No German Starters in 2008?

30. December 2007The longest one of all the truck racing years closed with a German-speaking pilot winning the championship. The German language, however, could perhaps be the only thing German among the drivers next year. Because with title holder Markus Bösiger from Switzerland and the two Austrians, Egon Allgäuer who will probably be at the steering wheel of a RaceTruck once more, and Markus Altenstrasser as the second pilot for Team Frankie, there will presumably be again three pilots from German-speaking areas at the start next season, but it might be that there won’t be anybody from Germany.
Jochen Hahn, who was fourth in the championship last season, was about to enter into a partnership with Iveco when, after 11 years, his liaison with Mercedes Benz ended. But in regard to the truck manufacturer’s engagement the ideas of the Italians and those of the Swabian truck racing team were apparently very different. So far the negotiations were not crowned with success yet. At the moment the Hahn team is probing further opportunities. Same with the fifth in the ranking of the championship, “Mr. Truck Racing” Gerd Körber; here the situation is unsettled as well. In the course of this year it will be decided, whether the man from Rheinau and Egon Allgäuer will go on being a team. The managing director of Bickel Tec has also long experience with his own team, and the bigger part of his enormous fan community would be delighted with having a new Bickel team.
And another German is raring to start, European Truck Racing champion Heinz-Werner Lenz. During the past years the entrepreneur from Plaidt did only enter the races every once in a while – often together with his son Sascha. Same as Jochen Hahn, he too had tried to bring a promising Iveco team into being, but in the end did not see a real chance to be among the front runners with the technical material he had at his disposal. For the coming season Lenz now has another option in prospect – though it is not definite yet. But prior to that the passionate truck racer wants to gain laurels in another metier, namely as pilot of Ellen Lohr’s service truck at the Dakar Rally. In 2008 there could possibly be three German top drivers participating, but on the other hand it’s also possible that Germany, Europe’s most important car manufacturer will no longer take part in truck racing.