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Friday in Zolder

Friday in Zolder

16. September 2011Zolder - So far everybody is rather relaxed in Zolder at the 8th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. The weather is very agreeable; it’s partly cloudy with temperatures between 20 and 25 °C (68 – 77 °F). But the weather forecast is not so favourable for this weekend. All the more reason for the teams to chill out a bit today, unless they have to attend the one or other of the many meetings scheduled for today. And some thing that very much adds to the relaxed atmosphere is the “Wellmobil” of the service company Höber from the Nürburgring. A waterbed is installed in a transporter where you can enjoy a “wellsystem” hydro jet massage, and this device was the big attraction at the Zolder circuit today. Whether pilots, mechanics, team managers, officials or visitors, everybody was absolutely delighted with this massage, which otherwise is primarily applied in hospitals and medical practices.
Nevertheless, the focus is on the preliminary decisions for this championship. At these September events in Belgium very often dreams were shattered. The opponents of the German MAN pilot Jochen Hahn, who leads the championship by a wide margin, know that they can no longer afford to show any weaknesses – or else the fight for the title will be over for them. On the other hand, Hahn does not yet take it for granted that he has already sewn the title up, because in his long truck racing career the Swabian has often enough seen – and also experienced it firsthand – how fast an apparently commanding lead can disappear in a flash on the home straight.
All the more the teams are concerned with the weather forecast, because when the prediction of heavy rain came true, the cards will be reshuffled, as several pilots and RaceTrucks can cope a lot better with these conditions. And, not least, these extreme conditions on the track would open the doors to mere coincidences. Several top pilots are still filled with horror when looking back on the final race of this year’s Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.