Formula Vee 1969

[Jon64]

Chanced upon an article in VW Times from October 1998 that refers to an intriguing story I have never seen reported elsewhere.

Back in 1969, Etienne Der Clerk and Michael Van Wassenhove had bought two FVee cars that they then lent to the best Belgian drivers of the day. At the time, Bernard Goffinet was reigning Belgian FV champion, having won in 1968 driving a Beach. Goffinet felt the car was becoming outdated so jumped at the chance to drive their Austro.

During a test day at Zolder, the time sheets were largely dominated by Niki Lauda's Kaimann and there were grumbles from other competitors present, who wanted to to have the Austrian's engine checked to verify it was legal. Der Clerk and Van Wassenhove reportedly managed to convince Lauda to exchange his car for Goffinet’s Austro .... whereupon Lauda set the same as he had done with his own car. This was sufficient to convince the complainers that the difference was the driver, not the car.

I have never seen any other reference to this test session, nor indeed of Lauda running an FVee at Zolder. Can anyone cast any further light on the story; when it took place, who else was present, why it was happening, etc?