Zolder Preliminary Report

14. September 2017Zolder - The FIA European Truck Racing Championship enters its final one-third this weekend with the 7th round in Zolder, Belgium. Several championships over the years have had their outcomes decided at this picture-postcard circuit, which borders on the Albertkanaal at its west end. If by Sunday evening the pursuers of this year’s leader, Czech Buggyra Freightliner pilot Adam Lacko, haven’t succeeded in drastically closing the gap, the only thing that can deny Lacko the title is if he fails to finish some of the eight races that remain after Zolder.
Reigning champion Jochen Hahn (Iveco) is 60 points down, with compatriot Steffi Halm (MAN) and Hungarian twice champ Norbert Kiss (Mercedes) 8 and 17 points respectively further behind.
But even should Lacko ride the wave of success he’s crested all the way to the title, the fight for the two remaining podium places in the final classification is going down to the wire. The race for the European Champion Team title is very much closer too. Lacko and his compatriot and Buggyra teammate David Vršecký lead here as well, but Reinert Adventure with Steffi Halm and her German MAN colleague Sascha Lenz are not far behind (36 points), with „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“, which consists of Hahn and his compatriot Gerd Körber, only 7 points further off. A team can mathematically win a maximum of 108 points on a weekend, so everything’s still wide open.
German fans of truck racing, particularly from the north and the Ruhr, are traditionally very strongly represented in Zolder, the circuit being situated closer for many of them than the Nürburgring. Moreover, German pilots make up around half the field of full-season entrants.
But a weekend in Zolder cannot be compared to the mammoth enterprise that the Truck Grand Prix is; everything here takes place at a much more leisurely pace. The Circuit Zolder estate encloses a layout of weekend cottages and a campsite, and the narrow paddock is best negotiated on foot or by bicycle. “Motorsilence” is enforced from 18.00 hrs onwards – no more motorised activity is permitted on the track, which is then reserved for competition cyclists. And they make almost no noise at all.
Another peculiarity here is that on Sunday, the first engines may be fired up only after 10 am – so as not to disturb a mass held at a small shrine in a copse on the infield. The teams, of course, welcome the couple of hours of extra sleep.
Lots else besides is different in Zolder. The paddock is far more relaxed than at other race weekends. Trackside, by contrast, it’s a spectacle of sound and fury.

Impressions: