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Smolenskring – This and That

Smolenskring – This and That

10. August 2011The 6th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Smolenskring – which is not really located near Smolensk but lies in the vicinity of the small town Veskhnedneprovskiy, a name hardly anybody who is not Russian-speaking is able to pronounce – was again quite different than all the other events. For the teams it means a very long journey; for some of them it takes even up to 2 weeks altogether. And there are the border controls and customs requirements long forgotten in the European Union. However, this time the whole procedure went a lot more smoothly than last year. And, contrary to the year before, there weren’t only invited guests at the circuit, but the truck racing fans could buy tickets for the event. The price for a ticket on the grand stand was 500 roubles – but the grand stands accommodated only 1,000 visitors – and the entrance fee for the paddock alone was 200 roubles, without access to the grand stands (1 euro is equivalent to approx. 40 roubles).
However, most of the fans watched the races from behind the wire fences surrounding the circuit, anyway, or were sitting on the opposite side on a steeply ascending forest aisle – absolutely for free. From there they had a splendid view unto almost the entire track, just like the members of MAN Trucker’s World who had erected a whole tent city on some elevated area. The Russian branch of the MAN drivers’ club had just been founded in Smolensk, and Franz Echter – legendary MAN Dakar driver and only just back from the Silk Way Rally across Russia – received the membership card bearing the number 1.
And Echter could share his joy with another MAN pilot, Jochen Hahn, who is the current ETRC leader, although in Smolensk the Swabian was not nearly as predominant as in the races before. But as his nearest rivals blundered several times, that Hahn was once again the top scorer of the weekend and could even extend his championship lead. Antonio Albacete, Hahn’s brand colleague from Spain, was even forced to retire due to a total failure of his truck, and between Hahn and Markus Oestreich, the German Renault pilot and third in the leading trio, the gap has widened considerably – by almost 30 points. But the man from Fulda was hopping mad about several decisions made by the stewards as well as the marshals, resulting in time penalties for Oestreich and reaching a sad height with a disqualification. Generally there were disciplinary actions taken that often caused amazement among observers. And this did not only concern the pilots, but also the photographers and the camera operators. The marshals, obviously not very familiar with the practice and regulations applying to a round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, caused offence many a time. For instance, camera men were forced to wait for the races of the supporting programme to finish, because they were not allowed to cross the track – which is common practice everywhere else. On the spur of the moment several marshals denied media representatives access to the pit wall, even those people with official tickets which is usually even a key to the “most holy places” of the circuit, while hundreds of team members and VIP guests could wave to the pilots from the wall.
Several representatives of the organizers stated that the marshals, who were mainly from Moscow, should get some more intensive training.
Prior to his journey to Smolensk, Egon Allgäuer had been to Saint Petersburg for some PR campaign at their new circuit. And there were extensive conversations between the organizers responsible for the Smolenskring and the influential team owner from Austria, and certainly those topics mentioned above came up for discussion.
But there were some things worth considering adopting for the other venues, too. For instance the podium for the victory ceremony faced in the direction of the paddock, so that not only privileged people and team members were able to cheer the winners. During the ceremony for the Mid-Jets, which were part of the supporting programme, finally all the pilots were assembled on the podium – and all team members, friends and fans hailed them. Unfortunately in recent years it has become custom in the truck racing business that only those people, who are somehow related to the pilots occupying the podium places, attend the ceremony – all the others make a bee-line for the paddock.
A press conference which took place on a terrace was well-attended, however, communication difficulties which often required translations from language to language, affected the event a bit – perhaps the podium was a bit too multitudinous, because later several Russian journalists were interviewed individually and these talks seemed to be a lot more vivid.
Just like the year before, MAN and Renault Trucks with their PR activities and their financial commitment were again the main supporters of the event. But also the Russian branch of a large German company, that is otherwise not exactly at the front line with regard to truck racing, was very actively involved at the Smolenskring. The winners of the truck racing team championship as well as the top three finishers of all races in the supporting programme received tools etc. from the huge Bosch range of products. Probably Lutz Bernau rubbed his eyes in disbelief, because this year more than ever he is having trouble getting particularly in-kind premiums for the Sponsor Challenge he initiated.
But the victory ceremony for this race is not before Saturday evening at the Jarama event – and maybe something will happen until then.
On the return journey the border formalities again were a bit long-winded, but in the end it was as unproblematic as last year.
But yet the opinions about a round of the FIA European Truckracing Championship in Smolensk differ widely. The financial and personal effort as well as the time required for the journey are much bigger than for any other event – and the travel money which is higher in this case doesn’t make up for that. Regular vehicle insurances often do not cover Russia, so that an additional insurance is required. And there aren’t really any all-risk-insurances. Considering all the facts, particularly the smaller private teams wonder if it is worth the risk and the effort. For Florian Orsini (FRA) and José Bermejo (ESP), however, it was certainly worthwhile, because they collected their first points of the season at the Smolenskring.

Impressions:

Smolenskring – This and That
Smolenskring – This and That
Smolenskring – This and That