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Albacete – Preliminary Report

Albacete – Preliminary Report

03. June 2008It’s hard to believe, but the weather services are in agreement that during the truck racing weekend in Albacete there will be no rain. With hindsight, however, there is no reason to complain about the weather in Misano, because as a matter of fact it was a lot better than predicted. In Albacete it will be scorching hot with temperatures far above 30 °C (86 °F). But that’s nothing compared with the racing weekend in 2005, when the temperatures exceeded 45 °C (113 °F). And we all remember the ‘famous water-battle of Albacete’ the truck racers put on to beat the boredom on that Friday (report dated June 3, 2005). Even though we may not crave for some refreshing water this time, the sunshine in Albacete – the city (population about 200,000) on the tableland of La Mancha – should not be underestimated. The landscape looks rather plane, much the same as in Northern Germany or the Netherlands. But actually the city lies around 700 metres (2,300 ft.) above sea-level, and the rays of the sun are of great intensity which you don’t feel because of the permanently blowing wind. Not without good reason, Don Quichotte and his squire Sancho Pansa, who lived in La Mancha in Cervantes’ novel, are almost always depicted wearing big wide-brimmed hats to shelter them from the sun. Hence some sun lotion should be a must for all people – if they don’t want to wear a hat.
The total number of entries is 27; 21 FIA pilots and 6 race-by-race drivers. Jean Pierre Blaise, Pascal Robineau, Mikael Johansson, and Steve Horne had already announced beforehand that they would not take the long journey to central Spain. Among the six guest pilots, most of them Spanish, is also Jennifer Janiec, sister of the French FIA pilot Anthony Janiec, at present the only lady registered for the FIA ETRC races.
The favourite contender for the win is, of course, Antonio Albacete, who, by the way, does not come from here but from Madrid. Nevertheless, the Cepsa pilot could almost drive along the track blindfolded, because this is the circuit where he does most of his practice. But practice, that’s one thing, and a race is quite different. And of the total of 12 FIA races held here since 2005, Albacete did only win 2.