UK ELF Clio Cup 2007 at Brands Hatch – ROUND 1
Niki Lanik, the reigning 2006 Clio Cup Winter Champion, and the Y4HR (Youth For Human Rights) UK Car Racing Team took part in Round 1 of the ELF Renault Clio Cup with Stancombe Vehicle Engineering. This was held at Brands Hatch acting as a support race for the British Touring Car Championship – there was live TV coverage and 30,000+ spectators!
It all started Saturday morning when the 19 year old racer, Niki Lanik, and 42 other Clio racers lined up for two 15 minute qualifying sessions. Niki was not too happy with his qualifying as he only qualified 11th for the Saturday’s heat. Niki commented, “I don’t know what it is with Brands Hatch. I just cannot get it right with the Clio – I’ve always been around 0.5 seconds off the pace here.” In the heat Lanik had a great start going into 9th place, but then on the entry of England’s most famous racing corner, Paddock Hill Bend, Rice and Lanik touched wheels, leaving Niki with a badly damaged steering rod for the rest of the race. Even though Niki lost a lot of places on lap 1 of the race, Niki still managed to finish 14th, earning him 28th position for Sunday’s Final. The Winner of this heat was Martin Byford, the 35 year-old MX5 champion.
Sunday was a beautiful day, with a full grand stand and people sitting all around the 1.2 mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit. The Ashurst Wood youngster, Niki, was 28th on the grid, not being too happy this at all. After having wheel spun too much on the start, Niki dropped down to 31st by the first corner. Niki then knew he had to do something about this, so lap by lap he was overtaking other racers. He was out-braking much more experienced drivers, and not backing off at all. By the end of the race Niki managed to secure 17th place, and gaining an amazing 11 places from his grid position. After the race Niki said, “I’m not too happy with this weekend, especially after having won the 2006 Winter Title last year and then going into a brand new season and only finishing 17th! I have no doubt that in a few races I’ll secure a few podium positions and maybe even a race win!”
Round 2 of the ELF Clio Cup will be held at Rockingham Speedway on Sunday 22nd April. “I think we will do well there! It’s a fast circuit, and it’s the type of circuit I like. Colin (Niki’s race engineer) and I only have to get the car set-up right during testing, and I’m sure we will qualify in the top 6 or 8 (out of 40) for the final race. If the car feels good, there is no reason why we couldn’t qualify well”. Explained last year’s Winter Champion, Austrian-born Niki Lanik.
The Y4HR UK Car Racing Team’s idea is to support the subject of Human Rights. The race team is sponsored by Miracle Dry Wash (www.miracledrywash.com), G&G Food Supplies (www.GandGvitamins.com), Wealden Workwear (www.wwpe.co.uk), and Luxury Sign Design (www.lsdsign.co.uk). Within the next few months the race team will acquire a 2nd car and race driver, JJ Vannier. JJ Vannier is a pole setting, lap record setting, race winning Fiesta driver from the 750MC Stock Hatch series – Niki’s race mate from two seasons ago. If you would like to know more about the Y4HR UK Car Racing Team or advertise on the race car, feel free to visit the team’s website, www.Y4HR.com, or e-mail them on y4hr@vibrant.ms.
