ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON No. 31
By Rick Pearson
Hello and welcome back. This week I want to take a look at the contrast between a UK and a European series, both run by Renault for Clio derivatives "BREAKING CARS AND BREAKING KNEECAPS".
Having talked last week about my on-track activities at Spa, I thought I'd look at the differences between the UK Clio Cup and the Clio V6 Trophy in which I compete this year. I guess before I outline the contrasts, it is worth looking at the relative placing of the two championships.
The UK Clio Cup is
clearly positioned as the prime feeder formula for Touring Cars in the
UK, supporting them on the BTC package and giving young drivers a great
shot at impressing the Touring car team managers.
The Clio Trophy, not being constrained by another championship's calendar
seems to have the mission of catching the best tracks and the most sunshine
possible and whilst it is a high profile championship with a number of
extremely good drivers racing in it, without the direct link to the next
rung on the ladder the pressure is considerably less.
So, while the UK Championship attracts many good youngsters (often bankrolled
by their pushy fathers.) the European Championship has replaced the majority
of this element with a healthy dose of what is commonly known as a Playboy!
(And no, I don't count myself amongst them).
This is not to say that the competition is less because a lot of great drivers use the Trophy as a place to keep their license up to date and their track knowledge fresh whilst waiting for their F3000 or GT budget to reappear. It is fair to say that the atmosphere is a little less fraught in Europe, which when the amount of contact between the cars is considered, is a little surprising.
A far higher degree of contact is permissible, and the incidents for which I was interviewed by the Clerk of the Course last year wouldn't even warrant a mention on the marshals reports in Europe.For example, at Spa, I was hit twice on the pace lap! Perhaps the knowledge that no matter how big the problem, it can always be settled on the track means the atmosphere never gets nasty in the paddock?
The nature of the cars also makes for a different atmosphere. Whilst the UK car is very close to a road car and the preparation of the car at the circuit is unlikely to run on late into the evening, the V6 is more akin to a Touring Car and takes a similar amount of fettling. It is unusual for the mechanics to be finished much before 11pm hence Renault hospitality serves Lunch and Dinner as opposed to the Breakfast and Lunch offered in the UK. Since both European meals are four courses and include wine, mealtimes are extremely convivial and tend to drag on for a significant period of time, bringing the whole paddock together twice a day to swap stories and communicate in any which way possible! Whilst I tend to get by with pigeon French, Mark Fish, my team manager, seems have mastered the art of communication with sign language and beer. The jury is still out as to who is better understood.
Without a doubt, the generosity of Renault in their hospitality provisions is a significant factor in the success of both Championships, whilst the tireless efforts of the technical support guys also warrant a mention.
Whilst I am painting a good picture of the European Championship in comparison to the UK one, this isn't to say there wasn't some great camaraderie in the latter. Guys such as Danny Buxton, Bob Smith and Mat Jackson are great company and great racers and made for a good series. Plus if you do have a disagreement in the UK, the result is usually no more serious than a slanging match and a trip to see the Clerk of the Course. In Europe they do things slightly differently. (Allegedly).
Apparently, after a small disagreement over how their team should be run, two of the drivers for one of the Italian teams decided to buy out their team owner and do the job themselves. However, discovering that the previous team owner had forgotten to mention a few debts and had disappeared over the horizon with a couple of the customers cars, they tracked him down and a couple of their friends explained that this wasn't the way they wished to do business with the help of a baseball bat or two. when the team owner left hospital, he discovered that a few more bad debts had surfaced in the interim. He is now in hiding.
The two drivers (who happen to be brothers from Sicily, nuff said), then disgraced themselves at their first race as team owners. Their lead driver was running second at Monaco when he had a small coming together with another car and dropped to third. Despite having not seen the incident, the team decided they didn't like this turn of events and proceeded to throw bottles of water off the pit wall at the windscreen of the new second place man in an attempt to reverse events!!! Did they get a jail sentence or a lifetime ban from the race circuit for this? No, their driver was disqualified for "unsporting behaviour on behalf of his team".
Things are different in Europe.
Have a good week one and all!