Zolder – This and That

23. September 2011In the fields sociology and psychology there exists the term “self-fulfilling prophecy”, created by Robert King Merton; later this thesis was adopted by economists, too – and now it can also be applied to truck racing. How else can you explain what happened to Jochen Hahn in Zolder. The German MAN pilot does not really remember the Belgian circuit fondly. It was in Zolder where his father Conny, the current Hahn-Racing team boss, had his serious accident which induced him to withdraw from active truck racing. And a few years later Jochen had a spectacular and one of the most horrific accidents in the annals of truck racing when in the first left turn his RaceTruck rolled over several times. And in 2006 the Swabian went to Zolder leading the championship tables and being odds-on favourite – but it turned into a debacle that put paid to his dream of winning the championship. But all this had happened when he was still with Mercedes. However, in his last year with the Stuttgart company he collected 41 points in Zolder and later – with MAN – he even gained 42 points there. Had Hahn succeeded in achieving a similar result this season, he certainly would have been highly satisfied. But all he got were 6 miserly points in the first race on Saturday – from then on there was one washout after another, and on Sunday his truck even suffered two engine failures. But in contrast to the 2006 event this season Hahn is still leading the championship with a rather wide margin of 27 points. And Jarama and Le Mans are two circuits with positive connotations for the Swabian, so that when you keep relying on the „self-fulfilling prophecy“ thesis the German pilot will certainly be a lot more successful in Spain and France.
The Hungarian OXXO Team fared a lot better in Zolder. Their regular pilot Zoltan Birnbaum has handed over the black MAN to his young fellow countryman Norbert Kiss for family and occupational reasons – and Kiss turned out to be a real high flyer. At his first truck racing weekend the young man – who was born in 1985 – gave several old hands a hard time and in the second race on Saturday almost made it on the podium. His opponents were deeply impressed. If you want to learn more about Norbert Kiss, please watch his portrayal on our Video-WebPortal „truckrace.tv“ (http://www.truckrace.tv/?aktion=show&id=105).
And fans and opponents were also deeply impressed by the performance of an old hand, “Mr. Truck Racing” Gerd Körber.
The German pilot – who comes from Helmlingen which is a part of the quiet and picturesque town of Rheinau located directly on the Rhine – has once again been bitten by the truck racing bug. In his Iveco owned by the Schwabentruck Team Ulm Körber proved that 20 years after his first championship victory he has not lost any of his driving skills. Meanwhile the entrepreneur is more of an “amateur pilot” in a positive sense, and there wasn’t anybody in the paddock who would have begrudged him his second place in the final race.

And Mario Kress, Körber’s long-time companion and best childhood friend, was content, too. In Zolder his MKR Renault Team continued with their top performance they had already shown in Most. The most successful RaceTruck constructor and team boss is realistic enough to know that his pilots won’t have a chance anymore to win the title in the drivers’ championship. But his goal is to see at least one of his three pilots – Adam Lacko (CZE), Markus Oestreich (GER) or Markus Bösiger (SUI) – take the podium at the FIA ceremony, and chances are rather bright. And there is also a fair chance of winning the team championship where, after all, MKR Technology is defender of the title. They are currently trailing Cepsa Truck Sport Lutz Bernau by 24 points, but that’s not that bad considering that there are still 216 points up for grabs.
And there was yet another pilot who left Zolder being very satisfied, the Spanish title holder Antonio Albacete. He collected 57 out of 60 possible points which means that he eased 51 points closer to Hahn. Albacete now sees himself again on the verge of victory, but he also knows that he cannot always rely on the misfortune of his opponent.
Steffi Halm, who was time and again acclaimed by the commentator at the track as the only “Amazon” in the field of 25, wasn’t smiled upon by Fortune, either. First of all the Mercedes truck of the young pilot suffered a cable fire which, fortunately, was without serious consequences; and in the final race some – according to team boss Markus Bauer – rather unimportant small part snapped and affected the steering, so that the truck was no longer manoeuvrable. Actually, Halm was quite lucky under the circumstances. Both incidents could have turned out a lot worse.
Experienced visitors to the Zolder circuit know that customs there differ quite a bit from other venues. On Sunday racing never starts before 10:05 a.m., as there is a small chapel located on the premises of the circuit, and there is always a church service being held which lasts till 10 o’clock. And in Zolder the time spent on the starting grid is sometimes a bit shorter, particularly when you are somewhat behind schedule and there is a risk that the race won’t be over by 6:00 p.m., as some neighbours living in the vicinity of the circuit have obtained a judgement in court that no racing activity is allowed after 6:00 p.m.
But why on Saturday before the start of the second race suddenly there was a mad rush – although everything was right on schedule – will remain an enduring secret of the stewards. Actually, the start about 10 minutes ahead of schedule went against the 2011 Sporting Regulations, because section 3.5 says that there has to be a minimum period of 2 hours between two races – a rule that was not observed in this case.

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