New Wheel Rims – and the Consequences

20. October 2010The most! attentive observers may have noticed that in the final race of the season on Sunday afternoon in Jarama the rear axle of David Vrsecky’s Buggyra Freightliner was not fitted with the usual black wheel rims but with blue ones. And it wasn’t just any blue colour but the Birds blue Chris Levett’s truck is painted in. In fact the MAN of the Englishman had stayed in the pit and Levett had offered his tyres to Buggyra – for testing purposes? In any case, for Vrsecky this was worth while; it was a crushing victory for the Czech. The other remaining top pilots who had been able to finish the race – the two MAN drivers Antonio Albacete (ESP) and Jochen Hahn (GER) who crossed the finishing line in third and fifth – were lagging 20 and 50 seconds, respectively, behind on the slippery track. Both MKR Renault pilots, Markus Oestreich (GER) and Markus Bösiger (SUI), had been forced to retire – the one in lap 2 because of mechanical problems and the other a bit later after some heavy contact with Vrsecky.
All season rumours had been persisting that – contrary to the statements provided by the manufacturer and the supplier – not all the tyres were identical or else the tread pattern had been altered afterwards. On Saturday evening FIA Technical Delegate Ross Garrett had collected several tyres in order to have the compound of these tyres tested. By now more than two weeks have gone by – but so far there isn’t any information available yet.
There wasn’t any other team in the past few years for whom the phrase “after the season is before the season” is of more significance than for Buggyra. Usually soon after the final round they started the first test drives – partly already with modifications for the coming season. Now Levett will most probably be piloting a Buggyra Freightliner in the final round of the British Truck Racing Championship in Brands Hatch on the last weekend in October – only for test purposes, too, or are these the first indications for a switching of brands in the coming season?
Howsoever, the matter is not without a bit of piquancy. After all, it was initially agreed about that in the ETRC the second Freightliner of the Buggyra Team should be piloted by Stuart Oliver – and Oliver and the Levett family have never been the closest friends. As the FIA championship entry closing date had already passed, a late entry was necessary. As long as the limit of 26 competitors registered with the FIA is not yet reached, the acceptance of a late entry is usually a mere formality; you only need the approval of all teams and drivers registered. But the Birds Team withheld their approval, and that’s why Uwe Nittel – who had been doing several test drives in the Freightliner more than a year ago – got a chance to participate in the second Buggyra truck. As we all know, the German ace rally driver had an exemplary successful season as a race-by-race pilot. However, by the time Nittel had finished a round he often didn’t know whether he would again be piloting the Freightliner in the successive round. The summons to take part in the next round came sometimes at short notice. Evidently Buggyra was looking out for a paying, sponsor-backed pilot, and now they seem to have found a suitable driver – Chris Levett.
By the way, even if Levett in his Freightliner would leave all his fellow Brits far behind in Brands Hatch, the winner of the British Championship has already been determined – Stuart Oliver in his old MAN.