Donington – Now it’s Official
30. January 2008Yesterday evening it was definitely confirmed by the FIA; the European Truck Racing Championship will return to Great Britain - on July 26 and 27. Nine years the British fans had to wait for a round to be held in their home country. Actually this date was already fixed after last year’s final in Jarama, which meant we were back to ten rounds this season. However, some matters still needed clarifications. About two weeks ago the FIA released the latest dates for several race series, and there was no longer an asterisk - meaning ‘provisionally’ - behind the location Donington Parc. And on the Donington Parc Circuit’s website, too, the date for the truck racing event was already officially stated. Nevertheless, the whole matter had to be approved by the FIA Truck Racing Committee on Tuesday evening.
The National Circuit of the Donington track, which was also used for the races of the British Championship, is just under 2 miles long – about 3.2 kilometres. Especially due to the track’s up hill and down dale routing and the very fast bends this circuit can be counted among the more challenging ones. During our last stay in Donington five years ago it was obvious that neither the paddock nor the press centre did meet the general expectations, but we heard that meanwhile there were considerable improvements. After all, one of the rounds of the DTM, who claim higher standards, was also held in Donington.
Anyway, the truck racers are looking forward to having yet another country added, the more so as England can be regarded as one of the mother countries of European truck racing. Apart from that there are even more countries under discussion, especially the Eastern European nations. And it is quite possible that there will be an invitation race in the near future. On the other hand, those requests should not be overrated. Some years ago the Ministry of Transport in Bahrain signalled their keen interest in having an invitation race for truck racers. But even before there was a detailed plan available the whole matter was gone with the wind of the Rub’ al Khali desert.
