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Barcelona – This and That

Barcelona – This and That

08. July 2009The most wonderful thing was certainly the weather; no comparison to the 3 rainy days last year. But when there was not a breeze stirring in the paddock, people were really yearning for some relief from the heat – or they dived into one of the many bathing pools. Some people pulled daredevil stunts – jumping off ladders or even let themselves be raised into the air with a forklift. But others acted at a more leisurely pace, e.g. David Vrsecky who in the evening gave a television interview sitting in a pool. The inflatable pool of the Oxxo Team was the biggest and most frequented one. Now they say that possibly the Hungarians are going to have a new sponsor, a manufacturer of whirlpools. And now the truck racers are eagerly awaiting the day when the team around Balzs Szobi will set up a full-scale whirlpool in the paddock.
On a less positive note – and actually rather incomprehensible: The young ladies from the Allgäuer Team were denied access to the starting grid. But those girls in their tight-fitting shirts and with their green umbrellas are true eye-catchers and one of the most popular photo objects. No less incomprehensible was the ban on bicycles. Several photographers, partly also those from „truckracing.de / truckrace.info“, cover the great distances at the circuit on bikes they specifically bring along from home. For years this was accepted in Barcelona, too, but now it was suddenly expressly forbidden. Allowed were only motor scooters, motor bikes and cars. However, the latter certainly form a big obstacle on the narrow escape way along the track, where the photographers have to drive on.
But even more incomprehensible were the problems with the internet access, which – by the way – was liable to costs. This is highly unusual for a F1 circuit, the more so as there were no problems in the previous years. The internet connection was partly extremely slow and, moreover, we got disconnected again and again. To download or to send data packets or photos was quite arduous, and to make any adjustments was almost impossible.
But the really nerve-wracking things took place on the track. In particular the ups and downs of Buggyra – already in both timed practices – were inexplicable to the observers. But admittedly, especially David Vrsecky and Markus Bösiger fell victim to a bad habit that apparently runs rampant again, namely that several pilots really ‘drag their feet’ in the warm-up lap for the timed practice. This means that the leading group in their first – and most often also crucial – fast laps quickly catches up with the backmarkers of the field and has to slow down. And that in the timed practice, under more favourable conditions and with new tyres, the pilots marked slower lap times than during the warm-up in the morning – that was quite a novelty.
Another matter that provokes agitation – but not just since Barcelona – are the sometimes extremely tough actions of some of the pilots. Admittedly for the fans it’s exciting when in a spectacular way plastic and metal parts hurtle through the air. But when, as a result of those collisions, pilots in promising positions are pushed off the track and are forced to retire, this can lead to frustrations that are sometimes let out untimely. Furthermore the decisions of the stewards are often incomprehensible to the observers, when drastic penalties are imposed for hardly noticeable ‘fleabites’, but on the other hand incidents that lead to severe damages and which could have an impact on the outcome of the Championship, are looked upon as normal racing accidents. But admittedly, at many of the circuits it is not that easy to follow the event all the time.
But the Circuit de Catalunya is virtually ideal in this regard. There is not a single spot on the track which is not surveyed permanently by an observation camera.
And that’s why the stewards – after detailed analysis of the video recording of the actual controversy of the weekend – arrived at a conclusion that differed considerably from the opinion of many people, wherever they had been watching the incident, from the cockpit, the crash barrier or from the grand stand.
After the start of the final race Bösiger was among the front runners. He was driving on the more favourable left track as they approached the second bend, a left turn, and there he was forced into a tyre stack. The Swiss dropped back considerably, the Freightliner’s bodywork was severely damaged, and the plastic bonnet came loose. Slowly the truck moved on and it seemed that the plastic parts became a bit more stable. Bösiger upped the tempo a bit, but soon the field caught up with him, headed by the two Renault pilots, Markus Altenstrasser and Frankie Vojtisek.
That was the moment, as Bösiger told later, when he cleared the racing line in order to enable the pilots driving behind him to pass without problems. And right while overtaking the trucks of two Renault pilots collided.
Directly after the race there were some wild stories and rumours in circulation. When everybody had calmed down eventually and the stewards had watched the recording intensively, the Swiss was disqualified only for ignoring the blue flag. And that was the only official statement in regard to that incident. However, so it was reported unofficially, Bösiger had by no means been involved in the accident. After the accident the Buggyra pilot was again among the front runners, following in the slipstream of his team mate Vrsecky who was by now leading, and even managed to post the fastest lap time.
If you want to watch all these incidents once more on TV, there is a report on DSF on Saturday, July 11th 2009, at 3:30 p.m.