Le Mans – This and That

24. September 2008The weekend has been fine – a clear blue sky all the time, and it was crowded – almost 50,000 people, and it was noisy – sidecars and especially the Super Karts simply have got another decibel level compared to the RaceTrucks which sound rather pleasant in contrast; but why on Saturday evening the volume of the loudspeakers in the paddock were cranked up as far as they will go – especially during the shows – so that you had to bawl at the top of your voice if you wanted to talk to somebody, that will remain the secret of the organisers. In sporting terms the die is now cast. Antonio Albacete would only have a chance to win the title if: he won every race in Jarama, David Vrsecky achieved zero points, and, at the same time, Markus Bösiger would not get beyond 8th place in the races. But this is far from likely. And the Team Championship is a sure thing for Buggyra anyway.
As usual, the Freightliners were again dominant in Le Mans, particularly as Albacete was dogged by bad luck – he had to retire twice owing to his problem with the rail pipe. But even if it was not the most successful weekend for the Spaniard, who is the best-placed MAN pilot, there was another top pilot who defied the Buggyras, Jochen Hahn. However, much more impressive than his win in the final Championship race – when the man from Altensteig had to mobilise all his driving experience to ensure his tight victory ahead of Bösiger – was his performance on Saturday. The ‘MAN rookie’ pulled easily away from Vrsecky, and then he asserted so much pressure on the leading Bösiger that you expected to watch the black MAN overtake the blue Buggyra any moment.
For Monday morning there were some test drives scheduled in Le Mans, and FIA chief technician Fabien Calvet, too, changed into his overall and got behind the wheel.
Another item on the agenda was tyre tests, but this was rather about the employment of different air restrictors and the two turbochargers used by Buggyra. Actually, MAN could have a similar device in petto, but – and that’s the apprehension – this would soon lead to following a path the SuperRaceTrucks truck took way back: an arms race that could jack up the costs considerably. The withdrawal of several teams and other manufacturers would be bound to occur. Possibly some initial realisations obtained on Monday will be reflected in the technical regulations for 2009.
But for the time being our concern is the Championship 2008. After the stress of having two rounds at an interval of 1 week only, most of the teams are back home by now and preparing for the final round in Jarama.