Hungaroring This and That
31. August 2016Hungaroring - With 32,000 spectators and gorgeous weather – although a few degrees less wouldn’t have been bad, – the 5th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship had the makings of a fiesta for big-rig racing. But the severe crash by Czech master Frankie Vojtíšek put a damper on the festivity. Spectacular crashes are fairly common in truck racing. In fact, it’s the inevitable impacts between these thundering 5-plus-tonne missiles as they jostle for position into the first corner at speeds of up to 160 km/h, sending bodywork panelling flying in all directions, that make this sport so thrilling for its hundreds of thousands of fans in Europe.
In most cases the trucks, as beat-up as they may appear after a race, are usually good to go in the next race, or latest by the next day. But the crash at the Hungaroring was the result of a compounding of several factors, the most critical being the fact that there is no runoff on the pit straight but only a wall.
Accidents of this kind do happen off and on. The last one we can remember was in Zolder in September 2013, when Swiss ace Markus Bösiger (Renault) and Hungarian teenager Benedek Major (MAN) almost ripped the pit wall out of its moorings.
On the other hand what we’ve seen from such severe impacts is just how safe the race trucks are - there has never been a serious personal injury so far.
The solidarity that truck racing is so famous for was instantly on display, many of the teams undertaking to help Team Frankie to repair the broken MAN truck immediately. You won’t find such a spirit in any other top international motorsport series we know of.
The team decided to rebuild the truck in Most, though Frankie Vojtíšek did say he’d gladly take up the offers of assistance there if that were needed.
But the primary focus at Hungaroring was, as ever, on racing - on winning and earning points.
Jochen Hahn was particularly successful in that department, the German MAN pilot managing to score 14 more points over the weekend than his fiercest rival, the stalwart Czech Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner). Lacko gets his opportunity to strike back this coming weekend in Most, where he holds the home advantage. On the other hand, Hahn scored as many points at Most last year as the Czech. Everything is open, and the suspense is only going to build up.
The racing at the Hungaroring had distinct German accents, what with the German anthem played at each podium - twice for Hahn and once each for Steffi Halm (MAN) and Gerd Körber (Iveco).
The Schwabentruck Iveco team’s joy didn’t last long, however. Three racers had been penalised 30 seconds for overspeeding on the approach to the start lights, Körber among them.
Steffi Halm wasn’t awfully pleased despite her win. Knowing that she’d be going into this round with a handicap, starting five places behind her qualifying slot, still rankled big-time. And to add to that was the outrage of having to watch her competitors at the Hungaroring get off scot-free despite blatantly questionable tactics. For Steffi, the wonderful world of truck racing was no longer comprehensible.
That she suffered two failures in both races on Sunday certainly couldn’t have made her anywise happier.
Norbert Kiss was, quite expectedly, was the most popular racer here, even if he was driving for a German team, tankpool24 Mercedes. The home boy was the next-highest scorer over the weekend after Hahn, and the only driver who was on the podium following all four races.
Truck Racing Commission hasn’t even discussed next year’s calendar, but a banner over one of the gantries across the track was already advertising the next Hungary Truck Fest for the last weekend of August 2017.
Impressions:
