EFRA Belgian GP 2011 Report

The EFRA Belgian GP is a very well known event and is very popular amongst the top drivers in Europe. Household names such as Lee Martin, Tom Cockerill, Wouter Weynen, and Joern Neumann have all competed there for years, but up until 2011 the event had never had any Irish representatives. The annual event is coordinated by power couple Willy & Lillane Heremans and is hosted in a small hamlet named Kampenhout – some 20km from the centre of Brussels.

William White and Derek McCloskey decided to attend the three day event this year held on the first weekend of July way back in November 2010 when the Worlds and Euros places were being allocated. As neither could attend the Worlds due to work commitments the Euros became a next best option. However with the Euros being held on a dirt track, it was felt that a trip to a high profile event that is held on a more familiar track surface such as grass of Astroturf would be far more beneficial, would allow us to focus more attentively on the preparation for the event, and could offer the best chance of us “being at the races” performance wise than we would have been on an unfamiliar dirt surface.

The two Irish racers arrived at the track at tea time on the Thursday before the event after a 700 mile jaunt through four countries. Kampenhout is a permanent Astroturf track that is open to racers 24/7 and upon arrival Willy Heremans greeted us and suggested taping a torch to the top of the cars if we planned to practice after dark! I’m still not sure if he was joking. Although practice for the GP didn’t start officially until Friday morning, many of the top drivers had been at the track since Wednesday honing their setups to give themselves the maximum chance of doing very well at the event. Derek and William had a few runs of both their 2wd and 4wd cars that evening and were both very happy with the track layout and the initial feel from the cars.

Friday Practice: The Belgian GP is run in a manner that is far less officious than the UK and European events that many Irish drivers have attended. Practice on Friday is a 16 hour free for all where a maximum of 12 drivers can be on the rostrum at any one time. Marshalling is sporadic and slow during practice which really encourages you to drive safe and build up your speed rather than trying to set a lap record on your first attempt. The open practice system throws up some interesting anomalies as at one point William White found himself catching and passing Joern Neumann - a fact a little less impressive when you consider White’s 4wd was considerable more dialled than Neuman’s 2wd. However, it gave an indication that the car was good and that we may be at the races. Regarding the 2wd cars, both William and Derek reported good handling from their TLR 22 and Schumacher Cougar SV respectively. In 4wd, Derek McCloskey practiced with both his tried and tested CAT SX2 and the brand new SX3 and after taking some advice from Schumacher designer, Phil Booth, he settled on the brand new model. William White was forced to launch into a major development exercise with his Losi XX4 as several ongoing issues needed to be addressed with the car for it to be competitive – these were mostly weighting and balance issues – and by the end of the day the car was perfect, and lapping at very competitive times.

Saturday 2wd: The first day of racing started off with a warning from officials that practice (on the permanently open track) will end at 0945hrs and all cars must be off the track at that time. Derek would qualify in heat 4 and William in heat 5 with four rounds of qualifying (best 2 to count) and 3 leg finals for all. The starting order for round 1 is selected at random.
Round 1 of qualifying was most hard for William White. Starting second last on the grid of 10 cars meant that he was constantly in traffic and being blocked and held up – some drivers at the event thought that holding up a faster driver was a valid alternative method of out qualifying them. Derek got a good run on round 1 and was 22^nd quickest. At this point it was evident that the racing in the Naul over the winter and subsequent club and national rounds had left us much more match fit that usual. Throughout the year there has been a lot of speculation at home about how the Irish driver’s pace had improved, but at last here was tangible evidence.
Round 2 would cement this evidence when William White, with a clear track ahead of him, went 16s quicker than his first run to post 9^th in the C final. The TLR 22 was becoming quick and well balanced as the setup was improved as the day went on. Derek McCloskey did not have a good round in round 2 – difficult traffic and an unforced error that was badly marshalled would mean that Derek would be discarding this round.
Round 3 would prove to be the best round for both drivers. After some analysis of the first two rounds of qualifying, and a plan put in place, both drivers would put in times that were very much at the sharp end of the competition. William had a near perfect run up to his 11^th lap only to crash the car three times on his last lap – but he had made it onto 12 laps and was only 10 seconds or so off A final pace – he set 20^th fastest time in that round. Derek would also go faster missing the 12 lap mark by 0.9s after a last lap excursion that cost him at least that and would end up 21^st fastest in round 3.
Round 4 was difficult for both drivers who were pushed into accidents by back markers , however apart from that, they had almost clear runs to set very quick lap times and post overall times at the top of the C Final. Derek’s Cougar was now dialled and he was looking forward to getting a run in a fast final that would not involve traffic and back markers. At the end of qualifying, William and Derek had qualified 5^th and 6^th in the C Final respectively, showing the great standard of Irish racing at the moment.
All of the finals have 3 legs with your best 2 to count. With the two Irish drivers qualifying sequentially, it was agreed and thought best not to tangle with each other resulting in the best possible result for either of them and no unnecessary awkward silences in the car on the way home. The finals would prove to be difficult with so many drivers of the same ability and pace trying to occupy the same piece of track. In leg 1, William and Derek battled hard, but Derek’s Cougar would prove to have exceptional pace and he was able to reel in the final leaders to finish 3^rd. Derek’s time was quick enough to put him 4^th in the A final – very impressive. William White would consolidate his qualifying position finishing 5^th. In leg 2, Derek again proved his pace, battling at the front of the field to finish 2^nd. William had crashed into another incident on the first lap and was unable to catch the drivers at the head of the field after being marshalled at snail like pace – 9^th is all that he could recover to. The Final leg would be a thrilling one. Derek and local driver Mathew Collins (yes! He’s from Belgium with that Irish name!!) battled for 4 minutes straight only for Mathew to gain a small 2 second advantage on the last lap. William White made too many mistakes to feature whilst battling a car that should have had new rubber fitted. Final 2wd results see Derek McCloskey 22^nd and William White 28^th.

Sunday 4wd: With the highs of the 2wd day complete the Irish driver’s attention now turned to the 4wd competition. Having very much “been at the races” in 2wd, it was natural for the drivers to realise that the same could be achieved in 4wd. Derek McCloskey was using the latest technology from Schumacher ; the CAT SX3 and William White was using “vintage” technology from Losi; the XX4. Both William and Derek posted very competitive times in practice so expectations were high for round 1.
Round 1 was a high for one driver and a low for the other. William discovered swelling on his battery pack before his heat, only to borrow a pack for the day. After which, a motor rotor failure on the warm up lap of his heat meant that he could not compete in round 1. Whilst at the other end of the scale Derek put in a very impressive clear run that was twelfth fastest overall only 8 seconds off FTQ.
Round 2 would prove unlucky for both drivers. A manufacturing error known as cold-shock was evident when a front wishbone on Derek’s CAT broke without warning. Phil Booth from Schumacher explained that this effect was extremely rare but was known of. William White would also fall foul of mechanical woes when a front belt broke on his XX4. Although William completed the heat it was an uncompetitive time that was continually hampered as the snapped belt intermittently locked the front wheels solid.
Round 3 was the turning point of the day for one driver. Unfortunately a damaged motor wire put an end to Derek’s third qualification attempt. This was incredibly frustrating for Derek who had a good chance at slipping into the back of the A final with another fast run. William White, after restoring drive to all four wheels, was able to now compete again in round 3. Starting from the back of the grid he battled the traffic hard and was collected by other cars a couple of times to win the heat and put in a time that was 29^th overall. With only 1 qualifying run left and 1 needed to get him out of the last final – the pressure was now on.

They say that there is nothing like a bit of pressure to sharpen the mind and Round 4 of qualifying may have done just that. Derek had a titanic, faultless run in round 4 and was on course for a A final qualifying time when on the second last corner he flipped the car over and he was isolated from the marshall until several cars went by – dropping him about 7 seconds. His time however was 18^th fastest and good enough to secure his position on 7^th in the B Final. William also put in a fast run although a couple of mistakes after getting through traffic meant that he repass the same cars which cost a lot of time – he went 24^th fastest only securing a place in the D Final even though both of his fastest qualifying times were in C Final territory – this is a fault in the round-by-round system.

There was a hint of relief in the air now that qualifying was over. The finals pitch drivers against one another whilst qualifying pitches the driver against the clock, so now it was all about finishing position and not about times. William White started 3^rd on the grid in the D Final and had the lead by half way through the first lap. He dominated the final to win by a large margin and set his fastest time of the day. Derek from 7^th in the D Final made some last minute tweeks to the car to ensure he had an advantage. He pushed through the traffic to 3^nd place, but by then the race leaders Erik Michiels and Christer Rasmussen had a considerable lead having had a clear track ahead of them. Leg 2 of the D Final would prove to be very interesting. Prior to the final, William White was interviewed on the rostrum by the event MC where he was asked to predict the result – he announced that he planned to take the lead early on and win the leg. This got a “oooohhhhh” reaction from the crowd. True to his word, William again dominated the final with another fast time. This was met by applause at the end of the leg and a comment from the MC that perhaps William would have been “better suited to the A-main”. Derek would bolster William’s D-Final win with another superb performance in the B-Final that got the attention of the Schumacher hierarchy. Derek, again starting from 7^th on the grid was quickly up the third and chasing the leaders. He reeled in Erik Michiels and sat on his back bumper waiting for Erik to leave the door open or make a mistake. Derek went over a hose a few laps later gifting Erik some breathing space but again Derek reeled him back in and again was waiting for his opportunity. In an amazing display of racecraft on the penultimate lap, Derek got up the inside of Erik on the cobbled section but couldn’t make it stick. The game of cat and mouse would continue onto the last lap where Derek hit the same hose as he previously had, allowing Erik to disappear whilst he was marshalled. In a twist of good luck, Erik Michiels would have a drive pin failure on the second last corner, immobilising the car. Derek passed the stricken car and took 2^nd in leg 2.
The third leg of the finals would highlight how the latest generation of cars can handle the upscale in power from brushless motors and lipo cells over the older car. William White with the D-Final now secured again started 3^rd on the grid. With cars 1 and 2 on a mission to ensure that I did not “White-wash”...uhem... the finals with 3 wins they had a plan to slow up the final and make sure that all passing opportunities were closed. Unfortunately 4 laps into the final, the middle belt on William’s XX4 snapped reducing the car to front wheel drive eliminating the chance of a hat trick. In the B-Final, Derek was collected by a car from behind which was then slowly marshalled, leaving him with no chance of contesting a final win. Derek found an empty piece of track and started putting in fast consistent laps to finish 6^th. This put Derek’s final result as 3^rd in the B-Final.

All in all the event couldn’t come highly recommended enough. The organisation, the hospitality and the atmosphere was fantastic. Joern Neumann won both the 2wd and 4wd classes at the event, maybe it could be an Irish competitor next year?