Friday in Le Mans

11. October 2013Le Mans - The calendar of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship is a mix of two- and three-day events. The 10th and final round in Le Mans is one of those two-day race weekends that only get started on Saturday — at least according to the official schedule. But the paddock was chock-full on Thursday evening itself. Only Truck Sport Lutz Bernau, of all the teams competing in the FIA ETRC, was missing. Team Bernau was busy in the Robineau workshops a few kilometres from Circuit Bugatti making Antonio Albacete’s MAN, which was a sorry victim of the pile-up at Jarama, raceworthy again. All the other teams had been able to erect their tents in dry, albeit mostly chill, weather. The Bernaus arrived here near noon just as a cold front dumped the first shower over the circuit this week. But the rain bothered them not at all; the team was only glad that the race truck was ready to roll once more.
As mentioned in our previous report, this truck will be driven by Albacete’s German teammate Markus Oestreich. It was, after all, only following lengthy discussions last Saturday evening in Jarama that everyone finally consented to allow Albacete to race in Oese’s truck on Sunday; a return to his own cockpit is forbidden by the rules. In any case, after all the drama at Jarama, none of the other teams would be ready to approve a switch back.
One topic of discussion may have run itself out, but in its place another has arisen: the weather. The rain didn’t stop with the first shower mentioned above; there were quite a few more, heavy enough to drench you in no time. In addition the temperatures have hardly crossed 10°C. The conditions here, therefore, are quite a contrast to those that obtained in Jarama.
But the chin-wags in the paddock weren’t the only thing going on; there was also a bit of action out on the track. TRO chief and FIA truck race coordinator Fabien Calvet lapped the wet circuit in a Renault race truck for the TV cameras. At the same time, extremely loud NASCARs from the supporting programme also roared around the track on training laps that were nowhere accounted for in the schedule.
To top it all, a whole line of brand new Renault T-series semi-tractors in metallic brown paraded into the already overflowing paddock and were swapped with the prime movers of all the Renault teams, albeit only for the duration of the weekend.
There was none of the laid-back atmosphere you’d otherwise expect on the Friday here; tomorrow and the day after it’s going to get even more hectic, what with an extremely packed schedule. The night temperatures are in the mid-single-digits, warming slightly to a maximum of 13°C during the day. It’s going to be cloudy but should at least stay dry, with the next rain forecast only for Sunday evening. Not a good omen at all, because the heavens are going to open exactly while the last race of the season is underway.

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