The concept of a ''hot core track region'' ( limited region in the track of the
projectile ion, where the electron temperature is large compared to the lattice
temperature before equilibration ), as used in other works, is investigated.
The results ( lifetime, dimension and temperature of the HCTR ) show that in
insulator targets the formation of this HCTR can play an important role for the
excitation of molecular motion. One possible mechanism for this excitation is
investigated and discussed. In the macroscopic limit molecular neutral
secondary yields are calculated by an estimate of the energy available for
cluster formation.