Assen – This and That

13. May 2009After the deluge last year in Barcelona at the start of the season and everybody still having strong memories of the round in Assen 4 years ago, where there were similar weather conditions – and both events took also place at the second weekend in May – people were now happy that – apart from one rain shower on Friday during the last practice – there was dry weather all weekend. But in fact the emphasis was placed on other topics: the tyres and the monitoring of the 160 km/h speed limit.
During the tests in Albacete the teams realized rather soon that the new generation of Goodyear tyres – which all the teams have fixed on the front axles – are indeed more durable, but on the other hand they are slower than the 2008 production. The older version is no longer purchasable; however, several teams still have a copious supply.
But in the regulations it is stipulated as a general rule that any tyre released for truck racing must be available for purchase to everybody without any difficulty. On Friday evening, half an hour before the last free practice, the Truck Racing Commission had a communiqué distributed, informing the teams that the 2008 Goodyear tyres were no longer allowed, and that Fedima, the supplier of these tyres, would take back unused tyres with the production date 2008.
In the timed practice on Saturday morning Antonio Albacete shocked his opponents with lap times the other pilots could not measure up to. Especially Buggyra chief technician Mario Kress was a bit dismayed and rather baffled, until he learnt that the Cepsa MAN had Goodyear tyres of the 2007 series fixed on its front axle. And indeed, it says explicitly that only the 2008 tyres were no longer allowed. And in the end it was even rumoured in the paddock that there existed a 2009 version of tyres with a 2008 rubber compound.
And so on Sunday morning, shortly after 8 hrs., Mario Kress for Buggyra, Antonio Albacete and Ivan Cruz for Cepsa, and Jochen Hahn met at the Goodyear service truck. Roland von Hoerner, Head of the MAN engine development department and a generally renowned truck racing expert for more than 20 years, had the four top pilots of the 2008 season draw lots for the tyres.
Afterwards the discussion about the tyres was all over and done with for the time being. But there was still some confusion about the many overspeedings of the speed limit of 160 km/h. As is well known, tachographs to monitor the speed of the RaceTrucks aren’t used anymore for quite a while; instead a GPS system is applied. The tolerance limits are stricter this year, actually there is no such thing as a tolerance limit anymore. But the teams were confident that they had adjusted their RaceTrucks accordingly. So there were speculations that the rolling circumference of the new tyres might be a bit different, or that, when some corners were taken at maximum speed, the GPS antenna would be swinging so much that measurements at 25-hundredths-seconds intervals could be faulty now and then. In case of doubt there was a re-check of the data recording of the respective truck, and in several cases where penalties or disqualifications had been imposed, these decisions were annulled a short time later. They will be working on it, but probably it will only be possible to do absolutely correct tests on the “living specimen”, that is to say: the moving RaceTruck.
The new regulations with regard to the starting grid in the second race – the first 8 trucks classified will be placed in reverse order of the classification of race 1, so that the 8th placed of the first race will be on pole and the winner of the first race will be number 8 on the grid – was generally appreciated very much; it will be more interesting and exciting. Those who want to see for themselves, should watch the event on TV – in Germany it will be broadcast by DSF on Friday, May 15, from 9:00 to 9:30 hrs (9:00 – 9:30 a.m.) and on Saturday, May 16, from 9:45 to 10:15 hrs (9:45 - 10:15 a.m.)
And finally let’s get to the lists of results, which in Assen differ from the usual ones. Several readers have already noticed that. The timekeepers have only displayed the winners’ time and the distances to the respective truck in front, whereas for the training sessions there was also the time difference of each truck compared to the fastest time, as is customary internationally. In 2004 and 2005 there was still the usual procedure in Assen as well – not only for the practice – but today these figures are no longer available, not even on request.