Friday in Le Mans

18. September 2009Le Mans - Several teams arrived in Le Mans already on Tuesday, and as the weather was far from splendid – particularly on Thursday, when there was a constant drizzle all the time – people felt a bit bored. And although Disneyland Paris is more than 200 km away from Le Mans, some team members found the theme park worth a day trip. Today it was sunny with temperatures of 27 °C (80 °F), and the truck racers are hoping that the summer weather will last all weekend – and the chances are good, according to the weather services, at least for tomorrow. Today the FIA teams of the European Championship were joined by the teams competing in the French Championship as well as the people performing in the supporting programme, and in addition there were several show trucks arriving. Gradually the paddock became packed and things livened up.
The sales tents were erected, the former Formula One pilot Jacques Lafitte drove some laps on the Circuit Bugatti in a RaceTruck for the French television, and in the evening the first sound checks for tomorrow’s concert could be heard in the paddock. According to the schedule the next item on the list should have been the drivers’ briefing, but in the afternoon the teams were informed that the briefing was postponed to Saturday after the second timed practice, which in fact complies with the regulations. However, compared to what a hornet’s nest another resolution could be, this was only of secondary importance. As there was lately a significant increase of damaged Rigdon tyres on the rear axles – Goodyear on the front axle and Rigdon on the rear axle is a combination most teams favour – it was decided that Rigdon tyres are to be put under observation. This means that, if another of those tyres should show signs of disintegration, the stewards would possibly prohibit the use of this type of tyre. But the crux of the matter is that apparently there are not enough Goodyear tyres in store in order to equip all the trucks completely with those tyres.
On Tuesday there was the meeting of the Truck Racing Commission in Paris. At issue was the calendar for the 2010 season and also proposals concerning a reform of the Qualifying practice. Presumably there will be only nine rounds next year, with the opening round in early May in Assen and the final round in Jarama at the first October weekend. And possibly there will be an invitation race in Russia on the schedule. And also for the timed practice, where in Jarama the trucks are already split up into two groups, further changes are being planned.
As from today the “schweiz5” videos are back on air. Apparently there have been some misunderstandings between the marketer of the Kamiono racing reports and “schweiz5” regarding the publishing of the videos on the internet.
Now they agreed upon releasing 120 seconds of Kamiono images per report for worldwide distribution, and the “schweiz5” editorial office will revise the videos, but it could not be avoided that at some points only the commentary can be heard, but for a short time there will be no images.