Le Mans Preliminary Report
26. September 2019Le Mans - The history of truck racing at Circuit Bugatti in Le Mans goes back to the very origins of the sport – the first races here ran in 1981. The 24 Heures Camions, as the weekend has been known for the last 35 years, is Round 7 of this year’s FIA European Truck Racing Championship. The “24h” in the name obviously doesn’t signify a round-the-clock truck race, but rather a chain of activities beginning at 8 am Saturday morning, continuing through the night, and ending late Sunday evening – without a rest.
Packed into only two days (as against three for most other venues, and at Le Mans only last year), this year’s programme is tighter than ever. Die-hard fans should have no difficulty keeping going for the first 24 hours at least. Saturday’s races will be followed by a parade of exquisitely decorated showtrucks, then the mega-spectacle along the main straight, flowing into the fireworks and the big concert. For those who aren’t dead beat already, there are any number of parties in the industry park to crash.
A very small celebration will very likely be held by Team Hahn Racing on Saturday evening itself. Should defending champ Jochen Hahn (Iveco) have stretched his 85-points lead to 90 (so far, the German has consistently scored around seven points on average more than his closest rival per race day), he’ll have added a peerless sixth title to his collection.
That would only be a foretaste – the big celebration will come in Jarama.
The competition has long written off any title hopes and is now concentrated on the positions below Hahn. The two drivers with the best prospects of joining Hahn on the podium at the FIA prizegiving ceremony are MAN matador Antonio Albacete (ESP) and Czech Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner), who are just nine points apart. Two more pilots still have a shot at third spot – Steffi Halm (Iveco) and Mercedes pilot Norbert Kiss, presently situated 21 and 22 points respectively below Lacko. For each racer there are still 120 points up for grabs, purely theoretically of course. In practice, it’s been some seasons now since a pilot took 60 points, the maximum available on a weekend. The best that Hahn himself has managed this year is 54.
Besides the FIA races, there are also the four races of the penultimate round of the Championnat de France Camions. Here it’s Anthony Janiec (MAN) headed for the title, with a very close race behind him – between Téo Calvet, Thomas Robineau (both MAN), and Lionel Montagne (Renault).
Truck enthusiasts are in for an excess of exciting racing, but if you’re the sort that’s more interested in the entertainment, you won’t go away disappointed either.
Impressions:
