As a participant in the Amilcar at the Lignières Historique
08/19/2014
Sometimes a click in the newsletter leads to a special kind of weekend experience ...
For the Motorsport Festival in Lignières, Zwischengas was looking for a reader with a pre-war racing car to take part in the demo runs. I was ideally placed with my 1924 Amilcar CGS and also had the necessary luck of the draw!
When I received the organizer's documents on the Tuesday before the race weekend and saw the pre-war starting field, it was immediately clear to me that there was a lot of "competition" waiting for me in Lignières and, above all, that it would be overwhelming: alongside all the Bugattis, Maseratis and fast supercharged engines from Alvis, MG or Morgan, my Amilcar would only be able to score points in the oldest vehicle category.
In addition to a lot of anticipation, there was also a certain amount of tension and nervousness ahead of the upcoming races.
There were still a few organizational issues to sort out, such as how to get to Lignières. And of course I also wanted to check my car. In the end, there was only time to carry out a quick oil and water check before setting off.
Despite some pouring rain and cars overtaking in snaking lines in search of the ideal photo position, the journey on the road went surprisingly smoothly and quickly.
The car inspection in Biel on the central square attracted few spectators - in keeping with the weather - and was thankfully carried out quickly and without complications. Now it was on to Lignières to take care of administrative matters and set up my tent.
After initial discussions with the "competitors" and the drivers' briefing, my nervousness increased: how would I fare against the experienced drivers and their sometimes extremely powerful cars, as this was my first drive on a race track?
The following morning, with the wet and cold still in my bones, there was already a lot of activity and noise in the paddock. Engines were being warmed up everywhere and final adjustments were being made to the cars.
Our field also ran the engines up to operating temperature and at 10:30 on the dot the safety car led us onto the first lap.
I got to know the track in light rain and was soon overtaken by the first cars. My confidence in the material grew with every lap and I managed to get the car around the corners faster and more directly.
The twelve fully concentrated minutes of the first run were over quickly - on the drive back to the paddock I had my first opportunity to process the experience.
As someone who doesn't really enjoy watching car races, I was surprised at how much fun I had during the laps. You could say the infection was a success!
I was able to adapt more and more to the track and the performance of my car over the course of the race and the nervousness from Friday turned into a healthy respect for the track and racing situations on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon I drove back to Zurich happy but very tired, this time the sun was shining, which was also much better suited to this great weekend.
Over the three days, I made many interesting acquaintances, received helpful support from my colleagues as a newcomer and, most importantly, got both man and car back home safely.
Zwischengas and of course the organizers and supporters of Lignières Historique would like to thank you very much for this adventure!
The extensive coverage of Lignières Historique with over 400 pictures can be found here.
