cheating in the Clio's....no!!

[doug]

Well it always goes on I suppose, but have just had the latest from Knockhill and my friends in the Clio's. Now it would be very silly for me to actualy mention any names here but for now I will let you know the latest. (or whats been found out).

1st : clios are only allowed 2 new tyres per round, some have had 4 and more.
2nd : some of these said tyres have been treated with....mmmnn...substences should I say.
3rd : some of these tyres are not even UK spec..which does puzzle me.....
4th : rear hubs which have huge amounts of angles on them....oh wait a minute what do you mean they where specially made and had false Renault markings on them..

I don't know, what some of these boys get up to.. I live and learn. Now just have to find the rest of my budget to go and race fair and square with them....

[Les]

I had heard that the Snetterton result has yet to be confirmed and now MST is not showing the Knockhill result either or is that just MST?

It doesn't help matters that the chicane rule was a bit lax! All four wheels to stay on the track and yet some of the fastest laps in qualifying were def. via the kerbs.

[BennyBoy1978]

From what I see on this forum Clios is a series to stay well clear of!

[Adam43]

Benny, I think that you have hit on something here. The Clio cup is in danger of bringing itself into disrepute (no I'm not from the FIA!). The poor driving standards and now, errr, taking the rules to the limit, shall we say.

It strikes me that a lot of this comes from the fact that the drivers in it think they can make it to the big time and want to win at any cost. However, a lot of the antics that we hear about here and elsewhere are actually detracting from the series as a whole. This could well make it less attractive to teams from other series looking for new driving talent.

Or maybe it is a case of any publicity is good publicity.

I feel it is a shame that a series that could be great fun is being ruined by this. I wonder how much fun it is in the Clio paddock at the moment?

[JohnnyBravo]

It would certainly appear that there is some sort of rule bending going on but I'm sure you get these rumours in any one make championship, and proving it is something else!

As far far as driving standards go, there is definitely room for improvement! It seems the championship may not go to the wire after certain drivers helped their team mates off the track, and others have no respect for drivers who are clearly faster.
It is a low cost (well low ish!) championship so you are always going to get drivers of, how shall I put it, a slightly less talented nature turning up. I'm sure they want to race and when the opportunity to beat one of the better drivers comes up they are going to want to make the most of it. But when someone has come from the back of the grid to be battling within the top ten, surely common sense should prevail, and again would it not be in their interest to finish one place lower than finish in the wall or with any reputation they had in tatters for taking a championship contender out of the title race. It's made all the worse when it's your team mate that starts it all off!

Let's just hope that there are two clean rounds of excellant racing and no one gets hurt.

It's going to be a titanic battle for the title, I can't wait!

[Vatanen]

I know Kirkaldy got pulled up for using too many tyres. Are you saying that there were more than him who did it and they got away with it?

[DavidStHubbins]

I heard about a special trick with the ignition which some teams use to get more power.

Tyres are the key factor in clios, when they are cold they are a nightmare and getting the required tyre temp as fast as possible would help immensely. Magic substance would do the trick!

Looks like i am missing all the fun!

[doug]

there are a lot of good drivers in the series, but there are a lot of .....mmmnnnn not so good, more money than talent. The cars are great, hence me keeping hold of mine at the moment. Clio's doesn't gaurentee you a touring drive, look at Daniel Buxton. But when you race against guys who know their car will be fixed whatever, some of them go a bit far. A nice sprinkle of rain i found sorted these so called front runners out last year. Then cheating didn't help as I found out but driver talent did. It's my claim to fame with the clio's last year, topping the sheets at Thruxton on slicks on a damp slippery track. I don't know you either have it or you don't boys!! (and now girls!!)

[AndyG]

Dear Doug,

Ran out of ideas on getting David cash to go racing. I have sent you a private e mail as the Clio outfit is up for sale! Race driver support is pathetic in the UK, maybe we should race in the USA which is not as competitive but has more money.

Note your stuff about cheating. I know we are never supposed to say anything but David saw lots of stuff on track last year.

We should launch an information campaign about where the cash comes from in racing (lots of the guys on the banking think some of their money gets to the drvers!!!!

Did a fun day at Oulton last week in the streaming rain. A 15 stone bloke like me won his kart race by driving around everyone slithering around on slicks!! I have still got it, even at my age.

Andy G

[AndyG]

By the way, tyres are key but it is not just heating them. The rear is a NIGHTMARE. David Gibson used to listen to the rear of the car coming out of Clearways. If he could hear the rubber flying off the rear tyres then a little more caution was necessary into Paddock. That standard 172 rear axle is wild with slicks on.