Although the 16th IMCA Worlds started in mineur at a race location totally other than what was expected, the event finished in an excellent mood among all racers. That proves once more that not the location, but the racers themselves make the event. Racing was exceptionally fair, except at the Mello Yello, where Tamar Nelwan decided at once to hold immediately after the Quarters a post-TC. Such a thing has never been seen in a half century af slot-racing. Several cars were sanctionned for a too low clearance, whilst 18 minutes earlier their clearance was still OK. The deficient clearance was provoked in all cases by racing accidents, not by trials to cheat. Something to do NEVER more.
The general atmosphere among the racers was excellent and there were no complaints, except once, by Gert Klinge, finding the controllers during the Mello Yello deficient. However, later nobody else complained about those controllers, having well supported the handling, even in hands of Philip Kremer, trying continuously to strangle the controller. TC by Kai Kivekäs and Jozef Miskolci was perfect. Eventually Francesc Reyes organised one of the best IMCA meetings of the last 20 years. [JPVR]

August 28 - Of the 16 IMCA World Championships the Barcelona one was undoubtedly the most thrilling, full of drama. Four racers out of 24 succeeded to join the 20 preselected racers: Antonio Ortega, Al Paterson, Pal Hanson and Francesc Reyes. The race was already on when, ot once, someone discovered that Jordi Girald should have been in, instead of Reyes. For the Spaniards that gave no problem, since they race as a nearly perfect national unity.
There were 4 Quarter Finals, with the 3 first of each Quarter making the move to the Semis.
At Quarter D Brian Saunders (GB) was leading until mid-race with Daniel Gonzalez (E) as second and Gabriel Inäbnit (CH) as third. Giovanni Mon-tiglio (I), who had to prepair his car frm scratch, could maintain the third place only during the two first segments, but then dropped in the stan-dings. During the second half of the race Saunder's car missed speed on lanes 5 and 6, making him dropping from first to sixth. Gonzalez took the lead. Meanwhile Philip Kremer (D) and Al Paterson (RSA) could move up in second and third position. Positions changed no more during the 2 last segments, so that Gonzalez, Paterson and Kremer made the move and that Inäbnit, Montiglio and Saunders were out. 
Quarter C was full of surprises since the car of Christoph Kremer (D), having won earlier the Franco Gianotti Trophy, was not working at all, and since also Gustav Heymann's (RSA) car was too slow. Nick de Wachter (NL) was leadeing from start to finish, followed by Michael Niemas (D) and Francesc Reyes (E). They finished in that order. Heymann, Marcel Oosterling (NL) and the very unlucky Christoph Kremer were all out.
In Quarter B Brazil's "Gugu" Bernardino was initially leading, being passed in the second segment by Ralf Seif (D), who'll set the pace until the finish. In third position we found Youri van Rossem (B), followed by Chris Radisich (NZ), Pal Hanson (N) and Benny Justice (USA). At half race Radisich could pass Youri, to take the 3rd place. Positions seemed to be stable but at the real end of the Quarter "Gugu", deslotted and was passed by both Radisich and Youri. He was out, just as Hanson and Benny Justice. 
In Quarter A Jozef Miskolci (SK) caused a stir by leading during four segments with a car built from four year old scratch pieces. He was followed by Kai Kivekäs (SF) on a car prepaired by Germany's Matthias Parke. In third position we found "Piki" (B) on a car lacking terribly speed. Then came Geert Mertens (B), Fred Hood (USA) and Antonio Ortega (E). At mid-race Hood could pass Mertens. He was attacking "Piki" in third place, when at once he suffered from thorn braids, making him dropping in fifth place. In front Kivekäs could pass Miskolci, lapping him twice and being the fastest of the quarters with 121 laps, against 119 for de Wachter, Miskolci and Gonzalez. Niemas and Seif realised 118 laps, "Piki", Paterson, Reyes, Philip Kremer and Youri 117 laps.

In the Semis we find one MoMo MP4 (Kivekäs), 3 Momo MP2 (Paterson, Miskolci, Radisich), 5 PlaFit LS (Niemas, Kremer, Seif, "Piki", Youri), 1 PlaFit Excel (De Wachter) and 2 Schöler (Gonzalez, Reyes). Except for Philippe Kremer's car, none of the PlaFits LS seems fast enough to win the race. In Semi A we receive a first prove of that: Michael Niemas, with speed problems on the fastest lanes, can pass Jozef Miskolci for the 4th place, but fails to pass Philip Kremer on the third place. Eventually De Wachter (1st), Gonzalez (2nd) and Philip Kremer (3rd) will make the move. In Semi B Ralf Seif was initially leading, but dropped after braids problems in fifth position, headed by Kivekäs, Al Paterson, "Piki" and Youri. In the last segments Reif can pass Youri, but fails in 4th position. The 6 finalists are Kivekäs and Paterson on MoMo, "Piki" and Philip Kremer on Plafit LS, Nick de Wachter on PlaFit Excel and Gonzalez on Schöler.
During the 4 first segments of the Main Final Kai Kivekäs (SF) is leading, with Nick de Wachter (NL) and Daniel Gonzalez all time on the lead lap. The 2 PlaFit LS cannot follow, and loose several laps. Al Paterson is the back bencher up from the first segment. During the 5th segment Gonzalez can pass Kivekäs, with De Wachter nearly a complete lap behind. However, he starts a terrible come back. At the start of the 6th segment the 3 leading cars are less than 10 metres apart. De Wachter can pass without problems Kivekäs and comes within 2 metres from Gonzalez with 1'30" to race when he deslots. Then he makes a second come back, comes nose to tail with Gonzalez's car, but deslots again. The battle is over. Gonzalez wins with De Wachter 3 metres behind and Kivekäs some metres further. Philip Kremer is 4th, "Piki" 5th, Paterson 6th. A splendid final, full of thrill!

16th Model Car Worlds, Main Final, with f.l.t.r. Philip Kremer (D), who finished 4th; Al Paterson (RSA), who finished 6th; and "Piki" van Rossem (B), who finished 5th.

This year the Franco Gianotti Trophy went over 7 rounds, the first having been earlier disputed at Euregio Raceway. Of those rounds the Saleen S7R of Kremer/Kremer/Seif won 4 rounds. The Maserati MC12 of Niemas/"Piki"/Youri won twice, but was disqualified once. Aston Martin won surprisingly the European Championship with Saunders & Heymann. The opening round at Euregio went to the Maserati MC12 of Mertens/Christoph Kremer/Jan Gürtzen. Among the GT2 cars (not present at Euregio) the Ferrari F430 won 5 out of 6 rounds: twice the #63 Scuderia Ecosse of Mertens/Philippaerts/Cuppens, twice the JMB of De Wachter/Klinge/Oosterling, and once the AF Corse of Vidal/Girald/Sarra-bia. Porsche won only once with Niemas/Youri/Ph. Kremer. 
In the individual ranking Christoph Kremer collected most points, 72. His son Philip Kremer was second overall with 64 points and won the Franco Gianotti Trophy for youngsters ahead over Michael Niemas (52 points) and Youri van Rossem (48 points). Among the seniors Geert Mertens was 2nd (3rd overall with 61 points), with Ralf Seif as 3rd (53 points). There were 54 entrants.
The Nations Cup was won by Germany, despite the fact that they were missing 3 racers. Initially the Germans digged the gap, but at the Mello Yello Junior & Amateurs Worlds and at the 16th Model Car Worlds, the German racers disappointed (except for Philip Kremer's car, none of their Plafit LS cars was really competitive), so that Spain could come back at 5 little points. With non competitive cars in both Worlds, where they came no further than twice the 5th place) the Belgians, having been all time in 2nd position, were even passed for the 3rd place by Holland, where Nick de Wachter collected no less than 52.5 points at the 2 Worlds, against 18 for Belgium. The Commonwealth Team finished 5th, ahead of Scandinavia, America and Italy.

It was an extremely strange Mello Yello this year. Things started very well organised with racers being invited in the enclosed zone to fit under eyes of the race direction their handout motor and their handout tyres. Tamar Nelwan was so kind not to start in the Worlds, so that he had enough time to organise the technical control perfectly. Scrutineering was done by Kai Kivekas and by Jozef Miskolci. Although the complete procedure took 4 hours, everybody was happy: this year there was absolutely no place for racers trying to cheat the others.

26 racers (half of them youngsters, other half amateurs) started in the 3 x 6' Quarter Finals. And then, at once, the most stupid thing that I ever saw in 45 years of slot-racing happened: Tamar Nelwan decided completely on his own to hold a post-race TC where at once two cars were penalised with 10 % of their achieved laps, because they were at once ...too low. But how a car can be too low after only 18 minutes of racing, using hard rubber tyres loosing only 1mm of height after more than 3 hours of racing. All those cars came directly from the enclosed zone to the track, thus even if someone had the intention to cheat the others, it was to be done during racing time, so that nobody did something illegal. Being too low after 18 minutes of racing can have only 2 causes: or clearance was at the limit on the initial TC, and then it was Tamar's task to warn the racers; or clearance came down due to an accident. Victims of Tamar's extremely stupidity were Juanma Torres and Michael Philip-paerts who both missed the move to the Semis for a too low clearance.
But even before the Tamar-comedy the race was full of drama. During the first Quarter Gert Klinge, who was leading his Quarter, at once complained that one of the handout controllers, fixed on the track, was not working properly. He was so furious that he retired immediately. One Quarter later I decided that Francesc Reyes should use the same controller on the same lane, and nothing was wrong with the controller. Meanwhile top-favourite Michael Niemas had quit the race after only 50 laps with a car not functioning at all. So with Torres, Philippaerts and Niemas we lost 3 candidate-winners at the Quarters.

Top-3 at the Amateur's World Championship with f.l.t.r. the moral winner Al Paterson (RSA), the eventual winner Antonio Ortega and Norway's Pål Hanson (3rd). Why Al has a Nelwan t-shirt is for me a mystery. Perhaps because Al was the major victim of the Nelwan-comedy?

At the Semis the Tamar comedy was complete: the 2 first of Semi B were all 2 too low: Jordi Girald (who won his Semi after a superb combat with Reyes), and Francesc Reyes himself. So 2 non qualified racers Al Paterson and Antonio Ortega could make the move to a completely falsified Main, together with Nick de Wachter who, obviously saved his car for the Main. In the other Semi Philip Kremer, Daniel Gonzalez and Youri van Rossem made the move without any problem. Top 6 of the combined Semis were Philip Kremer (158 laps), Jordi Girald (158 laps), Francesc Reyes (157 laps), Nick de Wachter (156 laps), Daniel Gonzalez (155 laps) and Youri van Rossem (154 laps). Under normal circumstances that should have been the 6 racers of the Main.
In the Main Nick de Wachter took immediately the lead, followed by Gonzalez, Youri, Kremer and the two miraculously survivors of the Nelwan-comedy: Al Paterson and Antonio Ortega. That were the positions after the first segment.
Already in the second segment it became obvious that justs as the cars of Christoph Kremer, Ralf Seif, "Piki", and Niemas himself - all 4 abnormally slow at free practice preceeding the race - Youri's car lacked terribly power. Fact is that poor Michael Niemas - who assembled also the cars of Brian Saunders, Giovanni Montiglio and Arttu Salomaa - had so much work to do before the Worlds, that he missed time to prepair all Nismo cars correctly for the Mello Yello and the Worlds. Youri thus dropped in fifth position, without any means on a come back.
In front Nick de Wachter had not the smallest problems to pull away from Gonzalez and Kremer, digging in the second segment a gap of 2 laps over the 2 others. In the background the two amateurs, racing in place of Reyes and Girald, Al Paterson and Antonio Ortega, were struggling for the Amateur's World Championship. Up from the 3rd segment it became obvious that Paterson was too strong for Ortega. He even succeeded to pass Gonzalez for the 3rd place, after Daniel was also passed by Philip Kremer. Things changed no more and Nick de Wachter (NL) won the race in 199 laps, 2 more than Philip Kremer in 2nd, 3 more than Al Paterson in 3rd and 4 more than Daniel Gonzalez in 4th. For De Wachter it's already his 5th world championship's title.
Sensation after the race when it appeared that Al Paterson was too low. Not he, but Antonio Ortega won the Amateur's title! Ortega was already present at the Chicago Worlds in 1988, together with the best Spanish delegation of that moment: Armengol, Mateo and Laborda.
What should we learn from the Nelwan-comedy? (1) That only the race director can order a post-race TQ, not a self-nominated race director. (2) That a post-race TQ after the Quarters is totally meaninless. (3) That the rule book so specify in clear terms that clearance starting the race should always be 1.2 mm and may never drop under 1 mm. (4) That the sanction for too low clearance must be limited at maximum 3 laps instead of 10 % of the achieved laps.

Right: the Nissan Nismo of Antonio Ortega having won the Amateur's World on a MoMo MP2 chassis.

                    5th BNL RACE FESTIVAL
It was a relentless combat between the German Saleen S7R of Kremer/ Kremer/Seif and the Maserati MC12 of "Piki"/Youri/Niemas. Towards the end of the race the Germans could take one lap over the Maserati, to hold it until the finish. None of the 4 Aston Martins DBR9 was in for victory, with the Saunders/Heymann/Paterson unit finishing as best on rank 3. The Phoenix Aston Martin of De Wachter/Nelwan/Inäbnit could follow the two leading cars during the two first segments, but dropped then in the standings.
In GT2 the Ebimotors Porsche of P.Kremer/Youri/Niemas won the race, but lost victory after a 5 laps penalty for shouting. So the JMB Ferrari F430 GTC of Oosterling/Van Gool/Klinge won its class. Initially the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GTC of Mertens/Philippaerts/Cuppens was leading this both cars, but a violent crash under the carousel, after a collision with Sarrabia's AF Corse Ferrari, obliged the car to make a long pit stop, so that it dropped in the standings to the last place.

6th R.O.C. (RACE OF THE CHAMPIONS) At the second round the Phoenix Aston Martin seemed much faster than at the BNL. This time the car had no problems to follow the German Saleen, the Belgian and the Spanish Maserati. Eventually the Maserati MC12 of "Piki"/Youri/Niemas won the race, but then at once, Gert Klinge decided at his own to install a TC. Several cars were not regular, but Klinge found that the Belgian Maserati was the lonely one to be sanctionned, perhaps because the 8"384 realised by Niemas was the best lap time of the day. So the Saleen of Kremer/Kremer/Seif could win its second consecutive race, 4 laps ahead over the Phoenix Aston Martin DBR9. In GT2 the Scuderia Ecosse of Mertens/Philippaerts/Cuppens was outstanding, finishing 5th overall, 14 laps ahead over the JMB Ferrari F430 which won the first round. The German Porsche 996 GT3-RSR ran in serious problems and finished only 6th in its class. Problems too for the Norvegian Ebimotors Porsche, lacking speed, just as at the first round. The Italian AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTC was during 4 segments 3rd, but dropped in the standing during the final stages of the race.

             14th EUROPEAN MODEL CAR NATS
The defending European champion, Christian Schnizler, was absent. For this race only two racers per car were allowed, with the experts driving GT1 cars and the youngsters and amateurs GT2 cars. Main favourites were "Piki" van Rossem/Geert Mertens (Maserati MC12), having earlier won the European Nats in 2000. Since "Piki" won also in 2003, he could win his third EuroNats. They took immediately the lead, but ran in se-rious braids problems, dropping them after 10 minutes in 7th position. In front the Aston Martins DBR9 of Nelwan/Inäbnit and Saunders/Hey-mann were involved in a close combat with the Saleen S7R, now driven by Christoph Kremer and Ralf Seif. Since there was a prize of € 500 for the team changing as fastest its tyres, several teams were at once much faster to do the job. Geert Mertens even arrived to do a tyre change in 11"52. It brought the car back in 4th position, behind the two Astons and the Saleen. Positions were changing continuosly, with the two Astons setting the pace. During the 4th segment Brian Saunders and Gustav Heymann succeeded to lap everybody and to take the lead, followed at 1 lap by the Saleen 7R and at 2 laps by the Phoenix Aston Martin DBR9 of Tamar Nelwan and Gabriel Inäbnit. Nobody gave the British/South-African duo great chances to win, since they had to finish the race at the two slowest lanes. Great motoring of Gustav Heymann during the one but last segment and of Brian Saunders during the last segment, made that they could maintain their position, winning the race one lap ahead of Christoph Kremer and Ralf Seif with the Saleen S7R. Nelwan/Inäbnit came one lap further in the #5 Aston Martin. Despite a fabulous come-back "Piki"/Mertens came no further than the 4th place.
In GT2 we saw a close combat between the JMB Ferrari F430 GTC of De Wachter/Oosterling and the AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTC of Gonzalez and Pol Garcia. During the first stages of the race, when Marcel Oosterling was driving the car, Pol Garcia could keep up with the Dutch Ferrari. But once Nick de Wachter took over Garcia lost 4 laps in one segment. Later Daniel Gonzalez tried what he could to undo this arrears, but at no avail. So Nick de Wachter/Marcel Oosterling won the title among the juniors and amateurs. Philip Kremer and Youri had back luck with their Ebimotors Porsche, loosing 8 laps shortly after the start. Although they were the fastest on the track they finished only 3rd in their class, having taken one lap back on De Wachter/Oosterling. During the race Michael Niemas - who didn't start - and Nick de Wachter tried to beat the 11"52 record for changing tyres of Geert Mertens, but none of them came under 15".

                     18th BENELUX CUP
The Benelux Cup is the oldest model car race on the international calendar. Of the 45 starters "Piki" and Geert Mertens are the lonely ones, having won the Benelux Cup earlier. Both are extremely motivated to win a second time. Having won 2 of the 3 previous rounds C. Kremer/P. Kremer and Seif had to start with 20 gram ballast in their Saleen S7R. This time "Piki" van Rossem/Youri van Rossem and Michael Niemas (Maserati MC12) are fastest away, follewed by Daniel Gonzalez, Francesc Reyes and Juanma Torres in a simular car. Of the 4 Astons at the start only the Dutch one is able to follow the leading duo. In front, however, the gap between the Belgian and the Spanish Maserati MC12 becomes wider and wider, reaching already a full lap after the first segment. During the following segment Michael Niemas tried to improve his 8"384 lap record, but stranded at 8"428. Meanwhile the gap with the Spanish Maserati increased to 2 laps. The Saleen S7R was now 3rd at 3 laps, closely followed by the Dutch #5 Aston Martin DBR9. In hands of Kai Kivekäs the Scandinavian Maserati MC12 was initially able to follow the leading quartet, but when Henrik Hasager took over a series of deslottings made the car dropping in the standings. Behind them the American, the Italian and the Commonwealth Astons were involved in a close combat for the 7th place.
During the second half of the race "Piki" and Youri increased the advance of their Maserati over the Spanish sister car with 2 more laps. Eventually the "Piki" van Rossem/Youri van Rossem/Michael Niemas car won the race with 204 laps, the lap record of the meeting. Reyes/Gonzalez/Torres were 2nd at 5 laps, De Wachter/Nelwan/Inäbnit 3rd at 8 laps. By finishing 4th at 10 laps, Kremer/Kremer/Seif were rid off the 20 gram ballast for the following round.
In GT2 we witnessed a gruelling combat between the Spanish AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTC and the Belgian Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GTC. Initially they were 3 out on the lead, but the German Ebimotors Porsche 996 GT3-RSR lost shortly after the start 28 laps in the pits, dropping in last position. In front positions between the Spanish and the Belgian Ferrari switched nearly from lap to lap, racing nose to tail as they did. They were pulling away from the American and Italian Ferraris F430 GTC, involved in a close struggle for the third place. Here Benny Justice (USA) and "Paco" Ballota (I) were also racing nose to tail and we had to wait the real last segment to see Benny Justice conquerring the 3rd place in GT2. Meanwhile the Belgian Ferrari was suffering from technical woes, making Mertens/Philippaerts/Cuppens loosing 11 laps in the pits. Nevertheless they succeeded to maintain the 2nd position in their class, 7 laps over the American Ferrari of Benny Justice/John Emmons/Garcia sr. The Ebimotors Porsche 996 GT3-RSR of the Scandinavian team found at least enough speed to compete with some of the Ferraris F430 GTC. This time the car finished 6th in its class, passed during the last metres by the Dutch Ferrari F430 GTC having earlier won already twice. GT2 victory was for Jordi Girald/Albert Vidal/Alvaro Sarrabia. That implied that a Ferrari F430 won the four first rounds with none of the Porsches able to beat them.

18th Benelux Cup. Lane change with Tom Ooms stickering the Maserati MC2. In the background we recognize Pål Hanson, Brian Saunders, Youri van Rossem, Nick de Wachter, Philip Kremer, Ralf Seif and Francesc Reyes. The Benelux Cup is the oldest model car race on the international calendar.

                  9th IMCA SUMMER RACE
The IMCA X-Mas race being no longer organised, it has been replaced by the Summer Race. Freed from its ballast the German Saleen S7R could lead from start to finish, offering the trio Christoph Kremer/Philip Kremer/Ralf Seif their third victory out of five rounds. On lane 1 Christoph Kremer could improve the lap record of Niemas: 8"339. This time Niemas/"Piki"/Youri (Maserati MC12) insisted no longer, doing nothing else than defending their second place. One lap behind Saunders/Hey-mann/Paterson (Aston Martin DBR9) were involved in a close combat for 3rd with the Maserati MC12 of Reyes/Gonzalez/Torres. Eventually the Commonwealth Aston finished ahead over the Spanish car.
Saved from technical bothers, having plagued their Porsche 996GT3-RSR the trio Philip Kremer/Youri van Rossem/Christoph Kremer could eventually beat all Ferraris for the first time. At the wheel of the Dutch JMB Ferrari F430 GTC Gert Klinge realised the second fastest GT2 lap of the day, but his team mates seemed unable to realise the same speed. Mertens/Philippaerts/Cuppens finished as 2nd GT2. Again Justice/Em-mons/Garcia sr finished 3rd in their class.

* = after a 5-laps penalty for shouting at the marshalls (Ph. Kremer)

* having won the race they were penalised with 20 laps for 2mm too wide, and this on request of Gert Klinge. Of the 8 other cars not meeting the tech rules no other car was penalised by lap sanctions.

Sunday August 20 - At 4 p.m. everyone was in the hotel. Chris Radisich and John Emmons arrived earlier, around noon, followed by the Italian team with Giovanni Montiglio, "Paco" Ballota, Stefano "Disaster" Mazzarella and a youngster as substitute for Franco Gnocchi. A few minites later "Gugu" Bernardino (the G7 world record holder over 40 minutes with 1175 laps) and Benny Justice (the 1'4632 world record holder over one lap) were there. They told us that Joao C. Geraldo could not show since he had no valid pasport for the US, and that Marcello Triginelli couldn't find a plane at a reasonable price. Tamar Nelwan, Marcel Oosterling and Nick de Wachter arrived by plane. Unfortunately they failed to rent a car at the airport. Our three Finnish racers - Kai Kivekäs, Arttu Salomaa and Marko Salomaa were waiting in the loby of the hotel. Big problems at 4.30 p.m.: there are not enough cars to join Les Franqueses del Valle. So Tamar tried to rent a bus. However: no bus available on Sunday. The solution is found by renting two cars.
Meanwhile organiser Francesc Reyes is furious about my article on Saturday. He explains that nobody was expected to show on Saturday, that there were drinks in the refrigirator, that catering was scheduled for Sunday, that everything was cleaned up and that the raceway was ready to receive a world championship. At the moment he phones me I can hardly believe that he succeeded to perform such a miracle. But when we arrive at the raceway, two hours later than scheduled, I can once more not believe my eyes. Indeed, the miracle did happen: the raceway was clean, there was enough space for everybody, inner marshalling posts were added to the track and at once everything was enjoyable. On cleaning up everything he was helped by the Germans.
Outside the raceway we find Gert Klinge and his wife, also Geert Mertens, his wife, the youngsters Robby Cuppens and Michael Phillipaerts. All Spaniards, except for Mark Garcia are there: Daniel Gonzalez, a grown-up Pol Garcia, Albert Vidal, Jordi Gerald, Antonio Ortega, Albert Ortega and Alvaro Sarrabia with his brand new Harley Davidson, admired by all racers. Juanma Torres comes later. He has a broken arm and blond hair. Father Garcia decides to replace his son Mark. Gabriel Inäbnit is in too. I guess with his wife, but I forgot to ask it. I'll do it tomorrow.

Francesc Reyes is still not there. He's to the airport to pick up Brian Saunders, Henrik Hasager and Pal Hanson. Now we are complete. After some discussions everybody agrees that Francesc Reyes found all his dignity back. Indeed, the efforts he did to make it as enjoyable as possible, let racers forget the bad fellings of one day earlier. Because that's what's so beautiful on international slot-racing: eventually we are all friends and hard words are forgotten as fast as they came. At the registrations all racers have to bet € 10 on who'll be the three first of the 16th Model Car Worlds. Most votes for the winner go to Michael Niemas, but Nick de Wachter, Daniel Gonzalez and Francesc Reyes score very good. Chris Radisich was tipped twice as winner, just as Gustav Heymann and Brian Saunders. For me it's a mystery that Christoph Kremer and Philip Kremer were named not once. "Piki" is tipped by most racers as second or third.
For the second time in two years John Emmons has the wrong t-shirt. Up from now he's from Brazil, listening to the name Marcello Triginelli. Father Garcia is at once his own son and again a youngster.
The whole evening, until midnight, is reserved for practising with FIA GT cars. Best time of the evening was realised by the #24 Aston Martin DBR9 of Gustav Heymann with 8"600 as absolute best time. Then came Kai Kivekäs with Hendrik's Maserati MC12: 8"701. Third best time goes to the Saleen S7R of the Kremers with 8"718. The Italian Maserati MC12 was in for the fourth best time: 8"734 for Montiglio. Since the Corvette C6-R of Michael Niemas was not ready, the team had to swith to their Red Bull Maserati MC12, but even with this car they were beaten by the Spanish Maserati MC12: 8"803 for Daniel Gonzalez. The Dutch Aston Martin DBR9 and the American Red Bull Maserati were not seen during free practice.
Among the GT2 Robby Cuppens realised the best time in 8"902 with the Belgian Ferrari F430. Then followed the German Porsche 996GT3-RSR in 8"922 and the Dutch Ferrari F430 in 9"001. The Norvegian Porsche of Pal Hanson came next, followed by the Ferrari F430 of Tom Ooms, driving for the Commonwealth Team. The team - having lost Triginelli and Craig Strydom will be completed by two excellent Spanish youngsters: Pol Garcia and Albert Ortega. The Italian F430 realised 9"154 in hands of Stefano "Disaster" Mazzarella. The American Ferrari F430 was nearly not raced, but Chris Radisich clocked 9"155. The Dutch Ferrari was only seen during very few laps. Here Nick de Wachter was the fastest man in 9"001. Differences among the GT2 are narrower than among the GT1s.

Saturday August 19 - I arrive by plane at the Barcelona Airport at 9.05 am. "Piki" and Youri are with me. We take a taxi to Hotel Hesperia del Mar. Although officially anounced as a four stars hotel it's a rather simple hotel. My first surprise is that the prices of the rooms are breakfast excluded. What that means becomes obvious after we had our breakfast: we have to pay € 13.75 per person. Rooms with view on sea? Yes, that's what was told in the hotel's offer. However, none of the rooms let see the beach. The rooms are small, just big enough to take breath. It's a non smoking hotel. There is a terras, but you can do nothing there, since the chairs are bound together with chains. The nearest metro is at 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel. 
I am just arrived when I receive a phone call from our main sponsor, asking me where he can find the race location. Since the internet con-nection in the hotel is not working properly, I cannot consult my computer to communicate the correct address. I promise to call back later.
After breakfast I am sitting in the small park behind the hotel when, at once, Gustav Heymann comes to me. He hardly changed since 2002, the last time that he was at the IMCA Worlds. He tells me about the evolution of slot-racing in South-Africa. There are 3 new tracks, all 3 are ..wooden 12-laners, nearly unmarshable. The national championship goes now over 3 rounds instead of 4. There are still no blacks racing in a country where Aparheit was reigning since decades, but the last year some Indians are involved in slot-racing. He tells me that Robert Stassen had to stop racing: his results at school were so bad that his mom decided that "playing with little cars" is over for Robert. The big news is that Gustav was beaten for the first time in his life on South-African soil. By who? By Craig Strydom. Craig who prepaired the IMCA Worlds since months but who, three days prior to the event, had serious health problems, being transported to hospital, where, after a difficult operation, he's in the recovery. Heymann flow from South-Africa to Madrid, together with Al Paterson and his wife. In Madrid Al had to take another plane than Gustav, so that Al will arrive two hours later.
It's around noon when I receive a phone call from Michael Niemas. He is underway with the Mercedes mobil home of Christoph Kremer. Ralf Seif and Philip Kremer are coming with them. Michael tells me that they'll be at the hotel around 1 p.m.

We are still waiting the Germans when Henri van Gool arrives. He's with his wife, a lovely blondine. It's the first time in my life I see Henri and I don't recognise him from his picture. No, he's not coming to visit the track today, he wishes to do some sight seeing with his wife. When the Germans arrive Al Paterson is not already here. We decide to let a message in the hotel that we'll pick him up later and decide to go with the mobil home to the track in Les Franqueses del Valles. Great is our surprise that absolutely nobody of the people in the Barcelona streets can tell us where Les Franqueses is. So I try to reach Geert Mertens who is since yesterday here with his mobil home. Unfortunately I have not the number of his handy. Then I try the handy of Gabriel Inäbnit. Gabriel is here since Thursday and I know from Tamar Nelwan that Gabriel did already visit the race location, so, he can probably tell us how to find it. But no Gabriel on the phone, his handy stands off. Then we try to reach organiser Francesc Reyes, but he's at the airport to pick up Fred Hood and his wife Billie. No, there is nobody at the raceway, we have to wait until Francesc is back from the airport. He explaines us how to find Les Franqueses. It's much more far from the hotel than the 30-kilometres he told us earlier.
Christoph Kremer, who drives the Mercedes mobil home, decides to join already the race location, and to wait there. We have to cross the big Barcelona city from the real South to the upper North. In heavy traffic it takes us one hour to quit the city. At once we discover at our left the Catalunya race track, where in 1989, we finished third in the F1 Grand Prix of Spain (or was it in Portugal? I have to check it.) Then the road is so complicated that we decide to wait Francesc at the Agip gasoil station. A half hour later he arrives with a Volvo break. But no Fred Hood. Fred's wife preferred to go for dinner. So we have no ProSlot motors to test: the motors are in Fred's luggage. Nevertheless we wish to see the track and we follow Francesc to Les Franqueses. Ten minutes later we arrive. It's a desolate landscape with former militaty buildings, just behind the railway station of Les Franqueses...

Once Francesc opens the door of hangar #4 I cannot believe my eyes. Have we to contest a world championship here??? In 40 years I saw hundreds of race locations all over the world but I saw NEVER such a garbage-dump as here! This cannot be true. What an insult for the racers. It's dusty, junk, rubble. There are no words to describe the unbelievable debris before my eyes. One cannot race a serious person in such a dump. The working benches are sleazy, sordid, soiled. There is hardly enough room to breath. Is that what I achieved after 40 yearsq of relentless efforts to promote slot-racing? Are guys coming from America, from Brazil, from New-Zealand, from Australia, from South-Africa to watch that? I remember the stories which were told to us in the beginning: the mayor should come, 3 TV networks at least, journalists of all newspapers, even Ronaldihno should be here, and who knows, perhaps miss Spain. I pray the good Lord, let them stay home, let them become blind, but let them NEVER EVER show here, on such a wasteyard! If my main sponsor sees what I see I can forgot the rest of the budget. Let him stay in France, let me invite him this evening at Noucamp for the soccer match, or in a cosy restaurant, but never here.
There is only one person to be blamed for such a disaster. That person, that am I. How could I accept to let the Worlds be organised by a person without experience, without money? I believed that Spain was a great model car nation. Now I am told that the club where we'll race has ...two members, one of the two having preferred to go to the beach. There is nothing, even no catering. And that has to be a world championship, that has to be a promotion for both model car racing and FIA GT racing. All we can promote here is poverty! Even the track seems a disaster with its several unmarshable curbs. Niemas and the others make their first laps with the Nismo cars. After one hour "Piki" has to stop: with his contact lenses and all that dust here he has continuously tears in his eyes. He decides not to race. After two hours everybody has to stop. It's boiling warm in the race location, there is nothing to drink, nothing to eat, there is no cooling at all. This is the biggest shame for slot-racing I ever saw in my life. Can you imagine one woman coming to such a place? She has to change her dress after less than five minutes.
I find an unbuilt Nismo at one of the tables. I ask Francesc who's car that is. It is Pol Garcia's. He has still ...to assemble it. And no, his brother Mark Garcia will even not show. And I was told that the Garcia's were co-organisers. Yes, but... Where is Daniel Gonzales? O, he's not here, he has no car. It's even not sure if he'll show. Team Spain winning the World Cup? Forget it. Spain has only model car racers in Igualda, not here. Alvaro Sarabia is present with two fast Ferraris 430 GTC. He goes faster than the two Kremers and Ralf Seif. He came from Madrid, with his brand new Harley Davidson on a trailer. He apologises for the dump here. This will be the real last world championship in Spain. I phone my sponsor that it's not necessary to come. Still three days and the disaster will be over... [JPVR]

Having found not enough sponsoring to pay the rent of the prestigeous facilities in the Olympic Village of Barcelona, it was decided to move the event to former Military Head Quarters, 35-kms from Barcelona, in the Model Car Club of Les Franqueses del Vallès. It's a small medieval town with 13,700 inhabitants, close to the beach and close to the well known Circuit Catalunya. At the Model Car Club of Les Franqueses del Vallès we'll race on a 40-metres plastic Carrera 6-laner, since Spanish organisers found no money to cover the transport of the Danish wooden 8-laner. Formula for the 2006 Barcelona Worlds is quite simple. The meeting is restricted to 3 race days from Monday thru Wednesday. This offers racers the possibility to stay four days longer in the fantastic Barcelona city (if they wish to do so). On Monday and Tuesday we contest the 10 races over 8 x 5' with actual 2006 FIA GT cars for the WORLD CUP. There are 16 cars (8 GT1 and 8 GT2). Each national team enters one GT1 car and one GT2 car. There are always 2 or 3 drivers per car. In each class the cars win 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point. At Concourse the 8 best ranked cars win the same points. The national team having won most points win the World Cup. National teams are (1) USA, (2) Belgium, (3) Commonwealth (GB + NZ + RSA), (4) Germany, (5) Holland, (6) Brazil, (7) Scandinavia (SF + DK + N) and (8) Spain. Each national team counts in principle 6 racers. That implies max. 48 racers invited racers in total. On Wednesday afternoon we start with the 9th MELLO YELLO WORLDS restricted to youngsters and amateurs, racing together (NEW!). There will be 3 Quarters with the 4 best moving up to the Semis. The 3 best at each Semi make the Main. There will be a separate rainbow shirt for the best youngster and for the best amateur. Final starts shortly before midnight: 11.15pm. At the Mello Yello Worlds all racers show with a 1/24th Nissan Nismo JGTC car.
On Wednesday we finish with the 16th 124 MODEL CAR WORLDS. All racers with a rank number over #24 have to enter via a top-4 place at the MELLO YELLO Race. Only the 4 first of this race (youngsters with a number under 24 not considered) can also enter the 124 MODEL CAR WORLDS. So 24 (20 + 4) racers enter the eventual World Championship. Then the 3 best of each Quarter move up to the Semis, the 3 best of the Semis move up to the Main. That final will be contested in the early evening. At the Model Car Worlds all racers show with a 1/24th Nissan Nismo JGTC car.
There will be NO 1/24 Box Stock G12 Race, since (unfortunately) organisees failed to finance a Blue King track. Concerning the hotels it should be fine if all racers could be in the same hotel.