UK ELF Clio Cup 2006 at Donington – ROUND 11+12
The 19 year-old Austrian racing driver, Niki Lanik, who lives in Ashurst Wood, made his debut in the junior touring car class, the ELF Renault Clio Cup, this weekend at Donington Park racing circuit, with his lap time only being 0.001 seconds slower than the championship leader! The Clio Cup supported the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) on that weekend, which meant 10,000 spectators and live TV coverage on SKY’s Motors TV (channel #413).
Niki’s qualifying went very well on Saturday morning, running in 3rd place for a few laps, which made the crowds attention grow, not only because of his lap times, but also because of the car’s “Drive 4 Life – be drug-free” livery. The Austrian driver managed to get himself into 9th position on the grid for both of the two races, only being 0.584 seconds slower than Tom Onslow-Cole, who secured pole position for both races and is the current championship leader. After analysing some data which was recorded through out the qualifying session, it was found that Niki made a driver mistake on his fastest qualifying lap, which cost him 2nd place on the grid!
In Niki’s first race start, not having done a race start before in the Clio race car, his revs bogged down on the start, and lost five places by the first corner, Redgate. The 19 year-old battled his way back up the order to 10th place, and by his fifth lap, Niki had already set fastest lap of the race, 1:19.346. He held this until the second to last lap, when Tom Onslow-Cole was quicker by 0.001 seconds, setting a 1:19.345. Niki placed 10th. Niki was awarded “Driver of the Day” on his debut race in the Clio and was allowed on the podium with the first three finishers. This pulled a lot of the media attention, which resulted in Niki getting three interviews by reporters for motorsport magazines. This was very good for Niki’s race driver career and for the main sponsor, the “Drive 4 Life – be drug-free” campaign. Visit www.drive4life.tv for more information.
Sunday’s live race had a different spice to it. The Ashurst Wood-based race driver started 9th again, having a good start and staying in his position. Coming up to the fourth corner, the Old Hairpin, during the first lap, Niki had a huge oversteer, due to his rear tyres not having reached operating temperature yet, he went sideways across the track and got a small bump from number 27, Martin Johnson, who was then forced to retire. Niki’s rear axle got bent and he dropped back to last place. The damage wasn’t severe, but caused problems on the braking and also caused considerable horizontal drag on the straights. Nevertheless, Niki fought himself back up to 10th place, where he finished once again, with only being 0.319 seconds off the fastest lap. This had been set earlier on in the race by Martin Byford (1:19.479). After the race, Niki was busy signing autographs for spectators for half an hour!! “I couldn’t believe it, they just kept on coming!! It was great!” Niki said enthusiastically.
Colin Stancombe, team manager of Stancombe Vehicle Engineering, was extremely happy to see Niki do so well on his Clio debut, further saying “There is no reason why Niki and the team couldn’t take pole position at the next race meeting. We saw today what Niki is capable of. A bit more driver coaching, and he’ll be winning races!” The next race meeting of the Clio Cup will be held at Norfolk’s famous racing circuit, Snetterton, on the 12th & 13th of August, and is once again supporting the BTCC.
This year is another steep learning curve for Niki Lanik. Next year, his mate (JJ Vannier) and Niki will both be racing a car each in the NEW Renault Clio Cup promoting the “Drive 4 Life – be drug-free” campaign, www.drive4life.tv.
If you would like to see more pictures, videos, or would like to be on the race team’s mailing list, send an e-mail to niki@lanik.info or visit www.vibrant.ms
