Donington – Preliminary Report

19. April 2011For many or rather for most of the people in the truck racing business it was really a surprise last year to learn that the opening round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship 2011 will be taking place in Donington. The last ETRC event held there dates back to 1999; in 2009 a round on the British Isles had been scheduled, but a few weeks before the race the organisers in Donington cancelled the event. This incident left a bitter aftertaste particularly for those people who had taken a stand for this venue. On the other hand England, together with France, is considered to be the cradle of European truck racing.
Donington Park Circuit has a long tradition, this year the race track situated 60 km (38 miles) north-east of Birmingham will turn 80 years old. But yet the motorsports-crazy England somehow denied this circuit the “knightly accolade”. True, in 1993 Donington was the venue of a Formula One Grand Prix and early 2009 it was even announced that as from 2010, after extensive renovation work, the British Grand Prix would take place in Donington instead of Silverstone. However, Silverstone is still the venue for the Formula One and in 2011 Donington is now home to the British Truck Grand Prix – but that’s not half bad either.
MAN and Renault have made good use of the winter break to optimize their RaceTrucks. The winners of the series in the previous years, the Buggyra Freightliners, kept a low profile so far, but certainly one can assume that the Czechs are going to mix it at the top again this year. Last season the Buggyra team was several times dogged by bad luck, particularly the two-time European Champion David Vrsecky. This season he will have a new team mate, Chris Levett. The Englishman, last year one of the drivers in the Lutz Bernau team, will this year be behind the wheel of the RaceTruck of the German driver Uwe Nittel who in turn is going to pilot the truck Chris Levett drove last year. Number 1 – and that doesn’t refer to the starting number only – at TSB is Cepsa pilot Antonio Albacete. But MAN has even more irons in the fire, and that means that the Spanish title defender has got one of his main rivals, Jochen Hahn (GER) among his own MAN ranks. The top-five pilots of the Munich manufacturer of commercial vehicles are completed by the two Allgäuer pilots Stuart Oliver (GBR) and Alex Lvov (RUS). So far it’s difficult to say what the yellow racers from Austria have got in store, but in regard to the engine all the top MAN trucks are on the same level, so that especially Oliver – after all, the 2004 European Champion – could certainly make life difficult for the two other title contenders in the own company. Even if all those pilots are MAN colleagues, they belong to different teams and first and foremost fend for themselves.
In case of Renault it looks a lot more harmonious, because here the top pilots will be pulling in the same direction – they are all joined in the MKR Team. At the frontline is vice-champion Markus Bösiger, at the age of 53 the senior among the FIA pilots. The Swiss forms a well-balanced team with Markus Oestreich who is only 6 years his junior. Both drivers are former European champions, Bösiger in 2007 and the German in 2004 in the SuperRaceTruck series, and together they not only intend to defend their title in the team ranking, but both pilots – as well as team boss Mario Kress – are convinced that there are bright prospects that one of the two “Markusses” might be able to win also the drivers’ championship title in Le Mans.
In their attempt to achieve that aim they will be supported by one of the smartest younger pilots in truck racing, Adam Lacko. The Czech is only half the age of the two seniors, but he is already remarkably experienced and clever. Certainly many fans still remember Lacko’s daring exploit at the final round of the 2003 season in Le Mans. The Czech driver, who had just turned 19 a few days earlier, fought a fierce battle in the SuperRace series against Harri Luostarinen, the multiple European Champion from Finland. In the final bend before the finish line their trucks clashed which resulted in both vehicles doing a 180 degree turn and coming to a halt pointing in the wrong direction. While the old hand and experienced player struggled to turn his heavy truck round, the youngster just changed into reverse gear and dashed across the finish line with the cockpit facing backwards – way ahead of the Finnish driver. That’s the stuff legends are made of.
Certainly another youngster who is going to participate for the first time in truck racing this year has got a long way to go yet to become as proficient as the Czech. Nevertheless, there will probably be more attention focussed on him, or better on her, than on several other pilots lying ahead of her: we are talking about Stephanie Halm. Steffi is not only a very attractive young lady, in addition she will be driving a – by now – exotic vehicle in truck racing, a Mercedes Benz. In the Brazilian Truck Championship four Mercedes trucks are registered, but in the Old World there is only a single group of Mercedes enthusiasts, initiated by Markus Bauer, who apply themselves to the task of providing a truck of the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles for the ETRC, and together with Steffi Halm they plan full-season participation.
Although the opening round will take place in England – and what’s more, rather early in the year, the forecast does by no means predict “English” weather for the Easter weekend. According to the weather service there will be an almost cloudless sky with temperatures of up to 20 °C.

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