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Sunday in Nogaro

Sunday in Nogaro

21. June 2009Nogaro - A sky only slightly overcast and temperatures of about 25 °C (77 °F) prompted a crowd of almost 26,000 to flock to the Circuit Armagnac, and already in the morning the spectators watched an exciting timed practice. Antonio Albacete, David Vrsecky and also Markus Bösiger were a bit handicapped during their first quick lap, as the pack took their time with entering the track, and the first three trucks already caught up with the back markers before those drivers fully stepped on the gas. Jochen Hahn who started his timed practise in 4th position, was not affected and so he right away clocked the fasted lap time of the weekend with 1:52,047. Just before the finish, Vrsecky in his Buggyra Freightliner managed to close in on the MAN pilot, but he missed by 5 hundredths and Hahn could secure his pole. Albacete (MAN) gained 3rd place on the grid and Bösiger (Freightliner) was on 4th. And again the first four pilots on the grid were only a few tenths apart.
As to the discussion about the second race yesterday evening – the dust has settled now. Bösiger’s 1 second penalty was not annulled which neither the Swiss driver nor his team manager can comprehend; Hahn was given a warning because two wheels got onto the grass while he passed another truck.
Nevertheless, the German used his pole position to good effect, he took the lead immediately, followed by Vrsecky, Albacete and Bösiger. And the four front runners finished the race in the position they started. Vrsecky was constantly glued to the rear bumper of the black MAN, but never really had a chance to pass Hahn. Albacete and Bösiger followed at a safe distance. Behind them, the fight for the positions was a lot tougher. And just like the day before there was contact in the first corner between Balazs Szobi’s truck and the pilots driving alongside him; and again the Hungarian MAN pilot was forced into an early retirement. Egon Allgäuer on 5th position was constantly pressurized by Chris Levett, but with the ‘serenity of Nestor’ the former European champion resisted all attempts by the English ‘youngster’ to overtake. Behind Levett, Frankie Vojtisek (Renault) finished in 7th, and Alexander Lvov brought his MAN home in 8th place – which meant that the Russian, who started his truck racing career not so long ago, would be on pole position for the first time. Markus Altenstrasser (Renault) finished the race in 9th, and for the 10th and last place for the points Anthony Janiec and Javier Mariezcurrena (MAN) fought tooth and nail until the chequered flag, cheered on by a very appreciative audience. Finally the French Renault pilot crossed the finishing line just 2 tenths ahead of the Spaniard.
All this raised expectations that the final race could be a nail-biting event, and the crowd was not disappointed. On the sun-soaked tarmac the temperature had in the meantime soared to 44 °C (111 °F), and right from the start the pilots were determined to fight. The two leading drivers, Lvov and Vojtisek, already got in each other’s way in the first bend. The Czech was slightly ahead when the truck of the Russian came into the side of him. Vojtisek dropped back a bit and Lvov took the lead. But a little later Allgäuer bumped into the other side of the red Renault and that meant the end of the race for Vojtisek. His truck was so badly damaged that he had to pull into the pit lane. Only seconds later Mariezcurrena and Janiec, who had resumed their duel they started in the previous race, made contact at almost the same spot again and took off the track – as they did on Saturday too, by the way. After a few hundred metres the French Renault got stuck in the gravel, apparently with a fractured front axle. Mariezcurrena rejoined the race later on. The pilots who profited the most of the mayhem were Allgäuer, who soon took the lead, and Albacete who from 6th position moved up to 3rd.
After some more laps the Spaniard succeeded in overtaking the Austrian and took the lead he was never to lose. His closest rivals in the championship, Vrsecky, Bösiger and Hahn, wore themselves out by battling with those drivers the Spaniard had already outpaced – and especially Bösiger had to struggle while trying to pass Lvov who was clearly slower. But mid-race the chasing trio eventually closed in on Allgäuer. Because of his duel with the Russian, Bösiger had dropped back a bit. Almost effortlessly Vrsecky and Hahn got past Allgäuer, after the Czech made contact with the rear end of the Austrian’s truck. And then Bösiger, too, reeled in Allgäuer. But, contrary to the day before, this time the encounter of the two men from the alpine countries was of no lasting consequences. Vrsecky and Hahn, however, had made up too much ground for Bösiger to catch up with them.
In the penultimate lap there was another hefty crash, and afterwards lots of plastic parts were scattered on the track – Altenstrasser and Allgäuer had got into a tangle. Consequently the Renault pilot managed to finish the race in 5th behind the leading foursome. Behind Allgäuer, Szobi was on 7th. The Hungarian was performing strongly. After his unfortunate retirement in the first race he had to start from the back of the grid, but he progressed up the field and managed to overtake 15 opponents. Dominique Lachèze crossed the finishing line in 8th and achieved his first point of the season. He was followed by Lvov and Stuart Oliver, who – same as Szobi – started from the back of the grid.
Again the race officials watched the TV recording thoroughly and asked several pilots to submit a report, but there weren’t any changes made to the results.
And yet again the Team Championship was won by Buggyra (Vrsecky / Bösiger), ahead of Team HahnOxxo (Hahn / Szobi) and Team Frankie (Altenstrasser / Vojtisek).
In the Championship Albacate is still leading with 203 points. Vrsecky (177) has gone ahead of Bösiger (165). On fourth is Hahn (119), followed by Allgäuer (92), Altenstrasser (81) and Levett (77).