European Late Model Series Rounds 1 & 2 - Warneton International Speedway, Belgium Last month I travelled to Warneton International Speedway, Belgium, for the first two rounds of the European Late Model Series. This new series is the amalgamation of the V8 Trophy (ASCAR) Series, and the CAMSO V8 Series.
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aster Weekend saw the new European Late Model Series take to the track in anger for the first time. The new series, which sees the former ASCAR machines racing alongside the CAMSO V8 series, kicked off with a double-header on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday at Warneton International Speedway in Belgium. At first glance the cars are similar to look at, but under the skin there are a number of substantial differences, meaning that the ASCAR teams had plenty of work to do in order to keep pace with the CAMSO machines. For a start the CAMSOs are specifically designed to turn left, and only turn left. The Howe ASA chassis used for the ASCAR championship is narrower than the CAMSO, and is also designed to turn left, but is also versatile enough to be changed so the cars can be raced on road courses too; as seen in the GT America series, and proved in the UK last season when V8 Trophy raced on the traditional circuits of Britain.
set up for turning both left and right, so the first day and a half of the meeting were spent changing the cars back to a basic oval setup. After some exceptionally hard work from the crew Tony Hurdle was ready to take to the 3/8s mile banked oval on Saturday afternoon. After some installation laps Tony came back into the pits to begin making changes to improve the car’s set up. Revolution’s #99 Pontiac Grand Prix was being driven by Daniel Boys. The Brit has competed in a number of Late Model races out in the USA over the past four years, and was hoping to use the experience of racing on similar tracks to good use here at Warneton. Also in Belgium were John Steward and the Steward Racing boys. Apart from an appearance at the Farnborough International Airshow last summer, the #75 Ford Taurus hasn’t turned a wheel since V8 Trophy’s last race on the Rockingham oval at the end of 2007. With only minimal changes John was
The ‘Offset’ CAMSO chassis is also lighter than the ASCAR, not having as much framework to cope with the high speed impacts seen on the 1.5 mile ovals used in the last years of the ASA National Tour and at Rockingham. Conversely the ASCARs have more power from their engines, so before the race weekend began hopes were high that competition would be fairly close. Having raced on the UK’s road courses last year, Revolution Racing’s two cars were still
16 Sheffield & Hallamshire Motor Club