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Friday in Donington

Friday in Donington

22. April 2011Donington - On the first day of the British Truck Grand Prix event at the traditional Donington Park Circuit we enjoyed a brilliant blue sky and temperatures of around 25 degrees – weather conditions people from continental Europe would rather expect to find in South Spain in mid-April. At first glance the opening round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship seems to be a Renault Trucks event so that the pilots of the MKR Renault Team are a bit under pressure of high expectations. However, Markus Bösiger (SUI), Markus Oestreich (GER) and their new team mate Adam Lacko (CZE) are experienced and “hard-nosed” enough to be able to handle that situation. But in general you can feel a kind of uncertainty all round the paddock; after all, although all the top teams feel confident that they could improve their trucks’ performances during the winter break, they do not know what their opponents may have achieved. Today’s press demonstrations and VIP rides as well as the extensive additional free practice session did not shed any light on the matter either. There weren’t any official times stated, and anyway, you never know who put his card on the table. The “serious business” will not start before tomorrow morning.
The first thing on the agenda this morning was the Goodyear tyre lottery for the top-ten pilots. After that the drivers took to the track – naturally with the old tyres; the new ones will be applied tomorrow.
Besides the MKR trucks the MAN top-five were in the focus of attention, first of all the two most eager points collectors in the previous season, title defender Antonio Albacete (ESP) and the third-placed in the ETRC – behind Bösiger – Jochen Hahn (GER). The leading force of the Munich manufacturer of commercial vehicles is completed by Uwe Nittel (GER) and the two yellow racers piloted by Alex Lvov (RUS) and Stuart Oliver (GBR).
And when we now add the two Buggyra Freightliners with David Vrsecky (CZE) and Chris Levett (GBR) as well as Renault pilot Anthony Janiec (FRA), we have listed all those who will probably be candidates for podium places.
There are several more pilots belonging to the huge MAN armada in Donington – Zoltan Birnbauer (HUN), Mika Mäkinen (FIN), José Bermejo (ESP) and Mathew Summerfield (GBR) – but the intention of those drivers will mainly be to finish in the points ranking as often as possible. There would have been an even bigger MAN force, had not Jean-Pierre Blaise (BEL) switched to Renault. The crucial point for the Belgian pilot was certainly the fact that – in view of his older generation of MAN engines – it was no longer possible for the manufacturer to provide the necessary support. These matters play certainly only a secondary role for Scania pilot Erwin Kleinnagelvoort. The driver from the Netherlands who is always supported by a great number of family members and a circle of friends, has adopted the old Olympic motto „The important thing is to take part“.
Two of the FIA pilots registered for the Donington event will not participate: another MAN driver, Jeremy Robineau (FRA) and – much to the regret of almost every truck racing fan – the only lady on the drivers list, Steffi Halm (GER). Rarely before there were so many questions asked about somebody not on site as in case of the young Mercedes pilot.
The field of FIA drivers will be completed by the British race-by race pilots David Jenkins, Steve Horne and Richard Collett (all three of them MAN pilots).
After today’s tests the pilots qualified the circuit as quite demanding and challenging. And rather challenging it is also for the camera crews and the photographers. Considering the expected cloudless sky, at the time when the races take place there will be either strong back light or they will be positioned far apart from the track – mostly both.
But there is yet another characteristic about Donington, the circuit is situated right under the flight path of the East Midlands Airport. And it’s not unusual that the noise from the landing planes drowns out the engine noise of the RaceTrucks.

Impressions:

Friday in Donington
Friday in Donington
Friday in Donington
Friday in Donington