Thursday, 28.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
Red Bull Ring Preliminary Report

Red Bull Ring Preliminary Report

03. July 2013It’s now 10 years since Spielberg in Austria last hosted a truck race. (For those of you who’d like to reminisce, our TruckRacingInformation page on Facebook provides the best opportunity.) In those days the Red Bull Ring was still known as the A1-Ring, and the FIA European Truck Racing Championship didn’t exist as we know it today. The SuperRaceTrucks that used to dominate the weekends then have long disappeared from the scene; the focus is now on the production-based RaceTrucks, which are as fast around most circuits as the missiles of the erstwhile premier class, even though they weigh a tonne more and are 400–500 PS (nominally) less powerful.
In any case the RaceTruck series has always had a friendlier and more convivial atmosphere, even 10 years ago on the A1-Ring. No sooner was the first official photograph of the RaceTruck pilots (till then this ritual had been reserved for the drivers of the SuperRaceTrucks) in the can, than the two Frenchmen Dominique Orsini and Marco Gauthier withdrew unnoticed, only to reappear suddenly in the buff, covering their most valuable (!) member with their helmets. That picture went around the world. Orsini is still around today, and takes turns with his son Florian in the Number 19 tankpool24-Mercedes. When the discussion at the last race in Nogaro turned to this one, Dominique wanted to know whether we still had this photograph — we do!
Fun and jollity aside, it’s the battle for the championship that remains of paramount interest. It’s a battle that’s hotting up, and how. The three MAN pilots Jochen Hahn (GER), Antonio Albacete (ESP), and Markus Oestreich (GER) are as it were in a three-way tussle for the lead with 118, 116, and 101 points respectively. The surprise fourth-placed driver David Vršecký (CZE) – before the season, nobody reckoned that the Buggyra pilot and twice-champion would perform so strongly – is followed by the hot Hungarian Norbert Kiss, another MAN driver whom many secretly favour to take the title. And then there are the two Renault pilots Adam Lacko (CZE) and Markus Bösiger (SUI), who have fallen back a bit after their elimination in the first race at Nogaro. There haven’t been as many potential racewinners for as many seasons as we can remember!
Twenty pilots have registered for the race on the Red Bull Ring. Of the FIA drivers, the Russian Iurii Egorov (Buggyra Freightliner) and Frenchman Jeremy Robineau (MAN) have dropped out; Austrian Markus Altenstrasser is the sole race-by-race pilot in a Schwabentruck Iveco.
The schedule for the weekend allows not a single spare minute — like the Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring, there’s a parallel programme of music concerts that run late into the evening. And that’s no wonder, because some of those responsible for planning the Truck Race Trophy are people who’ve had many years of experience with the TGP.
The extreme proximity to the TGP, the absolute highlight of the season for the German and German-speaking truckrace fans, however, is a cause for some concern for the organisers of both races. Hardly any fan would travel the 900 km from Styria to the Eifel just to see his favourite driver twice in one week. It’s thus expected that neither race will see the attendance it could have attracted otherwise.
But the schedule isn’t easy on the teams either. They may only arrive at the Nürburgring on Tuesday evening (the Formula One Teams Association won’t hand over the paddock till then), and there’s absolutely no indulgence at this, the Monaco Grand Prix of truck racing, for any team that should suffer capital damage at the Red Bull Ring.
Nobody’s happy with the present calendar — not the fans, not the individual organisers, and definitely not the teams and drivers. And if not the FIA planners, at least the weather’s been well-meaning to the truck racers. Even though there have been a few short showers over Spielberg today (Thursday), it’s forecast to remain dry for the rest of the weekend, with the temperature at 25°C.

Supported by Meritor Translation: Eliot Lobo

Impressions:

Red Bull Ring Preliminary Report
Red Bull Ring Preliminary Report
Red Bull Ring Preliminary Report