Friday, 29.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
Three Class Society

Three Class Society

11. February 2008This impressive radiator mascot, the bulldog on Dominique Lacheze’s Renault Mack, always ranked among the most popular photo subjects in the paddocks of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, which certainly pleased the ever-smiling Frenchman with his characteristic tooth gap. But he – same as many of his colleagues from the middle of the field – would have been even more pleased by getting some points. Most of the pilots belonging to this category of the ‘three class society’ of truck racing took part in almost every race for years. However, in regard to the points they mostly go away empty-handed; the points are usually divided among the top teams, and only the drivers ranking first to ten get points. And when no one of the frontrunners is forced to retire during the race, those highly motivated pilots in the middle field come in 11th to 15th. Which means they don’t get any points, just as those amateur drivers who contest for the places around 20.
This third group takes part merely for the fun of it; they generally have the most colourful trucks and the audience enjoys their most spectacular style of driving. And the applause from the tens of thousands of spectators is their primary reward.
Quite different are the ambitions of the ‘middle class’ pilots. They are as deeply committed as the top teams, with the only difference that the level is a bit lower. But at the end of the season they mostly achieved a mere 1 or 2 points or even get zilch. So in the overall standing they do not differ from the leisure drivers, who sometimes only take part in two or three races.
This led to a discussion some time ago about establishing a separate ranking for the second class. But just by trying to define the criteria for those classes it became apparent that these difficulties could not be solved so easily.
Now a new proposal was put forward. There could be points given to the first 15 pilots crossing the finish line. For the Qualy race this would mean: 15 points for the winner, minus one point for the second, minus two points for the third etc. down to the driver in 15th. In the Cup race the winner would achieve 25 points, the second pilot would get 20, the third 16 and the fourth 13. From the fifth driver, with 11 points, there would again be a difference of 1 point each down to the pilot in 15th. However, this method could be applied for the next season at the earliest.
And to avert having the same chaos as last year in regard to the points standing – when nobody felt accountable for this issue – it was officially stated by the FIA that Jonathan Reeves was re-engaged to handle the matter with immediate effect.
By the way, the photo showing the bulldog could soon have a scarcity value, because this season Lacheze will drive the third Bernau MAN which was piloted by Jean-Philippe Belloc last year. So far we do not know now whether there will be another pilot driving the rather exotic looking bonneted truck – a car that can be seen now and then at the French forces.