Saturday in Le Mans

18. September 2010Le Mans - Almost at the crack of dawn – shortly after 8 o’clock – as the circuit woke to a chilly morning with temperatures around 8 °C the truck racers lined up for the first free practice. But the clear sky gave reason for hope, and indeed it stayed dry and now and then the temperatures even rose above 20 °C.
Those pilots who are familiar with the Le Mans track know that in the early morning the tarmac can partly be extremely slippery, particularly for the first drivers, so that it wasn’t surprising that several pilots – among them even some “old hands” – had trouble finding their racing line. As expected, the leading pilots were again the MAN armada with Antonio Albacete (ESP), Jochen Hahn (GER), Chris Levett (GBR), Adam Lacko (CZE), Alex Lvov (RUS) as well as the two duos MKR Renault with Markus Bösiger (SUI) and Markus Oestreich (GER) and Buggyra-Freightliner with David Vrsecky (CZE) and Uwe Nittel (GER) – within about 2 seconds of each other and Bösiger clocking top lap time. But in the timed practice it got down to business.
At first Bösiger again clocked fastest times ahead of his team colleague Oestreich, followed by Hahn, Levett and Vrsecky who were separated by less than 3 hundredths. Albacete, Lacko, Nittel, Renault pilot Anthony Janiec (FRA) and Lvov completed the top ten. During the timed practice the MAN of Jeremy Robineau (FRA) suddenly caught fire. A huge black cloud of smoke shocked the team members waiting in the pit lane. It took more than 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, cover the affected spot with sand and tow the RaceTruck back to the paddock. All this time the ten trucks that had qualified for the SuperPole were standing in the pit lane waiting for the light to turn green. Later it was stated that, due to an engine failure, escaping oil had caused the fire.
Whatever the reason – either the long wait or something else – several pilots seemed to have shot their bolt already, because they could not improve their lap times, quite the contrary. Vrsecky, for instance, lapped more than 8 tenths slower than before. Levett, on the other hand, bettered his fastest lap time in the timed practice by 4 tenths, thus securing pole with 2:07.509 m. In his last lap Bösiger was just 7 thousandths slower, so that he had to settle for 2nd spot on the grid alongside the Brit. Albacete in 3rd position was more than 4 tenths slower, followed by Oestreich who missed his previous fastest lap time by more than 3 tenths. Next to line up on the grid were Hahn, Vrsecky, Lacko, Nittel, Janiec and Lvov.
At the start of the first race Levett used his pole position starting slot to good effect and pulled away, while Albacete outpaced Bösiger. Hahn skidded slightly off the track at the first chicane which allowed his nearest chasers to get ahead of the Swabian. In retrospect Hahn’s minor mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise, otherwise he would probably have been involved in the hustle taking place in the chicane. Four trucks approached the chicane neck and neck – Oestreich and Vrsecky slightly ahead of Nittel and Lvov. The Russian driving far right on the track made contact with Nittel who, in turn, bumped into Vrsecky who then tangled with Oestreich. Vrsecky’s Freightliner lost most of its bodywork and the RaceTruck of his team mate Nittel didn’t look much better. Oestreich had to return to the pit lane in the first lap due to a mechanical defect – a problem with the injector. Hahn managed to stay out of the mayhem and got ahead of the “fighting force”, Nittel was overhauled by Lacko and Janiec.
While Levett had established a good lead, Bösiger launched an attack on Albacete. But suddenly the Swiss dropped slightly back and had now Hahn breathing down his neck. But when in lap 4 the German almost effortlessly shot past the MKR Renault it was quite evident that something must be wrong with Bösiger’s truck, too. And indeed, later some valve problem was revealed. Now there was no doubt anymore that all three podium places would be taken by MAN pilots. Meanwhile Vrsecky and his Freightliner had “hobbled” back to the pit. Behind Bösiger, Lacko crossed the finish line unchallenged in 5th, while Nittel kept trying to snatch 6th position away from Janiec, and eventually the German succeeded in passing the Frenchman in the penultimate lap. A bit later Janiec was also overtaken by the Spaniard Javier Mariezcurrena (MAN) and Lvov. 10th place, the last position in the points, was taken by José Rodrigues (MAN). Later Nittel incurred a 25-second penalty, dropping him to 10th.
In the second race, where the top 8 finishers start in reverse order, pole position fell now to Janiec with Mariezcurrena alongside the Frenchman, and the winner Levett and Albacete lined up on 4th row.
Both Hahn and Levett made a superb getaway, and the German quickly took the lead ahead of Lacko and Levett. Pole setter Janiec was in 4th, while Mariezcurrena dropped back considerably. Bösiger was behind Lvov on the outer track beside Albacete, and on the inner track – through dirt and dust – Nickel sped past.
Already in the first lap Vrsecky and Oestreich had barged their way through the back-field, and after only 2 laps they were already in the points, but again Vrsecky had to retire due to mechanical problems. Meanwhile Levett and Lacko were involved in a fierce battle which enabled Janiec to slot into 2nd spot.
One by one Albacete had overhauled the opponents driving ahead of him and was now closing in on Janiec. But the cheers of the French fans were in vain – two laps before the finish the Spaniard succeeded in passing the French Renault pilot. Now it was already clear who would take the podium places. Bösiger had meanwhile managed to pass Lvov and was now locked in combat with Nittel. And together they were stuck behind the two „fighting cocks” Lacko and Levett. Eventually the quartet crossed the finish line within 3 seconds of each other, taking 4th to 7th position. Lvov defended his 8th place against Oestreich who came home in 9th, and Mariezcurrena took the last position in the points.
About one hour after the end of the race an announcement caused quite a stir. Bösiger was disqualified for multiple overspeed. Now there was again one of the Rodrigues in 10th.
Albacete could further extend his lead in the championship and has now got 329 points. Bösiger and Hahn are again even on points (272), followed by Oestreich (222), Vrsecky (188) und Levett (173).
In both races the team ranking was won by Truck Sport Bernau (Albacete / Levett) ahead of Team Hahn Oxxo Racing (Hahn / Birnbauer) and MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich).