3 replies to this topic

[Jon Saltinstall]

Apologies to all, as once again I find myself coming to the collective wisdom of the Forum in an effort to find the truth behind a largely unreported event....

Some time in 1998, Niki Lauda approached Mike Van Hooydonk from Inkart with a proposal to organise a kart race between journalists and racing drivers. Apparently, there were some conditions attached to the deal, one being that Lauda demanded that the drivers must start from the back of the grid and the less-experienced journalists would occupy the front. Although some of the professional drivers protested, they soon got on with it and quickly made their way to the fore; one of those who was perfectly happy with the arrangement was Wim Eyckmans, who immediately became embroiled in a battle with Lauda for first place. Reportedly, the duel was shaping up nicely when Van Hooydonk was forced to cancel the race early (?? reasons unstated), handing victory to Lauda. The Dutch track owner allegedly explained that his decision was comparable to the Prost-Senna duel at Monaco in 1984, when (some say) the Clerk of the Course stopped the race early in favour of Prost.

So the inevitable questions are:
> When did the race happen?
> Which other drivers and journalists were involved?
> What caused the race to be stopped early?
> And - you guessed it - does anyone have a photograph?

Any and all suggestions gratefully received!

[Richard Jenkins]

If you go on Inkart's FB page, there's a photo of Niki posted on May 21 in tribute - https://www.facebook.com/InkartPuurs/

 

I'm sure if you contact them they will have more details and should help as it's a little publicity for them after all.

Edited by Richard Jenkins, 30 July 2019 - 19:59.

[Jon Saltinstall]

Thanks Richard - I have previously sent a message to their website, but as is often the case with the "info@" type contacts one is reliant on the right person reading it. I have my fingers crossed, but was hoping to achieve something a little more targeted via TNF

[Jon Saltinstall]

Fozzy has also pointed out to me that there's a Facebook post showing Niki driving the pace kart in F1 teams' go kart race "in Germany, 2003". The plot thickens.....any ideas?

Edited by Jon Saltinstall, 31 July 2019 - 20:32.