Friday, 29.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
MKR Technology – Now Official

MKR Technology – Now Official

18. March 2010At last, many a truck racing fan might say, we now know how Renault will proceed with regard to truck racing, because – as a matter of fact – everybody knows that truck racing can only work if as many manufacturers as possible get involved. But neither Renault Trucks in Lyon nor Mario Kress’ new team, MKR / Czech Republic, was interested in having any vague assumption spread on the internet as the very newest information, before every matter was cut and dried. That’s why on February 28 it came as a surprise for Markus Bösiger when he was confronted with the information circulating on the World Wide Web that he was going to join the new MKR Team as the first pilot. Until then the Swiss had not even spoken with Renault, and with Mario Kress there was only the usual business contact. But when it was even claimed that the MKR Team would participate in the Brazilian championship with Bösiger, the Swiss was dismayed, because for him this was totally out of the question. And, as Bösiger said, he did not really see himself as their first choice, because there were several experienced truck racers available, so that in the end marketing reasons might be the decisive factor. But only one day later Bösiger received an invitation from Lyon to join them in Nogaro the following week for the test drives.
The journey to Nogaro was extremely arduous. Almost 24 hours they were stuck in a traffic jam on the French motorway; heavy snowfall had brought the traffic to a complete standstill. When they arrived in Nogaro, the general conditions were so inhospitable – temperatures rarely above freezing point and time and again a spit of snow – that there was not the slightest chance of doing reliable tests, and there was hardly any opportunity to shoot spectacular photos. The most interesting one was a photo of the truck veiled in the vapours ascending all the time because of the iciness. Christian Thumshirn has shot a video clip for schweiz 5 where the impressive appearance of the new MKR Renault comes across very well – in spite of its matt grey magic hood colour or perhaps because of that, as it looks a little bit threatening. To watch the original clip, please click ‘video’ on this web site.
It was rather a surprise for Bösiger that there weren’t any other pilots to test the MKR Renault but him and Markus Oestreich. That’s when all those present realized that this season at MKR is spoken much German, the more so as the team manager, Seline Helmonds, is from Germany, too.
The responsible people at Renault Trucks still maintain a low profile in this matter. It was not until March 12, a date when the tests in Nogaro were long since over, that the official statement was published in Germany that the long-term contract with Frankie Vojtisek had not been renewed. And Renault Trucks Lyon, but also Gerd Körber – the person who was actually affected – were not pleased when in December it was put about that the German truck racing idol was going to join a new Renault Team in 2010; just because the man from Rheinau had had some exploratory talks with Renault Trucks in Lyon.
On January 8, after conferring with Kress, Bösiger and Körber, the WebPortal „truckracing.de / truckrace.info“ invoked the Oldie Team as a sort of desired option – from the German perspective. After all, together those three protagonists are 140 years old. But instead of Gerd Körber another, same-aged, German truck racing hero – Markus Oestreich – joined the new Renault Team, so at least the added age of the three men remains the same. The driving skills of both pilots are beyond any doubt; and if Mario Kress is only remotely as successful as before, the truck racing fans can look forward to enjoying a very interesting season.

Photo: MKR-Technology