Naše automobiliste u eminentnom takmičenju Clio Cup Europe - Nikolu Miljkovića (10. u generalnom plasmanu) i Nikolu Tošića (14. u generalnom plasmanu), ovog vikenda u Monci očekuju poslednje dve trke u sezoni. Na žalost, najbolji srpski automobilista Nikola Miljković stigao je u Italiju sa ukusom gorčine. Naime, kako se bliži kraj sezone u ovom izuzetno konkurentnom takmičenju, koje na stazama okuplja i više od 50 vozača iz svih delova sveta, sve više dolazi do izražaja pristrasnost organizatora, a tako ne bi smelo da bude ukoliko trkačka Reno Klio serija želi da zadrži imidž prestižnog takmičenja.

Diskriminacija na delu

Evidentno je da direkcija maksimalno protežira „domaće“ odnosno francuske automobiliste. To je na svojoj koži više puta do sada osetio Miljković, ali i neki drugi vozači. Tako je bilo i na prethodnom trkačkom vikendu na Paul Ricardu, koji je usledio tri nedelje nakon Barselone, gde je Miljković postigao veliki uspeh osvajanjem četvrtog mesta u generalnoj konkurenciji. Kada se tome doda da je trku pre Barselone, u Francuskoj, Miljković napravio rezultat sezone osvajanjem drugog mesta, direkcija takmičenja je ekspresno reagovala u Barseloni, a sve u strahu da jedan Srbin u smiraj sezone ne pomrsi račune favorizovanim Francuzima. Kako bi ga sprečili da se umeša u borbu za sam vrh, usledio je hladan tuš nakon druge trke na stazi Catalunya, gde je zbog incidenta sa drugim vozačem Miljković kažnjen pomeranjem za pet startnih pozicija unazad nakon kvalifikacija za sledeću trku na stazi Paul Ricard. Ispostavilo se da je to samo predstavljalo uvertiru, za dalju torturu, jer je naš as ostao uskraćen da se bori za najviši plasman i u drugoj trci. Naravno, sve zbog skandaloznih odluka sudija.

-Od početka vikenda na Paul Ricardu smo imali problem, jer automobil nije išao kako treba. Mi smo tražili da zamenimo motor za subotnju trku, ali nam to nije dozvoljeno uz obrazloženje da je plombiran, objašnjava Miljković, ali je odluka sudija u najmanju ruku diskutabilna, jer je francuskim vozačima u nekoliko navrata bilo dozvoljeno da zamene motor.

Dakle, sudije imaju diskreciono pravo da odluče kome će dati zeleno svetlo za zamenu motora, a kome ne. I kada jednom to dozvole, a drugome ne, a odbijanje obrazlože time da nije na vreme obaveštena tehnička komisija, koja mora da izađe i da utvrdi da na motoru postoji mehanički problem, onda posredi nije ništa drugo do čista diskriminacija!  

A onda nakon svega toga, u nedelju je usledio još jedan hladan tuš za Miljkovića. Leden, rekli bismo.

U toj drugoj trci na Paul Ricardu tortura od strane sudija dostiže kulminaciju, a dirigent orkestriranog šikaniranja bio je naravno Francuz - Pierre Delletre, koji je nakon kontakta Miljkovića i jednog francuskog vozača Beograđaninu ekspresno izrekao kaznu „drive throught“ odnosno obavezan prolazak kroz boks u toku trke, čime ga je autmatski lišio svake šanse da se bori za visoku poziciju.  

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Na zapadu ništa novo

Ali, takav tretman i nije toliko iznenađujući. Kroz slične situacije su prolazili i drugi naši vozači kada su postizali jake rezultate na međunarodnoj sceni. Jedan od njih je i Andrej Kulundžić, koji je devedesetih godina sa velikim uspehom vozio Porsche Supercup, a zatim je prešao u Clio V6 Evropsku seriju.

-Ovo što se dešava Nikoli me uopšte ne iznenađuje. Kada se pojave takmičari „sa strane“, svi ih navodno mnogo vole, ali samo dok su u sredini „grida“.  Tapšu ih po ramenu i iskazuju simpatije prema njima. Naravno, sve zbog toga što im ostavljaju novac i donose publicitet takmičenju u nekoj zemlji koja nije u Evropskoj Uniji. I dokle god je tako, sve je OK. Međutim, kako počnes da se približavaš vrhu, tako se povećavaju problemi. Ja sam to iskusio u Porsche Supercup-u gde sam u trenutku pravio zapažene rezultate u periodu kada je naša zemlja imala negativan imidž. I evidentno da njima to nije odgovaralo. Zatim sam prešao u Klio V6 Evropsku seriju. I tamo se desila ista stvar, bio sam sasečen kontroverznim odlukama, koje daleko prevazilaze sportski fer plej i prelaze u šovinizam i nacionalizam, kaže Kulundžić i podseća da je i sam bio suočen sa svakojakim penalizacijama i drugim vidovima šikaniranja.

-To je nešto s čim ne možeš da se izboriš, a opet mi po mentalitetu nismo narod koji može tek tako da podvije rep i da istrpi nepravdu. Nikola ima isti problem kao što sam imao i ja, on je izuzetno napredovao, trenutno je najbolji srpski automobilista i vozi u takmičenju koje na gridu ima i po 60-70 automobila. Ljudi ne shvataju šta to znači i kolika je razlika boriti se u takvoj konkurenciji u odnosu na recimo 12-13 automobila na stazi. Na kraju krajeva, kroz kvantitet se filtrira i kv0alitet. Njegovi rezultati ove sezone su impresivni i po mom mišljenju on je došao na prekretnicu karijere, gde  faktički treba da napravi korak napred i da ode u neko jače takmičenje. A što se tiče problema u Reno Klio seriji, te probleme on ne može da reši, kao što nisam mogao ni ja. Mnogo je stvari koje su umešane u sve to, a na kraju krajeva, onaj ko organizuje taj Clio Cup on i određuje ko će biti u samom vrhu, zbog samog imidža takmičenja, ali i saradnje sa timovima koji su potrošili mnogo novca, kao i nekih drugih elemenata koji utiču na sve to, zaključuje Kulundžič.

Clio Cup Europe single racing series or single opinion series?

Our drivers in the eminent Clio Cup Europe competition - Nikola Miljković (10th place in overall ranking) and Nikola Tošić (14th place in overall ranking) are expecting the last two races of the season this weekend in Monza. Unfortunately, the best Serbian driver, Nikola Miljković, arrived in Italy with a bitter taste. Namely, as the end of the season approaches in this extremely competitive competition, which gathers more than 50 drivers on the tracks, from all parts of the world, the bias of the organizers comes to expression more and more, which shouldn’t be the case if the Renault Clio Series wants to keep the image of the prestigious competition.

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Acts of discrimination

It is evident that the race management favors "domestic" French drivers. Miljković has felt this on his own skin many times so far, as well as some other drivers. This was also the case at the previous race weekend at Paul Ricard, which followed three weeks after Barcelona, where Miljković achieved great success by winning fourth place overall . When you add to that the fact that in the race before Barcelona, in France, Miljković made the result of the season by winning second place, the competition management reacted quickly in Barcelona, and all in fear that a Serb would mess up the accounts of the favored French at the end of the season. In order to prevent him from getting involved in the fight for the very top, there was a cold shower after the second race at the Catalunya circuit, where due to an incident with another driver, Miljkovic was penalized by moving back five starting positions after qualifying for the next race at the Paul Ricard circuit. It turned out that it was just a prelude to further torture, because our ace was denied the fight for the top position in the second race. Of course, all because of the scandalous decisions of the marshals.

- From the very beginning of the weekend at Paul Ricard, we had a problem, because the car was not going as it should. We asked to change the engine for Saturday's race, but we were not allowed to do so on the grounds that it was sealed, explains Miljković, but the marshal’s decision was debatable at least, because French drivers were allowed to change the engine in several occasions.

The marshals have the sole discretion to decide who gets the green light for an engine swap and who doesn’t. And when they allow it to one driver and deny the other, and then justify that decision by the fact that the Technical Committee was not informed on time, which is obliged to go out and determine if there is a mechanical problem on the engine, then it is nothing but pure discrimination!

And then, after all that, another cold shower followed for Miljković on Sunday. Ice cold, we'd say.

In that second race at Paul Ricard, the torture by the marshals reaches its climax, and the conductor of the orchestrated chicanery was, of course, the Frenchman - Pierre Delletre, who, after contacting Miljković and another French driver, promptly imposed a "drive through" penalty on the Belgradian race driver, which automatically deprived him of any chance to fight for a high position.

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All quiet on the Western Front

But such treatment is not so surprising. Other drivers of ours went through similar situations when they achieved strong results on the international stage. One of them is Andrej Kulundžić, who drove the Porsche Supercup with great success in the 1990s, and then moved to the Clio V6 Euro Trophy

-What is happening to Nikola does not surprise me at all. When contestants "from the side" appear, everyone supposedly likes them a lot, but only while they're in the middle of the "grid." They pat them on the back and express sympathy for them. Of course, all because they leave them money and bring publicity to the competition in a country that is not in the EU. And as long as that is the case, everything is OK. However, as you get closer to the top, the problems increase. I experienced it in the Porsche Supercup, where I made remarkable results at a time when our country had a negative image. And it was evident that it did not suit them. I then moved on to a Clio V6 Euro Trophy. The same thing happened there, I was cut by controversial decisions, which go far beyond sports fair play and turn into chauvinism and nationalism, says Kulundžić and recalls that he himself was faced with all kinds of penalties and other forms of harassment.

- It's something you can't deal with, and yet, by mentality, we are not a nation that can simply fold its tail and endure injustice. Nikola has the same problem as I had, he has improved tremendously, he is currently the best Serbian driver in a competition that has 60-70 cars on the grid. People don't understand what that means and how much difference it is to fight in that kind of competition compared to say 12-13 cars on the track. After all, quality filters through quantity. His results this season are impressive and, in my opinion, he has reached a turning point in his career, where he actually needs to take a step forward and go to some stronger competition. And as for the problems in the Renault Clio series, he can't solve those problems, just like I couldn't either. There are many things that are involved in all that, and at the end of the day, the one who organizes Clio Cup, determines who will be at the very top, because of the very image of the competition, but also the cooperation with the teams that have spent a lot of money, as well as some other elements that influence all that, concludes Kulundžić.