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LANIK'S ENGINE BLOWS-UP |
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Sunday 4th May 2008
UK ELF Clio Cup 2008 at Donington Park – ROUND 5+6
CHAMPIONSHIP winning Ashurst Wood-based Niki Lanik, racing for the Youth 4 Human Rights Miracle Drywash team, dropped out of the top ten in the 2008 ELF Clio Cup Championship standings last weekend at Donington Park after a non-finish followed by an engine blow-up. Saturday’s disappointing qualifying session found the team starting 10th out of 28 cars in both rounds. The team was 0.400 off pole position; no explanation was found why Lanik lost up to 0.3 seconds going uphill in the 2nd of 3 sectors. “I heard a strange vibration coming from the car during right corners, but we couldn’t find the source of the problem. After the engine blew up in Round 6 when the valve of cylinder 1 disintegrated there was a definite point of discussion within the team whether this was a possible 2-3% power loss from the first cylinder. It’s not definite, but it might explain the poor qualifying times in the 2nd sector.” commented Niki, having studied the 1st year of a Motorsports Engineering degree..
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LANIK, the Miracle Drywash-sponsored race driver, had a 30-minute qualifying session boosting himself up to 3rd place in the first 15 minutes. The session was stopped due to a red flag. Lanik opted for a wrong decision with his tyres during the stoppage and wasn’t able to use the full potential of new slick tyres in the remaining 15 minutes – Niki qualified 10th for both races. “Testing and qualifying wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for. Donington used to be my strongest circuit. I’ve had fastest laps and won races here before, and now we’re 10th?” said Niki, double Clio Winter Champion.
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SATURDAY’s Round 5 saw Lanik come off the line with an average start being side by side with another driver up to the 120mph flat-out Craner curves until Niki got a tap at 120mph and sliding off into the gravel – his race was finished after 15 seconds. The other driver was later penalised for poor driving standards. This was Niki’s 2nd non-finish in a row, after having been on the podium one month earlier after Round 2 at Brands Hatch race circuit in Kent.
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OROUND 6 was live on ITV4 with over 20,000 enthusiastic spectators present at the track watching the 28 Clios trying to get through the first few corners. Lanik, the Austrian race driver, had a fantastic start moving up to 7th, but then found himself on the outside on the dirt at the first corner, Redgate. Niki then lost eight places by the time he came across to finish lap 1 of the 14 lap race. Lap 10 summed it up – Niki’s engine blew on the exit of Copice corner coming onto a 125mph straight.
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“I looked at my lcd display as I came out of Copice after shifting to 4th gear and it showed V.V.T. [variable valve timing] and 3 seconds later the engine made a popping sound and there was a massive white oil cloud behind me, and my race was over there and then. I’ve now slipped down to 17th in the 2008 championship and have had three non-finishes in a row out of six races. Nevertheless, I’m sure I will have many very good races and success to still come this season.” said Niki with a smile.
The Youth For Human Rights Miracle Drywash Race Team promotes the international Youth For Human Rights campaign – www.YouthForHumanRights.org. The team sponsors include Miracle Drywash (www.MiracleDrywash.com), GridGirlz (www.GridGirlz.co.uk), G&G Vitamins (www.GandGVitamins.com), Wealden Workwear (www.WWPE.co.uk), and Luxury Sign Design (www.lsdsign.co.uk). If you would like to sponsor Niki Lanik, e-mail him on niki@lanik.info.
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| Niki Lanik and the Y4HR Miracle Drywash Race Team are next racing and supporting the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton race circuit in Hampshire on 17/18 May. Sunday’s races will also be LIVE on ITV4 between 12:30-17:30. For more information about the team or the Clio Cup visit www.Y4HR.com or www.renaultsport.co.uk. “Thruxton is one of my favourite race circuits, especially because the Clios average 100mph and reach up to 135mph on the straight. |
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Last year I nearly had fastest lap so I’m looking forward to qualifying and finishing well.” commented Niki positively. Read more about Niki Lanik on www.NikiLanik.com.
HIGH RESOLUTION (AND COPYRIGHT FREE) PHOTOS AVAILABLE ON: HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/Y4HR-RACING-TEAM/
VIDEO OF DONINGTON PARK’S Round 6:
Part 1: http://www.renaulttv.co.uk/racecar/elfrenaultcliocup/index31.htm
Part 2: http://www.renaulttv.co.uk/racecar/elfrenaultcliocup/index32.htm
Part 3: http://www.renaulttv.co.uk/racecar/elfrenaultcliocup/index33.htm (engine blow-up) |
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