Sunday in Nogaro

20. June 2010Nogaro - At least the weather in Southern France was – almost – true to its reputation; not really a cloudless sky and the temperatures only around 20 °C, but at least it stayed dry, so that despite the rainy Saturday the audience totalled around 27,000. In the morning, during the warm-up, MAN pilot Chris Levett’s opponents were again puzzled about his performance boost, because the Englishman again set the pace on the track which was still rather damp; only his Spanish MAN colleague was slightly faster. However, Levett is renowned for his ability to cope with a wet surface. But in the timed practice the circuit was completely dry, the lap times were about 6 – 8 seconds faster. And again Levett was flying high, he even scored fastest lap time. Team Hahn Racing was completely baffled. It seemed as if the engine of Jochen Hahn’s black MAN was not being responsive. While his nearest rivals considered themselves to be a qualifier for the SuperPole after only 3 laps, the Swabian drove 2 more laps, which put him into 7th place – and that should have been good enough for the SuperPole. But the track conditions seemed to improve constantly, and the results of the usually slower pilots became better and better; and eventually Buggyra pilot Uwe Nittel snatched 10th position from his German compatriot.
In the SuperPole the lap times tumbled once more, and finally Albacete clocked fastest time (1:53.392), just fractionally quicker than Levett and the two MKR Renault pilots Markus Bösiger (SUI) and Markus Oestreich (GER). More than a second slower was the Czech title contender David Vrsecky (Freightliner), followed by the two Allgäuer MAN drivers Adam Lacko (CZE) and Alex Lvov (RUS). Renault-Pilot Anthony Janiec (FRA) relegated Nittel to 9th position at the very last moment, and the Spaniard Javier Mariezcurrena (MAN) completed the top ten.
In the following race Albacete did not let anyone get the better of him and quickly took the lead, with Levett glued to the Spaniard’s rear bumper, closely followed by Bösiger and Oestreich, with Vrsecky and Lacko in tow. Almost neck to neck the two Czechs went down the long back straight, and while approaching the sharp right hand bend, shortly before the braking phase, the two trucks collided; there were clouds of smoke and the smell of scorched rubber filled the air. Lacko spun off the track and remained stranded ‘in the middle of nowhere’. Vrsecky’s truck went into a skid, but he got it under control and drove on as if nothing had happened. And Lacko, too, rejoined the track at the back of the field. But while the MAN pilot managed to work his way up to 10th position in the remaining laps, Vrsecky had to retire shortly afterwards due to problems with the electronics. The leading pilot Albacete had eased away several metres from Levett and held his position unchallenged until the finishing line. Bösiger followed at the same distance with team mate Oestreich in tow. The outcome of the race seemed to be already clear, when suddenly, coming down the old finish straight, Oese had problems with the braking. Missing the chicane, the Renault sped across the grass, lost several plastic parts on the bumpy terrain – plus lost his 4th position to Hahn. Behind them Nittel was leading the chasing pack. Fending off Lvov’s continuous attacks, he was highly pleased to cross the finishing line in 6th. Janiec finished 8th, thus securing pole for the second race. Mariezcurrena and Lacko completed the top ten.
Later the race officials thoroughly investigated the incident at the beginning of the race, involving the two Czech pilots – also based on the TV images and on-board cameras. But in the end this did not lead to any adjustments in the results.
In the second race of the day it came thick and fast for several pilots. There were some aggressive collisions right at the start. In a crash involving Pole setter Janiec and Albacete, the Frenchman dropped back to 7th, and the Spaniard spun around and found himself at the back of the field. Not much better fared Levett who tangled with Mariezcurrena. The Englishman ploughed through the gravel bed and emerged well down the pack. Lvov was now leading, Oestreich and Bösiger managed to pass Nittel, Hahn was in 5th, followed by Lacko. Vrsecky, who had to start from the back of the grid because of his early retirement in the first race, made a great charge through the pack, slicing past the significantly slower trucks in the back of the field.
Meanwhile the leading Lvov came under constant pressure from Oestreich and Bösiger, but the Russian resisted all passing attempts. Mid-race, while entering a 90 degree left turn, Oese was, slightly shifted, behind Lvov on the inside track. When the man from Fulda had passed about one third of the Russian’s truck, there was a collision of serious consequences. Lvov’s yellow MAN did a 180 degree spin and crashed into the left-hand side of the Renault. Together – one truck forward, the other one pointing in the wrong direction – the two RaceTrucks took to the gravel. Bösiger was now leading, followed by Hahn who had by now passed Nittel. When everybody was sure that Bösiger would take the win, the Swiss suddenly reported engine problems. And the smoke the truck’s exhaust pipe was belching, didn’t look that good either. So he chose to slow down a bit in order to bring his Renault home, and he offered no resistance when Hahn passed and took the lead. Bösiger claimed 2nd ahead of Nittel by a margin of 2 tenths. Janiec finished 4th, followed by Mariezcurrena. Both Vrsecky and Levett had fought their way up from the back of the field and finished in 6th and 7th, respectively. Albacete had also progressed up the field and crossed the line in 9th, but had to yield to the French youngster Jeremy Robineau, who finished in 8th. The Portuguese José Rodrigues (MAN) claimed 10th, the last place within the points.
After the race a protest was lodged because of the incident involving Janiec and Albacete shortly after the start, with the result that the Frenchman was disqualified, handing the 4th position to Mariezcurrena, and all the other points scorers were promoted 1 position. The last position in the points now fell to the Hungarian Balazs Szobi (MAN).
The championship ranking is still led by Albacete with 132 points, followed by Bösiger (120), Hahn (120), Vrsecky (77), Oestreich (63), Levett (52) and Lvov (50).
In the team ranking the first race was won by Truck Sport Bernau (Albacete / Levett) followed by MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich) and Team HahnOxxo Racing (Hahn / Szobi). The winner of the second race was Team HahnOxxo Racing, ahead of Truck Sport Bernau and MKR Technology.