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Sunday in Zolder

Sunday in Zolder

18. September 2011Zolder - For most of the teams Saturday night had been extremely busy and a very disturbing one for everybody in the paddock. Shortly after midnight a short but severe storm came up with heavy rain and strong squalls. Flag poles snapped, banners hurtled through the air, tents were shaken, but the Meritor tent was the worst affected. The futuristic looking structure shaped like a pagoda was fully hit by a whirlwind; its flysheet was ripped from the rubber mountings and was flapping in the wind. And suddenly the sub-construction tubes were bare. Early next morning Meritor CMO Malte Raddatz began with the reconstruction – actively supported particularly by the Renault mechanics. And when the timed practice began, all remnants of the nocturnal chaos were as good as eliminated. The wet carpeted floor and the damp furniture were the only evidence of what had been happening last night.
Therefore it was hardly surprising that in the morning many people looked a bit sleepy. Several of the MB Motorsport mechanics had stayed up all night, because the cable fire in Steffi Halm’s Mercedes had turned out to be a lot more problematic than initially thought. Around midnight team boss Markus Bauer wasn’t even sure whether the young German pilot would be able to participate on Sunday.
But when it was time to hit the track, everybody was there.
In the warm-up early in the morning the tarmac was still damp and the lap times were about 10 seconds slower than the day before and were not very significant. But by the time when the timed practice started the track conditions were considerably better, and it was quite a surprise when Markus Bösiger in his MKR Renault did not do any fast lap, but turned into the pit lane where he remained standing. This reminded many people of a coup team boss Mario Kress and Bösiger had scored once before some time ago here in Zolder when both of them were still with Buggyra. However, at that time there wasn’t any SuperPole yet. And indeed, Bösiger took to the track when the 15 minutes were almost over and immediately clocked fastest lap time, followed by his team mate Markus Oestreich (GER). The remaining positions in the top-ten were taken by Freightliner pilot David Vrsecky (CZE), the Spaniard Antonio Albacete (MAN), Renault pilot Adam Lacko (CZE), the three MAN drivers Uwe Nittel, Jochen Hahn (both from Germany) and Norbert Kiss (HUN), as well as Gerd Körber (GER) in his Iveco and the French pilot Anthony Janiec (Renault).
But it’s not before the SuperPole that the top pilots take their gloves off. In the very last moment Oestreich set a much better pace and secured pole with 1:57.437m, followed by Lacko, Bösiger, Albacete, Vrsecky, Nittel, Hahn, Kiss, Körber and Janiec.
In the following race the three MKR pilots lined up on the first 3 places on the grid. But shortly after the start Albacete was already in 2nd position behind Oestreich and soon managed to take the lead. Bösiger was in 3rd position as he had passed Lacko. And then all hell broke lose. Nittel and Kiss had dropped back right from the start and while those two pilots tediously battled their way back up the field, Hahn’s truck suffered a severe engine damage. Hahn’s MAN skidded on the oil leaking from its engine and took to the gravel. And a bit later the man from Altensteig was forced to retire. But this oil film affected many other pilots, too. Several trucks spun, Bösiger almost skidded off the track and Lacko and Vrsecky seized the opportunity to overtake the Swiss. However, the stewards considered that Lacko’s move had been punishable, so that the Czech incurred a drive-through penalty. But Bösiger found no passing opportunities and finally had to settle for 4th, especially since his truck did not get enough charge air. Cheered by his fans, Körber finished in 5th, followed by Kiss who was again surprisingly strong, and Janiec. Lacko had worked his way up to 8th which meant pole position in the second race. The top ten were completed by the two Englishmen Chris Levett (Freightliner) and Stuart Oliver (MAN). Nittel’s MAN “trudged” badly shattered into the pit lane after only a few laps. And, in addition, the German driver was disqualified for the final race.
Halm could not quite live up to her Saturday performance and finally had to settle for 19th position.
In the break before the final race several teams were quite busy. Bösiger’s truck was fitted with a new gear box, in case of Hahn’s MAN the entire engine was removed and replaced – in a record time of a mere 60 minutes. Then the trucks lined up on the grid for the final race. But Hahn had barely hit the track, when out of the blue his brand spanking new engine packed up.
Janiec lined up alongside pole setter Lacko since he had finished in 7th in the previous race. But soon Körber managed to pass the Frenchman. Albacete had battled his way from his 8th starting slot into 4th position. After two more laps the Spaniard had established himself in 3rd. But those people who thought that it would only be a matter of time till the MAN pilot took the lead, were set right. Lacko led the field confidently and Körber maintained his composure and held off Albacete’s constant attacks: and it was the first time Mr. Truck Racing took a podium place with his Schwaben-Truck-Iveco. Vrsecky brought his truck home in 4th, followed by Kiss and Janiec. Long after the end of the race a new result was announced. According to the stewards Vrsecky’s attacks – which enabled him to get that far ahead – had been a bit too hard. The Buggyra pilot incurred a 5 second penalty, dropping him to 6th. Bösiger crossed the finish line in 7th, followed by Oliver, the Russian pilot Alex Lvov (MAN) and Levett.
Bad luck for Steffi Halm; after only a few laps she could no longer control the steering of her Mercedes truck. She was lucky enough to make it to the entrance to the pit lane where she had to park her truck right next to the fence.
Although the weekend was a disaster for Hahn, the MAN pilot still leads the championship with 324 points, followed by Albacete (297), Lacko (247), Oestreich (237), Vrsecky (234), Bösiger (220) and Nittel (178).
In the team ranking the first race was won by MKR-Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich), followed by Cepsa-Trucksport Lutz Bernau (Albacete / Nittel) and Buggyra (Vrsecky / Levett). In the second race the cards were reshuffled and MKR Team 14 Juniors (Lacko / Janiec) came out the winner ahead of Buggyra and OXXO-Mäkinen (Kiss / Mäkinen).

Impressions:

Sunday in Zolder
Sunday in Zolder
Sunday in Zolder
Sunday in Zolder