan Debella's #38 car (in the American colours) and that Noviello will continue with the #4 (Belgian) car. Immediately after the start, in the first curb, several cars deslot so that "Piki" can immediately go out at the lead. He's followed by Nick de Wachter. At the end of the first segment three cars are still in the lead lap: Piki's, JPVR's and Nick de Wachter's. Noviello and Youri follow one lap further. Niemas (on the outer black lane) is surprisingly last at two laps. During the second segment "Piki" achieves again 48 laps, just as at the first segment. On green he improves the track record: 4"791. Nick de Wachter is now second at one lap, Youri, JPVR and Niemas follow at two laps. Noviello is now last at three laps. During the third segment Youri - having realised a fastest lap on blue in 4"799 - moves into second position, two laps down to "Piki". Then follows JPVR at three laps, what makes that at mid-race we find the three Van Rossems at the three first places. Niemas is close behind at the same lap as JPVR, just as Nick de Wachter. Noviello is always sixth and last, at four laps.

During the fourth segment Nick de Wachter looses some twenty laps in the pits and drops to the last place. Niemas - 48 laps on green and a fastest in 4"794 - moves into second position, at to laps from leader "Piki". Youri is third at three laps, JPVR fourth at four laps, Noviello fifth also at four laps. During the fifth segment Youri looses another lap on the leaders ("Piki", followed at two laps by Niemas), and Noviello comes in the same lap as Youri, four laps down to the leaders. He passed JPVR, following now at five laps. Up from now, we see in the last segment a gruelling combat for the third place between Youri and Salvatore. They are now racing nose to tail and positions switch regularly in the two chicanes. Eventually Youri will loose his third place in the last segments, finishing less than 10 centimetres down to the Italian. In front "Piki" van Rossem  can take two laps more over Michael Niemas, finishing four laps ahead over the German at an average speed of nearly 5 seconds clear per lap. Salvatore Noviello and Youri van Rossem are third and fourth. At his real last race Jean Pierre van Rossem finishes against fifth overall, proving that he was perhaps a better racer (if motivated) than he always believed. An era in interlational slot-racing came so to a definitive end. [JPVR]

13th EUROPEAN MODEL CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

NEUMÜNSTER, OCTOBER 1-2, 2005 (D)

CHRISTIAN SCHNIZLER CAUSES A STIR

Youngest Europameister ever deslotted only twice...

October 3 - The 13th European Model Car Championship has been won by the 15-years old Christian Schnizler (D). On more than 2,500 voting mails absolutely nobody tipped Schnizler as an eventual winner. It was a fine meeting and Matthias Parke did great efforts to bring it in the local newspapers. Several racers had problems to accept that young Christian Schnizler was the unexpected winner. They forgot to tell that during the whole week-end Christian deslotted only two times. Even miracle driver Salvatore Noviello, having started with an "impossible" car, deslotted more. Michael Niemas (D) was fighting until the real last metres to defeat Schnizler, but he came one third of a lap short. Another revelation was undoubtedly Jürgen Stüdemann who finished third after a superb race. Matthias Parke had the fastest of all cars, having realised a fastest lap in 6"353, and learned that racing and organising at the same time is extremely difficult. He was one of the best racers and could perhaps have finished better if his car was not unreliable at the start. Indeed, the car refused to start in the main final, loosing a complete lap during the first seconds. Another fine performance was realised by Finland's Kai Kivekäs, improving race after race. He was the fastest qualifier in 6"373 and was fighting during nearly the whole main final with Parke for the fourth place. World champion Salvatore Noviello (I) came at the start with a car with complete wrong set-up. Since his master mechanic, Francesc Reyes, was not there, at no moment he succeeded to make his car competitive. It's half a miracle that he could make the main final with such a car. 
In my opinion the best performance of the whole meeting came from Einari Fyhr (SF). Having not raced during a complete year he had to start with a car having arrived... when free practice was already over. Nevertheless he succeeded finishing seventh overall. In the semi finals he came only a couple of metres short to make the move to the main final. We noted a serious progress made by the racers from Denmark and Norway. Those using the Metris Mk2 chassis reached all three the Semis. Of them Martin Borch finished tenth, Pål Hanson twelfth. One racer, having reached the Semis, Jens Badenkopf, refused to start after a controversy launched by Rüdiger Krieger. The arguments in his article are too ridiculous for any reply. It's the typical reaction of a looser. Race director Manfred Geue did a great job and as race direc-tor Jürgen Stüdemann made only one major mistake, having forgotten to disqualify Laufenberg's car, being too wide. Discussion that the controller on red was not braking correctly is unfair: all racers had to use that controller, and it could not be replaced during the race, other-wise that should have been unfair for the other racers, who earlier had to struggle with the same deficient controller.

Several racers had bad luck at the Consis. Among them Yves Welter jr, who was still in second position one minute before the end, but then deslotted after a collision, loosing all hope to come back. Gilles Dohogne too was in a nearly similar situation, when two minutes before the end he lost his safe second positions after a late track call for deslotting on the straight. Pål Hanson and Friedjof Aleith were fighting until the last second for a second position in their consi. Eventually Aleith lost it from the Norvegian for less than one metre.
Lucky were Gabriel Inäbnit (CH) and Beate Wiesel-Schulz (D). Both finished third in their consi, but Inäbnit inherited the second place after a 5-lap penalty for Andreas Laufenberg, and Beate could make the move after Jens Baden-kopf anounced he didn't want to continue, disgusted by the defect controller on red. Very unhappy was Kevin Krollmann (D), having missed the move. Next time Michael Niemas should make that the PlaFit S24 he assembled are equal. Now, e.g., Youri had to drive a Niemas-car with full plastic interior, full plastic racer, and 8mm wide front wheels instead of 5mm. Niemas himself could go no faster than 6"761 at free practice with such car, being absolutely not worth the € 750 which was paid for it. also Dieter Jens's PlaFit S24 car was very disappointing, with a poor set-up. At no moment Jens was able to defend his chances. The fact that Niemas was absent at the Friday practice, and that he arrived only one hour before the end of free practice explains perhaps the poor performances of his other cars.
Concourse was easily won by Matthias Parke, ahead of two Opels assembled by Michael Niemas. The European Constructor's Championship went to Parke too, again ahead of Niemas. More details on it will be found in a separate article. Last but not least the victory of Christian Schnizler gives full evidence that the IMCA DTM rules were too liberal for Dickie Audis TT. His car had the lowest centre of gravity of all cars. Next year such will be no longer possible under the one-body Nissan Rules. [JPVR]

IMCA EURONATS 2006 AGAIN IN NEUMÜNSTER?
Most international racers agreed that the Neumünster location was excellent. However, most of them were disappointed that they had not enough time to prepair there cars for this specific track. A better formula could be a 3-days event with the whole Friday reserved for the international racers in order to do the correct set-up of their cars. A good date could be mid-July 2006, during the vacation period. IMCA will propose that date to the Neumünster Raceway owner(s). Some things, however, should be changed.
(1) This year IMCA delivered the t-shirts (€ 595.90), 34 motors (€ 340) and 75 pair of tires (€ 750) plus the trophies (€ 412), what makes € 1727.90. Total of all entry fees was € 1700. On top of that M. Parke insisted that IMCA should pay the club 34 x 25 euro = € 750. If the 2006 IMCA EuroNats will be contested again in Neumünster the club has to deliver motors & tyres, whilst IMCA will deliver t-shirts and trophies. Half of the entry fees has to go to the club, other half to IMCA. Fees should be revised.
(2) Next year only one body will be raced with strict rules on the parts to be used. The organising club will be asked to do a more rigid tech control. They perfectly have the right to refuse cars at the start if they don't meet the rules, even if only a fire extinguisher should be missing in one of the cars.
(3) The principle of no speaking with the marshals and fixed NSR controllers, applied in int'l racing since 20 years, should be maintai-ned. Deficient controllers should be replaced at the very first complaint.
(4) Consis, Semis and Main should all go over 5 x 5 minutes.
(5) Format should be 8 Consis, with the 2 first of each Consi moving up to the Semis; 3 Semis with 16 racers in total and the 2 first moving up to the Main. That implies that number of racers should be restricted to 40, with never more than 10 from one country. [JPVR]

8th AUTUMN WARM-UP RACE

NEUMÜNSTER, OCTOBER 1-2, 2005 (D)

CHRISTIAN SCHNIZLER BEATS M. NIEMAS

Foreign racers missed time for good set-up of their cars

October 3 - The very nice track of Neumünster is no difficult track, but requires a typical set-up of the cars. Heavy traffic on the way to Neumünster made that none of the internationals was able to enter the Friday free practice. Several of them showed very late on Saturday, so that international racer all started with cars not adapted to the track. Under such circumstances it was obvious that the local racers should trust top-10 places. At the qualifications the racers of Denmark and Norway surprised everybody by ranking 4 of their racers among the top-10. Fastest qualifier was M. Parke (D), ahead of Niemas (D), Kivekäs (SF), Borch (DK) and Stüdemann (D). Several racers retired before the end to win some time on a better set-up of their car. That was what was done by Geert Mertens (B), Salvatore Noviello (I) and Geert Mertens (B).
During the race, Stephan Wiesel, moved up in his heat from fifth to first position. He had a great race, but received two times a warning for shouting or speaking with the marshals. Normally he should al-ready have received a 3-lap penalty the second time, but since he was new under IMCA rules, it remained at a second warning. The third time however, a 3-lap penalty was necessary. That made him dropping in the standings. His wife, Beate Wiesel, made a splendid race, only beaten in her heat by Kevin Krollmann (who received an extra lap after his car missed the counter). In the heat with the six fastest qualifiers (Parke, Niemas, Kibekäs, Borch, and Stüdemann) Parke lost valuable time after a serious collision, slowing down his car 2/10 of a second per lap. So he was beaten by Michael Niemas by nearly a full lap. Big was the surprise that none of them won the race. Indeed, during the previous heat, with Mörtensen, Fyhr, Hasager, Schnizler and Hanson, young Christian Schnizler proved he had the best car with the lowest centre of gravity. He achieved nearly 269 laps, being more than two laps faster than Niemas. He was the unexpected winner.
Even unexpected was the result of heat D where Gerd van de Wiel had the race of his life, beating not only world champion Noviello, but even Gilles Dohogne and Andreas Laufenberg. Gerd achieved 258 laps, good for a sixth place overall. This results proves that the Schöler Pantera chassis is excellent. For the X-Mas Race, Gerd will be asked to build three Nissans on the Schöler chassis. [JPVR]

1st EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTOR'S CHAMPIONSHIP

NEUMÜNSTER, OCTOBER 1-2, 2005 (D)

M. PARKE BEATS M. NIEMAS & A. LAUFENBERG

Niemas should pay more attention to his racer's cars!

October 3 - After having won the 2004 Constructor's World Championship Hamburg's Matthias Parke wins now also the 2005 European Construc-tor's Championship, 12 points ahead of Michael Niemas. The last named lost the title by paying not enough attention to the cars of his co-racers. If I look at the car Youri bought from Michael, I can only say that it's a shame to sell such car as competitive. Weight and centre of gravity are it all in modern model car racing. Front wheels of Youri's car were not cut from 8 to 5 mm, driver was full plastic instead of lexan, and the interior was also full plastic instead of lexan. Useless to say that Youri - always a very fast qualifier and always in for the Main - was extremely disappointed. Shouldf Tamar Nelwan have been in in time Youri should have used Tamar's Audi, having now gone to Mertens, and performing endless better than the Niemas Audi. The 2005 Constructor's World Champion, Tamar Nelwan, lost it all for two reasons: (1) his best racer, Nick de Wachter is in hospital (quick recovery, Nick!) and (2) he was blocked 4 hours on the mainway, so that he had to start with cars not well adapted to the Neumünster track. Eventually Nelwan finished seventh. Laufenberg won the two races, but lost to much points in concourse to have any chance to finish better than third. Rüdiger Krieger could have finished higher than fifth if he had been not so childish to retire on Sunday. His racer, Jens Badenkopf could have won necessary race points at the EuroNats. Now Stephan Wiesel was fourth. He too could have won more points without the shouting penalty. [JPVR]

15th MODEL CAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1/24th

AALST, MAY 6, 2005 (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)

DE WACHTER WINS MELLO YELLO JR WORLDS

His 5th Worlds after splendid combat with Niemas & Gonzalez

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, being the first racer in history having won already five world championships.
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. During the last segment he succeeded to pass and to win his fifth world championship. [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)

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]

7th DEUTSCHE PLAFIT MEISTERSCHAFT-Darmstadt (D),Oct 7-8, 2005

M. NIEMAS, P. KREMER, D. SEELIGER WIN

120 entrants spread over 40 teams - EPC round #1

October 13 - The DPM originated in 1998 as an idea of France's Gérard Caupène, in 1985 one of the founders of IMCA. First orga-nisation dates from 1999. Number of entrants was growing year after year. This year we found no less than 120 entrants spread over 40 teams. Of them 6 teams came from abroad Germany. There were 3 teams from Spain, 2 teams from Japan and 1 team from Holland. This year the DPM in Darmstadt and the SPM in Barcelona are the two rounds of the EPM (European PlaFit Meisterschaft). Although a pure commercial initiative inspired by the two main distributors of PlaFit in Europe (H+T Motor Racing and CricCrac), spormanslike value of both events increased in such a way that an upgrading of those races as a future IOC event is already now considered. At those races all competitors use a PlaFit chassis, a GT1 or GT2 body (mainly Porsches GT1, but also Nissan Nismos, Hondas NSX, Ferraris Modena 360, etc.), and handout rear tyres, making racing more equal.

This year Michael Niemas won the DPM for the third consecutive time. However this time with two new team mates: Philip Kremer and Daniel Seeliger. Runners-up of last year Nick de Wachter, Tamar Nelwan and Gabriel Inäbnit could qualify as fifth, but were at no moment in a better position than tenth to finish eventually as a poor fifteenth. Niemas's team mates of last year, Günther Riehl and Matthias Eichwald formed this year a team with Patrick Brau and finished as tenth. The teams finishing this year in the top-3 were exclusively restricted to youngsters. The unknown trio Sebastian Nockermann/Thomas Nötzel/Jan Uhlig finished as second, four laps down to Niemas's team. They were followed at less than 3 metres by the team of Andreas Laufenberg having Jan Gürtzen and Tim Gürtzen as team mates. The international experts Dieter Jens, Thomas Spicker and Dietmar Schmeer finished fifth overall. Of them Dieter Jens realised the fastest lap time during the race. Kevin Krollmann, with team mates from Trier finished sixth. Good old Manfred Stork was eleventh. First non-German team of Bernat Basas (E)/Ivan Basas (E)/Josep Ruiz (E) was ninth. Both Japanese teams disappointen by finishing twenty-third and one but last.
Prior to the race there was a demonstration race with 14 racers, using equal cars as raced under Japanese rules. The race was won by Bernat Basas (E), ahead of Nick de Wachter (NL) and Hideaki Suzuki (J). [for JPVR]