On the Grapevine – Luxembourg Hockenheim & Austin
Some things need to be experienced in order to be truly appreciated. One of Formula 1′s most famous corners is Spa-Francorchamps’ Eau-rouge, which seeing it on television does no justice to the true gradient of this spectacular piece of Belgian race track. I have had the pleasure of travelling to Spa a number of times with work and each time I was taken a back by the scale of the climb cars make racing up Eau-rouge. My first trip there was with two drivers I was promoting, one of whom was racing there for the first time in a round of the European Formula Ford Championship. Like any driver making their first visit to a track and having clocked up hours learning it on the Playstation he wanted to check it out for real but at 7km long and it getting late walking it was not really an option. The next best thing was to borrow his team’s pit bike and together with his race engineer they set off for a sighting lap which while on a 50cc was never going to be quick would beat walking but it wasn’t long before they found themselves on foot. Half way up the famous corner the bike simply ran out of steam with both of them having to jump off – thats how steep it is. The reason for reminiscing is that this rather funny moment came back into my head when I travelled to Round 5 of the Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg.
Having previously been to the Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg” once before back in 2009 to cover the European Electric Touring Car Championships, I knew the track was something a bit special but like each time I returned to Spa on arriving for the ETS’ first visit my reaction on looking at the huge track’s Laguna Seca corner was ‘wow’. On my first visit I never set foot on the track but responsible for branding the track with sponsor banners for all ETS races I got to experience ever inch of what with 5-years of increased travelling to tracks around the world I can say is a track that deserves in RC Racing circles to be held in the same esteem as Spa-Francorchamps. I am not alone in my opinion. Someone who has probably visited more race tracks around the world than anyone else, Scotty Ernst summed it up as easily ‘the greatest track in the world’. Catching up with Scotty exchanging notes on our latest travellings as we hung banners at the ‘Laguna Seca’ section during open practice early on Friday morning he really summed up the over 2-metre drop. Having marshalled a car which had got the exit wrong it was on his return to the top of the corkscrew that he really got a true feel for the corner saying ‘wow, that is a serious hill’. Looking back at photos from the ETS weekend they just don’t do it the true justice it deserves so if you have a list of RC tracks to try before you die you have got to make sure Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg” is on there and prioritised. If you don’t have a list don’t waste time making one, just use the time instead to book your trip to this great track.
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While I can claim I have been involved in r/c racing for most of my life, I haven’t been continuously active all that time and I often feel I missed out on the true heyday of the sport. Living too in Ireland it wasn’t as if the opportunity came up to race alongside the stars ever arose. Thankfully since I started working with Red RC I have been given the opportunity to meet many of the greatest drivers, who before I only knew through their images in RC Magazines. As a nitro racer I remember being in awe over approaching Lamberto Collari for the first time to get comments for a report. My first Electric Touring Car World Championships was a similar affair when I had my first encounter with Masami Hirosaka in his last attempt to claim the title that eluded him. In Luxembourg I got to add another of the sports all time legends to my ‘kept in my head list of greats’ I have had the pleasure of writing about at a race. That driver was 4 time World & 13 time European Champion David Spashett. OK he wasn’t there as a very serious contender to join the list of ETS winners but he was racing and I got to write about him albeit just the once in my opening report. I know David better as an industry figure than a racer but always remember him best for his interview with Ray Woods the morning after he won his last World title in 1:12 in 2006 in Italy. Although he was a long time sponsor of the ETS, Luxembourg was his first time to actually race in the championship with his participation ticking the second last box on his list of races to say he has done, the final one being the IIC in Las Vegas. In all the years I have been sending out press releases for r/c events David is the only person to actually call me – I include my mobile phone number at the bottom of every release. Sending out an announcement saying TLR’s Dustin Evans would travel from the US to Sweden for the EOS Pilot Race it turns out the information I had been given might have been slightly premature so the news came as a bit of surprise to David who would be footing the bill for the trip! Having not seen David since his departure from Horizon Hobby it was nice to catch up with him again as I have always enjoyed his expert views, David not only knows how to drive a car quickly but he also has a good grasp of how the sport/industry works. Talking to him about his Goliath (Horizon) to David (ZEN Racing) switch the move was one primarily made for his young family and as the father of two girls myself, who spends a lot weekends away from home, I know exactly why he did it & admire him for his decision and wish him every success with the new venture.
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From the glorious weather of Luxembourg it was on to Germany for what would be another great weekend both in terms of the weather and atmosphere. After the wet affair of Round 2 in Austria a month earlier, Round 3 the Euro Nitro Series at the Hockenheimring would reignite the championship’s buzz helped very much by the venue. Situated directly behind the main grandstand of the track that will host the German Formula 1 Grand Prix in mid July, the race brought together the world of rc racing and 1:1 motor racing. With the grandstands open to the public, on Thursday it was interesting to observe the reaction of many r/c racers who, attracted by the noise, ventured to take a look at the various practice sessions taking place on the real track as teams/drivers prepared for the weekend’s race programme which included a round of the German Formula 3 and European Formula Renault Championships. F3’s distinct engine note in particular struck a note with our racers with a lot of mobile phone videos being taken. Later in the day, the r/c practice running later than the 1:1 stuff it was very funny to see a reversal of the impression made early. While once again hanging sponsor banners, I noticed three aspiring F1 drivers arriving on the team quad bike for a look. Pulling up at the corner leading onto the main straight and with 1:8 cars on the track, their first reaction was rather funny with the first of them summing up how impressive these cars are with ‘Oh my god, how #&$*ing fast are they’ before all three reached for their mobile phones to capture some video. The videos obviously made an impression back in the paddock because shortly after they left there was a steady stream of race team staff and drivers over to check us out. Actually over the entire weekend there was a good foot fall of interested onlookers – the Hockenheimring being a big draw for motor bike and car clubs all of whom stopped by for their first experience of r/c racing. And while they checked out the racing I got to check out some rather interesting bikes and cars including one of all time favourite cars, a Porsche Carrera GT.
How r/c came to having a track on the grounds of a Formula 1 track is an interesting one. The track has been home to the small 20 member RC-Team Hockenheim since 2006 having formerly been used as an outdoor karting track. With the kart track stopping operation, the club which raced on various car parks around the area with a mobile track system approached Hockenheimring management about the possibility to use the idle site to which the huge venue was very accommodating. The deal that was struck for the use of the track is a very interesting & fair one for the club who instead of paying an annual fee only have to buy a €6 entry ticket to the Formula 1 track’s museum, which is located right next to the r/c track, for every driver that takes part in one of the four to five r/c events the club holds annually.
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At Hockenheim it was mentioned to me that I was doing quite a bit of travelling to which I replied I was starting to feel it. I was then told imagine what it would be like if I was a Formula 1 journalist which got me thinking. After a very short under 24 hour visit home, just enough time to restock my suitcase, I was off to Texas for the 1:8 Offroad US National Championships which would hit problems just after it started. A problem with the plane that was to take me from Paris to Atlanta caused a 4 hour delay with had a knock on effect of me missing my Altanta to Austin fight eventually arriving a day later than planned after an unplanned overnight in Altanta Airport. Anyway with the Formula 1 comment still in my mind I used some of the delay to work out how my r/c schedule compared to F1. Starting in March and ending in November F1 has a total of 19 races but currently only half way through the calendar year Austin was going to be my 17 event to report on!!
I have to admit on arriving at Thornhill Racing Circuit I was way too quick to judge the place. One of the few factory drivers braving the Texas heat and pitting under their own team tent, HB having got themselves a rather smart looking new set-up, Ty Tessmann and parents were the first people we would meet on arriving at the track to which I made the comment ‘are the holding next year’s Nationals on the moon’ referring to the isolated location of the track. Putting the address in the sat-nav told you you had reached your destination a mile or so earlier down the road as it directed you to drive up someone’s driveway. The track was infact only a 30-minute drive from downtown Austin and had been created by a very nice guy by the name of Chris Allison and his vision for the track and in particular its layout would produce the two greatest 1:8 Offroad finals I have ever witnessed. Talking to Chris for my ‘Track Focus’ I was instantly drawn to his attention to detail with the track being perfectly presented. Asked by Team Associated’s Brent Theilke, who with one foot in a brace was hanging out up the drivers stand, what I thought of the track when I responded he told me his first thought on arriving at the track was ‘Oisin is going like this’. Thornhill Racing Circuit is bidding to host the 2016 1:8 Offroad World Championships and with former World Champion Mark Pavidis describing it as one of the most impressive he’s visited it is a serious contender. I know I regularly go on about our approach as a sport should be to bring the big races to the people but until we come up with a more spectator friendly format as a venue this is, other than the rather large sized hardcore stone surrounding the pit area, more than up to holding the world’s biggest race. The air conditioned pit area is one perfect example of the commitment they have to not just putting on a race but ensuring drivers have a pleasant stay too.
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I have always tried to be impartial when it comes to teams and drivers in my reports but its impossible over time not to build up a better relationship with some drivers over others. One such driver is Ryan Maifield with whom through covering the JConcepts Indoor National Series I have got quite friendly with. This can be both a good & a bad thing in terms of reporting on the sport as I found out on the first day of the Texas event. ‘As a friend’ Ryan informed me of his pending departure from Team Associated to which my facial reaction must have been good because Ryan accused me of not believing him!! Personally I was proud that one of the World’s greatest offroad drivers trusted me enough as a journalist and respected me enough as a friend to tell me the rather significant news. While frustrating to carry the news around for almost a week before it finally broke for the amount of times I have to deal with drivers at races over a year versus the number of years that go between such major driver/team changes happen, I’m happy to alway respect those friendships but having said that the odd scoop would be very much appreciated!!
Have an opinion on the topics discussed? Leave them in the comments below.
Oisin O’Briain is Red RC’s Event Editor. Traveling the world reporting on some of the biggest races in the sport he regularly chats with top drivers and key industry figures and in his new column ‘On the Grapevine’ he will try to bring readers an insight into the latest talk that is doing the rounds in the paddock along with the odd bit of trivia information that comes to light.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author.
