21-year-old Clio Cup Hot Shoe, Niki Lanik, tested for Team RSA last week at Snetterton racing circuit in Norfolk. Race-winning Team RSA and championship-winning Niki Lanik have the potential to take on the Belgium racers and battle for the championship.

IT was the first time that Austrian-born Niki had an opportunity to drive a Clio Cup car since October 2008. After the first session, Lanik acclimatised to running in the European specification car. The Belgian Clio Cup race car is practically the same as the UK-spec car, but with a different set-up. These cup cars are built by Renaultsport in France, and are powered by 210 horsepower 2.0 Litre engines, driven through a 6-speed sequential racing gearbox and a limited slip differential.

TEAM boss, Southampton-based Rob Austin, was very impressed with the youngster’s approach to the test and feedback he was able to give. Even with awful weather conditions, the double Clio Winter champion Lanik was soon able to set competitive times. Team RSA will be running two cars in the Belgian Clio Cup Championship in 2009, and would very much like to sign Niki as their lead driver to set the pace and deliver winning results.  The ever improving Team RSA, who have raced in Europe for the past 12 months, have set their goal for winning the Belgian championship.

NIKI continues to negotiate with existing and potential sponsors, as well as evaluating his various options for 2009. Niki comments on his test at Snetterton and career: “The test at Snetterton went very well, and even though the weather was horrible I was able to set some good lap times and get a good feeling for the European spec-car and set-up. Team RSA is set-up very well and they know what they are doing. Racing in the Belgian Clio Cup is a very serious option for me, as it is cost effective, and I know the car well enough to aim for the main and junior championship. I will have to see what happens in the next few weeks, and need to make a decision for my career and were I want to end up in 2010 and 2011.”

Niki would like to thank Rob Austin and Team RSA for making this test day a success.

READ MORE:
Rob Austin & Team RSA - www.TeamRSA.com  
Niki Lanik – www.NikiLanik.at 
Belgian Clio Cup – www.Renault-Sport.be

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 9:09 pm and is filed under Race News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.