Donington

24. July 2008Actually, this should have been the preliminary report for the 6th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Donington, but – as we all know – this event was cancelled. During the meeting at the Nurburgring it was obvious that everybody, whether teams, pilots, sponsors or FIA delegates, was disappointed about this cancellation at short notice. Especially for some members of the truck racing commission it seems to be a thorn in the side. They had put themselves out to bring a FIA round back to the UK after a long interval of 9 years. After all, Great Britain is deemed to be the birthplace of European truck racing.
But just because of this great personal involvement, and obviously also in regard to the way the information about this cancellation was delivered (and at such short notice), it is to be feared that in the commission there won’t now be a majority to secure another race in Great Britain in the near future. In Albacete it was the first time that some serious hints were dropped. On June 11 we were privately informed from quarters of the British Truck Racing Association that now for the last July weekend in Donington there was only one day scheduled, “Truck Attack” with only two events and a final in the British Championship. FIA races were no longer the agenda. Around one week later there was the official statement from the FIA about the cancellation of this round.
And so the initially propagated motto for the FIA ETRC “10 rounds in 10 countries” seems to have again receded into the distance, even though the committee perseveres to include new race circuits and new organizers – first of all in eastern Europe – into the FIA European Truck Championship.
Let us just call to mind, eight or nine years ago – still in the heyday of the SuperRaceTrucks – there was even a WorldSeries under discussion, with 10 to 12 rounds in Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand as well as South Africa.