Truck racers visit Meritor – Clash of the titans

21. May 2014Meritor, original equipment supplier to many of the biggest truckmakers and sponsor of truckracing.de / truckrace.info, has for many years been intensively engaged in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Many of the race trucks over the last few seasons have featured the Meritor 145 race axle. While the regular 145 model for “everyday” use is designed to transmit a maximum of 1,050 Nm of torque and engine power of up to 280 hp, the race version handles 6,500 Nm and 1,200 hp with no difficulty — and still weighs only 163 kilos, versus 205.5 kg for the series-produced axle. Remember, the races of the FIA ETRC subject components in the race trucks to extremes of stress they will never see in everyday operation.
Taking the opportunity afforded by the season-opening race in Misano this coming weekend, Meritor today (21 May) hosted the media at its factory in Cameri near Milan for a presentation of four race trucks from this season’s field that feature its axles — Steffi Halm’s Lion MAN, the Schwabentruck Iveco of her German compatriot Gerd Körber, and the Buggyra Freightliners of the Czechs David Vršecký and Adam Lacko.
At 22:15 today, Servus TV will air a “duel” between two race trucks — Jochen Hahn’s MAN versus Gerd Körber’s Iveco. The clash doesn’t feature the two truck racers themselves, but two other motorsport legends in their own right. The MAN was driven by touring-car champ Dieter Quester and the Iveco by former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard.

Impressions: