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Le Mans – Preliminary Report

Le Mans – Preliminary Report

17. September 2008The best thing first: the weather forecast. Rarely the different weather services were more in agreement about the weather as for this year’s truck racing weekend in Le Mans. During the nights it could get pretty cold, about 7 – 10 °C (44 - 50 °F), but for the daytime they predict bright sunshine for most of the time – maybe now and then there will be some smaller clouds – and we can look forward to about 20 °C (68 °F) or even more. And as to the weather in Le Mans, the truck racers were not really pampered in this regard in recent years. Races were delayed for several hours because of fog, and – it’s hard to believe – because the track was iced up. But at that time the ’24 Heures Camions’ took place a month later in the year. But the programme, which is generally rather extensive in Mans, got mixed up considerably on these occasions. And this year, too, there will hardly be a pause to take breath.
In the supporting programme we will again find the sidecar pilots, which will particularly please the reigning champion of the European Truck Championship, Markus Bösiger, because about 10 years ago the Swiss was a sidecar pilot himself and was very successful in the championship. In addition to that there will be the Super Karts which are very popular in France. Their engine displacement is not much bigger than a ‘Koelsch’ glass, but yet they can speed over the circuit at around 250 km/h. Not to forget the rounds of the French Truck Championship. For the races a total of far more than 50 RaceTrucks are registered, which means it will again be rather crowded in the paddock.
There won’t be any double starters in Le Mans – contrary to the Nürburgring where the Mittelrhein Cup races count towards points in the British Championship. But Dominique Orsini and his son Florian will certainly share the Mercedes again that belongs to the father – Dominique Orsini for the FIA races and the junior for the French Cup.
Similar to the Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring, the ’24 Heures Camions’ of Le Mans is not only about races, but an overall event: motorsport, trucker festival, fair, concerts and funfair with jumbo fireworks. And also on the track there is constant action. Between the races there are show trucks on the circuit, and on Sunday evening we will again see many stunts. Same as in recent years, FIA ETRC chief technician Fabien Calvet will insist on being a factor front and centre.
And finally here is an answer to a question posed very often. Although the event is called ’24 Heures Camions’ it does not mean that the pilots indeed will be driving their trucks for 24 hours incessantly. There will be the usual programme according to the FIA regulation, one Qualy race and one Championship race on Saturday and on Sunday each.
Nevertheless, the teams will have a lot to do beforehand, in order to bring their RaceTrucks up to date. After all, most of the teams went directly to Le Mans after the final race in Zolder, without going back to their repair shops at home.