MAN tests in Jarama off to a successful start

31. March 2014Jarama - MAN gave the call, and (almost) everybody heeded — at least all the MAN racers whose trucks are ready for action. What started some years ago on the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro in the south of France continues this year on the Circuito del Jarama at the gates of the Spanish capital Madrid. This final training session, in conditions as close to a race environment as you can get, is the acid test for MAN’s track warriors four weeks before the start of the new season.
The test days used to be a very relaxed affair when they were first initiated by Egon Allgäuer — you came, paid your mite, and did your laps. But soon enough they became an obligatory training session for all MAN teams, the truckmaker from Munich eventually taking over the organisation and shouldering the costs, making it a MAN-exclusive event.
In the recent past there have been pre-season tests in Jarama, but only by the absolute top teams — the big MAN family gathering continued to take place in Nogaro. This year the MAN pilots will congregate in Jarama alone. Almost concurrently, a number of Renault teams will test together in Nogaro at a session organised by Renault Team 14 with Mario Kress’s new MKR Renault service team in attendance.
And so the MANler will have Jarama all to themselves. The armada will be led by the top favourites for the title, Jochen Hahn (GER) and Antonio Albacete (ESP). Truck Sport Bernau will feature the 2007 champion Markus Bösiger of Switzerland, who returns behind the wheel of a MAN after almost a decade of racing Freightliners for Buggyra and Renaults for MKR. These three will be joined by Germans René Reinert and Steffi Halm. We also expect Jean-Pierre Blaise to be there as a guest of the reigning French champion’s Lion team, for whom the Belgian will maybe drive some races in 2014. Halm will pair up with Spaniard Javier Mariezcurrena, whose race truck Lion chief Patrick Folleas acquired in the winter break.
Late yesterday evening the Hungarian Oxxo team arrived. Norbert Kiss and Benedek Major, the revelation of last season, are sure to be right up there with the leaders this season. Kiss’s drives last season were often as dominant as Hahn’s and Albacete’s, the Hungarian making life downright difficult for the two title contenders.
It’s possible that a truck or two could still undergo radical changes till the start of the season.
The teams took to the track today in rainy weather, but all were holding their cards close to their chests.

Impressions: