21 plus 5

30. April 2009The card game Blackjack or Pontoon is called “17 plus 4” in Germany, but for the FIA European Truck Racing Championship it’s now 21 plus 5. True to his announcement in Albacete, José Bermejo registered his Mercedes RaceTruck belatedly, and is now number 21. And there is another race-by-race pilot, Yvan Gaillard, who, by registering in due time, could secure a place on the starting grid, even though for some races it could get a bit crowded because of the guest drivers. There are 21 race trucks registered for the championship – that means one more vehicle than in the Formula 1, after all. However, there are not 29 starters, as could be read or heard in some places – it seems that this figure was deduced from the highest starting number. And it’s not the biggest starter field in years, either.
Since the inflation of registrations in 2005 with 55 pilots on the entry list, which caused the FIA to reduce the maximum number of entrants to 26, it is still the smallest field – but bigger than many other motorsport series, anyway. Especially the great number of early registrations as race-by-race pilot give reason for hope that, in the long run, the starter field will again reach its maximum size.
And so Yvan Gaillard registered right after purchasing the third Freightliner. That’s the race truck Adam Lacko had been driving several times in the past and Gerd Körber did some laps with in Most, when he gave several VIPs a ride during the breaks. And quite a few people regarded this as a sign that “Mr. Truck Racing” would perhaps once again participate in a race as a guest driver for the Buggyra Team, at least on the Nürburgring or in Most. But these hopes are dashed for now. On the other hand, RaceTruck designing engineer Mario Kress has a reputation of always having a surprise in store. Körber’s one-time companion is already fully taken up with the development work for the next season, and maybe the Czech team will soon have another new truck at hand, because once before – in 2004 when Buggyra was still in SuperRaceTrucks – they sprang a surprise on their fanbase on the Nürburgring by presenting a new vehicle, the Freightliner, a truck they later won two titles with in the European Championship for the RaceTruck series. And also back then Körber was the first “test pilot”.
Gaillard will already present the “old” Freightliner in Assen. We’ll see whether the Frenchman, who already gained some experience in the French Championship, will manage to be in the top ten.