Truck Grand Prix – Preliminary Report
20. July 2010In the Eifel region, too, a lot of people are happy about the splendid summer weather, while others find it hard to deal with the heat. But the weather services predict scattered showers for the race weekend, beginning already on Thursday night. However, the true ‘connoisseur’ of the Nürburgring knows that the weather is unpredictable; you have to provide for all contingencies. Rainwear is an absolute necessity and so is a sun lotion with high SPF. But these things are of secondary importance to the truck racing fans, and the interest in the run-up to the event, both on the part of the visitors and the companies represented at the Ring, was even greater than in previous years – despite two rival events scheduled for the same date, Formula One at the Hockenheimring and the Trucker Festival in Assen.
And the 25th anniversary of the world’s biggest truck racing event will be worthwhile. In the centre is the paddock which is, as always, open to the public where – quite contrary to all the other top motorsport series – the fans can meet their heroes in person and chat with them. And also the industry, sponsors and companies in the commercial vehicle business, have come up with some ideas. And in the evenings the gigantic concerts and the grand display of fireworks will take place.
But of course there will be truck racing, too, and it’s going to be even more exciting than before, because the permanent winners during the past years, Buggyra and MAN, are now up against stiff competition from the Renaults of MKR Technology. The French truck manufacturer not only has the most successful RaceTruck constructor under contract, but has also signed on two top pilots and former European champions, the Swiss Markus Bösiger and the German Markus Oestreich. Currently Bösiger lies 2nd on the championship points table – level on points with the German MAN driver Jochen Hahn – trailing the Spaniard Antonio Albacete, the second MAN top pilot, by only 12 points. Title holder David Vrsecky (CZE) in his Buggyra Freightliner wasn’t exactly spoilt by Fortuna lately and now has to do his utmost to catch up with the leading trio; the more so as the second Renault pilot, Markus Oestreich, is already hard on his heels. The Czech is supported by his German team mate Uwe Nittel. At the Ring the Swabian will still participate as a race-by-race pilot and went down in truck racing history by gaining 21 points so far in that function. But supposedly Nittel is registered as a FIA pilot for the remainder of this year’s season.
There has never been a greater number of pilots this season. In addition, the audience can also witness the debut of the Mercedes Silberpfeil (Silver Arrow) truck which was constructed thanks to the private initiative of a group of enthusiasts around the experienced truck racing strategist Markus Bauer. The RaceTruck with the three-pointed star will be piloted by the German touring car specialist Hendrik Vieth.
But we shall not only watch some fiercely contested races in the FIA Championship; the pilots in the Mittelrhein Cup races are also top class – first of all previous year’s winner Hans Joachim Stuck (MAN). However, his fellow-countryman Gerd Körber, nicknamed ‘Mr. Truck Racing’ by his fans, will certainly be a fierce rival. But at the Ring Körber’s ‘Schwaben (Swabian) Truck’, a completely new Iveco RaceTruck, will be ‘released into the wild’ for the first time; what the racer is really capable of remains to be seen.
And there is yet another Stuck challenger at the ready – the ‘King of the Ring’, Heinz-Werner Lenz, who is going to pilot the last Mercedes built by Jochen Hahn. And the afore-mentioned are only the three German top pilots in the Mittelrhein Cup.
There is another former European champion, Stuart Oliver (MAN), and the Englishman is really keen to win, because the points gained in this race count towards the National British Championship. Oliver is the current title holder and is determined to defend his title. In addition, there is his fellow-countryman and arch-rival Chris Levett (MAN) who will compete in both the FIA races and the Mittelrhein Cup races.
Apparently Stuck, Körber and Lenz find it a bit boring to take part in the a.m. races only, because they challenged DTM pilot Timo Scheider (Audi) to a duel. In the final Scheider will compete against the winner of the challenge round. While Stuck will drive the Allgäuer MAN and Lenz his Iveco RaceTruck, Körber wants to try his luck with an 800 hp Super VW ‘Bulli’. But as if that weren’t enough, the idea started to snowball. Sven-Erik Bergendahl wants to demonstrate with his show truck what a 999 hp Scania is capable of, and Vieth, too, is going to join the race with his Silberpfeil RaceTruck. But 24 Hours ‘old-timer’ Zoran Radulovic takes the biscuit: supposedly his self-built mini truck ‘Giftzwerg’ (Poison Dwarf) boasts 1,500 hp.
If the duel on the track only remotely fulfils what the pre-race banter lets hope for, then …and nobody knows yet, if there will be even more enthusiasts joining the race.
Still not enough? – well, there are the races of the V8 RaceCars and the junior series Formula 3, plus the extensive show programme on the track and in the paddock. Truck racing fans who can’t come to the Eifel circuit, can watch all the races of the trucks on video live streaming. For more information please read our report ‘TGP – Video Live Streaming’, dated July 19th, 2010.
