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Zolder – This and That

Zolder – This and That

15. September 2008Thank God the weather services were not quite right with their prognosis for the Zolder weekend. On Friday it was quite rainy which caused hardship particularly for those who had no big tents available to do their maintenance work, but on Saturday there was only occasionally some drizzle, and on Sunday there was even a cloudless sky – although the weather was rather cold. As in Zolder the first sunrays reach the grand stands not before late afternoon, they stayed rather deserted – despite a crowd of almost 18,000 people. Besides, many Zolder ‘experts’ know that there are many spots from where you have considerably better views – and can even soak up the sun – such as the high stairways or the gigantic roof of the pit-lane building.
From up there you could also have watched easily the new, but ultimately rather risky tactics of the Buggyra team during the timed practice. At first they waited till their opponents had worn away their tyres, and then – only a few minutes before the finish, when there was a lot of rubber sticking to the track – they went hunting for fast lap times. This was downright risky, but at the end it paid off – it put David Vrsecky and Markus Bösiger first and second, resp. on the grid.
So while some were pleased with their coup, others were frustrated. Already on Saturday the only race-by-race pilot, Erwin Klein Nagelvoort, suffered a substantial engine failure. Vigorously assisted by the professional teams they proceeded to install a replacement engine. But this engine wasn’t entirely new either, and besides, it was rather a engine block which – with several alterations and extensions - was turned into a makeshift race engine. On Sunday morning at 3 o’clock the Dutch people and their many helpers had completed their task, the engine was running. But on Sunday, after only a few laps, it packed up.
But that’s not what title contender Bösiger would have borne in mind during the last race on Sunday, although he would have nearly suffered the same fate. Already on his way to the grid the Swiss realized that he had a problem with the gear box. Just before the start they tried to cope with the matter. And indeed, at first it was all plain sailing. He could not fend off the attack of his team mate Vrsecky; the Czech snatched away Bösiger’s lead, but then the two Freightliners were again leading the RaceTruck field, as they did ever so often this season – until there were only a few more laps to go. Suddenly the truck of the title holder began to slow down. Bösiger lost more than 40 seconds till he crossed the finish line and fell back on 6th. But on Sunday evening there were other topics under discussion.
After the Championship race Frankie Vojtisek was disqualified, because allegedly his Renault truck did not comply with the technical regulations. Altogether the Frankie Team – after getting on the roll when Markus Altenstrasser had such a good ranking – seems to be a bit stricken now. The Austrian could not participate in the last race because of problems with his axle and the team boss lost his points because of his disqualification. And, in addition, they had to give back the cup for the third place in the team ranking.
The second topic was the next race in Le Mans this weekend. Most of the teams go directly from Zolder to the Circuit Bugatti, where because of the particular circumstances the paddock will be opened on Tuesday already instead of Thursday. And suddenly it was put about that, contrary to the schedule dated July 25, 2008 which was generally available there, the event would now begin on Friday already and press drivings are planned, too. But by this time there is another schedule dated September 9, 2008 and there it says that the first free practice will start on Saturday, at 8:30 hrs. For Friday there are only the technical and the administrative approval on the agenda.