Friday, 29.03.2024 | Deutsch | English

Misano – This and That

30. May 2008Compared to the weather disaster in Barcelona there was a real holiday feeling during the races at the Adriatic. For the large truck racing community the Misano circuit always rated among the most favourite race tracks, and so it’s no wonder that you always come across people you rarely catch sight of for the rest of the season. Certainly Misano is not comparable to the Truck GP on the Ring – this event is and remains unique – but nevertheless, there are quite a few industrial firms and sponsors present in Italy. Almost all the manufacturers of commercial vehicles are on the scene, and there are also many other companies that don’t miss the chance to present new products and to host their guests. At present, in nearly every paddock the focus of attention is the MAN glass palace, meeting point for thousands of invited guests. Many a visitor was probably a bit confused on Saturday, when there were only several passenger cars presented under a huge three-pointed Mercedes star. On Sunday, however, a drummer corps waving Mercedes flags paraded in the crowded paddock, and presented the new Actros.
However, above all the photographers missed the models carrying small umbrellas, who in Misano usually stroll around the paddock clad in clothes of the respective sponsors.
Of course there were races as well, but there people were not always as relaxed. And several decisions of the stewards caused some confusion.
In the timed practice usually the drivers start in the order of the current positions in the overall ranking. But the responsible people in Misano seemed not in the least to be familiar with this regulation. For the Qualy Race on Saturday the trucks were already on the grid for more than a quarter of an hour, when suddenly – right at the time when the start should have taken place – the pit lane was opened again and a few late-comers were allowed to enter the grid.
For the following Championship Race everybody arrived in time. Whether the majority of the truck racers had forgotten about all this till Sunday or whether somebody had decided to close the access to the grid ahead of schedule, is no longer discernible. But in the end there were not more than 7 trucks lined up on the long straight ready for the start on the Qualy Race. 16 more racers were squeezed in the narrow pit lane. There were discussions and lamentation, trucks were moved back and forth and time passed by. The scheduled time was exceeded considerably and eventually the small field was allowed to start the race, with the huge pack from the pit lane in tow.
Then the responsible people committed a bad blunder at the Championship Race. Due to the delay at the Qualy Race they could not stay on schedule for this race. Consequently the grid was scheduled for 16:12 instead of 16:00, as planned in the first place. But, as a matter of fact, the pace truck got going shortly before 16:00, almost a quarter of an hour before the new official start time.