Sunday in Smolensk

08. August 2010Smolensk - And yet another almost unbearably hot day – again more than 40 °C in the shade and 50-plus temperatures on the tarmac. In addition, the air was damp and dusty. A steady wind would have brought some relief from the heat and some fresh air, but not a breeze was stirring. During the short waiting period in the parc fermé between the timed practice and the SuperPole everything was done to cool engines and tyres and of course to provide refreshments for the pilots. Most of the pilots returned to the pit lane after their first fast lap, being positive that they had qualified for the SuperPole. And again the two MAN pilots Jean-Pierre Blaise (BEL) und José Bermejo (ESP) as well as DAF pilot Michel Bassanelli (FRA) were the ones who didn’t make it. The Swiss pilot Markus Bösiger (MKR Renault) clocked fastest time (1:51.577) and was the first one in the SuperPole. But soon there was utter chaos: the times listed on the LED display leaped back and forth, and everybody lost track of the results. Contrary to other circuits, there aren’t any time-recording monitors installed yet in Smolensk. Instead the time-keepers had positioned a laptop in the pit lane, but the figures on the screen were not updated.
Eventually the Czech pilot David Vrsecky in his Buggyra Freightliner secured pole position (1:51.347). MAN driver Antonio Albacete (ESP) lined up alongside the Czech; Bösiger and MAN pilot Jochen Hahn (GER) were placed on the second row. The times posted by those four drivers differed by merely 4 tenths. Markus Oestreich (GER) in his MKR Renault lined up 5th on the grid, followed by the MAN trio Adam Lacko (CZE), Chris Levett (GBR) and Alex Lvov (RUS). The top ten were completed by the Frenchman Anthony Janiec (Renault) and the Russian guest pilot Mike Konovalov in the second Buggyra.
The start of the race was rather hectic. Already in the third bend some trucks made contact, and Bösiger remained stranded in the gravel unable to rejoin the track, so that inevitably the race had to be stopped. A towing vehicle pulled the Renault out of the gravel bed, and when Bösiger was back on the track, the trucks lined up on the grid in the same order as before for a re-start of the race. And again Albacete made a superb start and entered the first bend ahead of pole setter Vrsecky. In the stewards’ opinion the Spaniard had jumped the start, and he incurred a drive-through penalty. Hahn, too, had passed Vrsecky in the first bend and was now leading the field; a position he held until the chequered flag.
Lacko had managed to pass Bösiger, and now the Swiss was chasing hard after the Czech MAN pilot. The battle went on for several laps, but finally Bösiger succeeded in overtaking the yellow MAN and finished 3rd. And there was an almost identical scenario featuring Lvov and Oestreich. The Russian had passed the German in the first bend, and then the fight went on for lap after lap. But the man from Fulda was not as lucky as his MKR team mate, and he had to be content with 6th place. After his drive-through penalty Albacete sliced his way through the field like a bat out of hell, but finally the Spaniard had to settle for 7th position. Janiec, Levett and Konovalov completed the points-collecting positions. All that remained for Bassanelli was the unrewarding 11th place. Blaise and Bermejo had been forced to retire in mid-race.
In the second race Janiec was again on pole because of his 8th place finish in the first race, with Albacete lining up beside him. Already in the previous race it became obvious that it was also possible to make a good getaway from the outer track. And what’s more, Janiec did not fare so well at the start and for a moment was a bit of a hindrance; Lvov took the opportunity to slot into 2nd behind the Spaniard. Albacete held an unchallenged lead throughout the race. However, the Russian ploughed through the gravel, handing 2nd position to his team mate Lacko. Bösiger’s truck drifted wide on the first bend which enabled both Hahn and Vrsecky to pass. The leading trio – Albacete, Lacko and Lvov – made considerable progress, while Oestreich, Vrsecky, Hahn and Bösiger put a lot of pressure on the initial pole setter Janiec, so that the Frenchman missed the braking point which his opponents merciless used to their advantage. After having passed Janiec, the chasing quartet mounted an attack on Lvov. After a while the Russian could no longer hold off the challenges from his chasers; he twice made a mistake while braking, forfeiting his chance to take a podium spot. Eventually Oestreich pushed ahead of Lacko, too, but never posed a threat to Albacete. Meanwhile the fierce battles had caused numerous damages. Vrsecky’s Buggyra lost a wing which shattered the windscreen of Bösiger’s Renault. But the Swiss stayed calm and drove on, Vrsecky seemed to be a bit too keen to do well. The battle for 3rd position went on, and at the end of the finish straight he braked too hard which resulted in the truck doing a spin and he dropped back to 8th. In the very last moment Hahn managed to snatch away 3rd place from Lacko, Bösiger – with his broken windscreen – had to be content with 5th behind the Czech. The trio finished within only 3 seconds of each other.
Levett brought his MAN home in 6th and Lvov, Vrsecky, Konovalov and Janiec completed the points-collecting positions. Blaise, Bassanelli and Bermejo missed out on the points.
In the team ranking the first race was won by MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich) followed by Team HahnOxxo Racing (Hahn / Birnbauer) and Truck Sport Bernau (Albacete / Levett). The winner of the second race was Truck Sport Bernau, ahead of MKR Technology and Team HahnOxxo Racing.
The championship ranking is still led by Albacete with 225 points, followed by Hahn (195), Bösiger (176), Vrsecky (148), Oestreich (125), and Levett (113).