UK ELF Clio Cup 2007 at Donington – ROUND 6
WINNING the “Driver of the Day” award, the Youth 4 Human Rights UK Car Racing Team and their driver, Austrian Niki Lanik, have come back safe and successful from a very eventful weekend at Derbyshire’s Donington Park, charging from 32nd of the grid to finish in a stunning 12th place by the end of the 14 lap race. Having been 3rd and 4th quickest out of 40 on Thursday’s test day, the Ashurst Wood race driver was confident he could qualify in the top 5 for the weekend’s races.
“I made a little mistake on my flying qualifying lap, which cost me 0.4 seconds, loosing out on qualifying 2nd.” Niki Lanik mentioned, “But starting 6th was also not bad! I had a mega start in Saturday’s race, nearly slotting into 3rd place by Redgate [the first corner], I was forced to slot into 5th place defending from the 2003 Clio Cup Champion, the Irish Jonathan Fildes. On lap 5 I was about to make a move on Mark Speller, were he then deliberately pushed me off the track, nearly flipping my car, breaking my steering, and putting me in the gravel trap! I was pretty annoyed at the fact that it was considered a ‘racing incident’ and that Speller wasn’t penalized. I guess that’s just racing!” Niki explained with a reassuring smile.
Due to Saturday’s finishing result, the 20 year old 2006 Clio Cup Winter Champion started 32nd on the grid out of 36 starters in Sunday’s championship round. The weather was horrendous, with patches of grease and running water around the back of the circuit, Niki charged through the field making up 7 places in the first lap of the 14 lap race. Niki pushed the Miracle Drywash sponsored Clio Cup race car to the limits many times, overtaking other cars around the outside, out-braking others into corners, and even defending his position from Doyle, Clio Cup winner of the Italian Clio Cup round at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. Niki then came over the finish line 14 laps later, having moved up to finish in 12th place. This earned him the “RFS Driver of the Day” award. This is his 3rd award since joining the Clio Cup in 2006.
“The Youth 4 Human Rights UK Car Racing Team is engineering by the best engineering team [Stancombe Vehicle Engineering]. I’m also a good driver having won the 2006 Winter Title and learning more each time I’m in the race car. I’ve also got a brilliant driver coach, Paul Rivett [02 & 04 Clio Cup Champion]. The Y4HR team also has great sponsors including an international company, Miracle Drywash. We’ve got the package, we just need to stitch everything together and and we’ll win!” Niki said. The Clio Cup is European’s most competitive racing championship.
“Our next race is at Snetterton in Norfolk on 27-29 July. Last year I started and finished 7th, and ended up winning the ‘Driver of the Day’ award. We’re testing there for 3 hours this Thursday 19th July, which should give me enough confidence in the track to pull of a decent result!” On the same day, the Youth 4 Human Rights 911 Porsche, raced by Team 8 Motorsport principal Andrew Chalmers, is taking part in a support race, the Heritage GT series. Niki Lanik, honour graduate of Greenfields School, will have his race car on show at the Greenfields Summer Fair on Saturday 21st July.
The Double Six Racing Scholarship is also engineered by the same team. Andrew Bentley is the winner for 2007 – Niki’s team mate. By signing up for the scholarship you could win a fully sponsored race season for 2008 in the UK Clio Cup, engineered by Stancombe Vehicle Engineering, worth over £50,000. Find out more on www.racingscholarship.com.
For more information about the Youth 4 Human Rights UK Car Racing Team, log onto www.Y4HR.com or e-mail the team directly on Y4HR@vibrant.ms. This race team is run by Vibrant Motorsports Limited - info@vibrant.ms.
