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Jarama – Preliminary Report

Jarama – Preliminary Report

30. September 2008Admittedly, last year before the final the spirit was a bit more suspense-packed. Nobody could have imagined how dramatic the situation would end. This year we know beforehand – it’s either titleholder Markus Bösiger or his Buggyra colleague David Vrsecky; the Spaniard Antonio Albacete is practically out of contention. For Vrsecky, who is 18 points ahead of Bösiger, it’s a much more comfortable situation. But his Swiss team mate can tell a thing or two about how even a wider margin can melt away. Anyway, everybody is now anxious to know how the ‘brotherly feud’ in the Buggyra team will end. Under equal conditions Bösiger most times seems to be a little bit faster than the Czech. But the titleholder had to take some severe knockdown blows this year – the previous year primarily Vrsecky was struck by fate. Albacete had only a chance to win the title, if the Buggyras would default – but the man from Madrid would have to win all the races on his home track. But certainly Jochen Hahn will have some say in this matter. After all, it was in Jarama that a year ago almost to the day the man from Altensteig made his farewell to his Mercedes era after two impressive wins. And after his great performance in Le Mans with a victory in the final race the German MAN pilot wants to proceed that way.
Otherwise there will be a varied race spectacle, as usual, with a total of 35 RaceTrucks registered. As the results of the races in Jarama count also towards the Spanish Championship, quite a number of race-by-race drivers from the Iberian Peninsula will participate in addition to the FIA pilots. And the only lady, at present, in European truck racing – Frenchwoman Jennifer Janiec, sister of Renault FIA pilot Anthony – is registered, too.
The rounds of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, first of all on the Nürburgring but also in Le Mans, are rather extraordinary events with their non-stop programme and with their overall concept. People who expect something of that kind in Jarama, too, will be disappointed – as a matter of fact, apart from the races there is nothing else on the agenda. But nevertheless, there is a matchless atmosphere in Jarama you’ll have to experience for yourself. Often you get the impression that neither the races, nor the RaceTrucks and the pilots are in the centre of attention, but rather the fans mostly celebrate themselves. And as there is almost always fine weather early in October at the Circuito del Jarama, situated about 25 kilometre off Madrid, the crowd – around 50,000 fans every year – is evidently always in high spirits.
Even though on Sunday before last some quarters of Madrid were under water after severe rain showers, the forecasts of the weather services for the racing weekend are again favourable. For Friday and Saturday they predict a cloudless sky, on Sunday there could be some clouds now and then. In the afternoon there could even be a temperature rise of up to 25 °C (77 °F), but the nights will be rather cold, with temperatures in the single-digit range on the Celsius scale – after all, the circuit is more than 600 metres above sea level.