Friday in Most
26. August 2011Most - It’s hot in Most / Czech Republic, around 35 °C (95 °F) – with a felt air temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) as there is not a breath of wind – and in the cockpit it certainly was even worse, but all the same the 21 registered pilots were eagerly doing lap after lap in the free practice, because the Czech Truck Grand Prix is one of the real 3 day events, where already on Friday the “serious side of a truck racer’s life” begins. That’s why several teams arrived at the Autodrom Most already on Wednesday with the thermometer also showing 35 degrees and more. On Wednesday night thunderstorms raged lashing down heavy rain on the track, but in the morning when the teams started with the erection works, everybody was moaning about the scorching heat. And today the moaning continued, but to no avail – the first free practice was scheduled for 2:15 p.m., where the MKR Renaults clearly set the pace. Local hero Adam Lacko clocked fastest lap time, followed by his team mates Markus Bösiger (SUI) and Markus Oestreich (GER). In the second free practice two hours later Bösiger didn’t participate, the engine of the Swiss driver’s RaceTruck had to be replaced. Lacko wasn’t unsettled by his team mate’s bad luck, he even bettered his times by 1.3 seconds. But almost all the others managed to improve their lap times, too. Particularly Jochen Hahn (GER), the current championship leader, was calling the challenge and in his black MAN he did 10 laps on the hot track – but in the end Lacko was three tenths faster. The top ten were completed by MAN pilot Antonio Albacete (ESP), Freightliner pilot David Vsrecky (CZE), the German driver Uwe Nittel (MAN), Oestreich, MAN pilot Alex Lvov (RUS), the two British drivers Chris Levett in his Freightliner and Stuart Oliver (MAN) as well as the Frenchman Anthony Janiec (Renault).
To get into the top ten, that’s also the ambitious aim of Stephanie Halm. But so far the young German driver in her somewhat outdated Mercedes Benz, which has got about 200 HP less than the MAN and Renault top trucks, lags behind by two and a half seconds. However, Halm – who also takes part in several other motorsport series all over Europe – did constantly improve her performance with each round. Here in Most she at least managed to outdistance the “old hand” Heinz-Werner Lenz, after all a three-time European champion, by more than 2 seconds. The duel of the two German drivers is not without a certain brisance, as Lenz drives the Mercedes Benz team boss Markus Bauer initially wanted to buy for his tankpool24 Team – but Lenz made the deal. Both RaceTrucks were constructed by Hahn Racing, but the Lenz Mercedes is one generation younger.
Perhaps tomorrow the fights on the track will be the only things that are „hot“, because the current weather forecast predicts a rapid drop in temperatures with intense rain. Especially in regard to the rain we all hope that the weather service will once again be as wide off the mark as was so often the case recently.
Impressions:
