ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON No. 36
By Rick Pearson
With just one weekend off, the big summer tour of the Clio V6 Trophy continued at Assen in the Netherlands. Assen, famous as a Grand Prix track, was seeing the first ever visit from the 3 litre Clios and was to prove to be a very thought-provoking weekend.
SAFETY The first unpleasant surprise was the safety levels at the circuit. Due for a major upgrade next year, the track was clearly designed for bikes (and a long while ago too). Whilst this meant some fabulous banked corners, the thought of flying off the top of them in a Clio V6 at over 150mph didn't hold a lot of appeal to the drivers. Especially as the run-off consisted entirely of flooded grass and tyre walls or unprotected barriers. The gravel traps weren't big enough and weren't in the right place to catch a car. Plus, the huge amount of rain that had fallen recently meant that any cars leaving the circuit were surfing across huge lakes of water before sinking into great mud holes. To see a Clio V6 skipping across what looks like a serious lake like a skimming stone at over 100mph before disappearing into a cloud of steam and mud was pretty sobering. The organisers were obviously aware of some of the shortcomings of the circuit, as the public were banned from large areas of the trackside (where they would have been protected by just one row of tyres and a debris fence, no barrier!!!) and also the bottom 15 rows of one of the grandstands! Not sure I would've wanted to find out why.
Friday night before the race weekend saw a gathering of drivers and pulling out of the meeting was seriously considered. In the end the decision was made to make Renault aware of our concerns and leave it in their hands. Renault made it clear that the enormous crowd that was expected on Sunday more than compensated for any extra risk we were being asked to take!
CROWDS For those who have never visited Assen, it really is a long way from anywhere of any real size. Imagine our surprise then when the organisers announced they were expecting 80,000 people for the Sunday meeting and compare this with the 15,000 (allegedly) at Croft for the BTC the same weekend. Clearly the mix of races (bikes, go-karts and cars) appealed to a larger group whilst the presence of Jos Verstappen (albeit only signing autographs and waving from the pit wall) helped push up the numbers. The meeting was sponsored by Rizla who had handed out an enormous number of free tickets and despite torrential rain from the early hours, a crowd of 35,000 bedraggled Dutchmen turned out!
It is worth looking at why a mixed meeting in Holland attracts a crowd nearly three times larger than the average touring car meet in the UK. The argument was made that with a very limited number of meetings in Holland in the year for the crowd to attend this necessarily concentrated the numbers. I tend to think they were there because there was absolutely nothing else happening within a 200-mile radius.
DUTCH CLIO SERIES Another major surprise for the weekend was the rude health of the local Dutch Clio series. Despite only visiting three circuits each year (Assen, Zandvoort and Spa), some 60+ cars turn out with trucks and hospitality units that would make the majority of the British Touring Car teams blush: it was spectacularly impressive. Especially when compared with the UK series where a 30-car field is virtually unheard of and the number of hospitality units limited.
To be fair though, the Dutch series has two major advantages. Firstly, there is very little alternative for a driver wishing to race a tin-top, secondly they get 15 minutes of TV right before the F1 Grand Prix is shown. Clearly the sponsors are getting real value and Holland is getting some great racing (and shortly I would imagine some great racing drivers). Compare this to the pathetic efforts of the BBC with the touring car meetings of late.
THE RACE The race itself fulfilled all of our darkest dreams. After seven hours of rain, the track had rivers running across it and as the 35 Clio V6's barreled down to the first corner, despite being right in the middle of things, I could only make out two other cars through the spray. Round the first corner (hairpin right), I was bumped from behind to nudge me wide for the run up the next straight. Side by side with my assailant, we accelerated up the back straight and had both reached fourth gear when a car came flying across in front of us out of the mist. Jinking right to miss the spinning car of Heydens, I spotted the car of Bellichi stationary on the circuit from about one cars length away at about 120mph. I brushed past it, removing a door mirror. The guy on my right drove straight into it at full throttle.
With four cars damaged and two more destroyed, the safety car was sent out at the end of lap two. By this stage I had made it from 25th to 14th and was feeling confident of a top ten finish. However, by the end of the safety car period I was 18th and not happy. Demonstrating a total lack of respect for the rules, their own safety and that of the trackside workers, I was outbraked 4 times at different corners whilst under the safety car!!!
The Clerk of the Course refused to accept my protests. No explanation given beyond the usual "Go away or I'll endorse your licence." How I yearn for the English racing discipline and the school master attitude of the UK CoCs!
With no wet racing experience in the V6, and horrified by the ferocity of the first lap accident, I was happy to bring an evil- handling Clio home 17th and in one piece. We live to fight another day.
Have a good week one and all!