Truck Racers as Pioneers

05. August 2013The week following the FIA European Truck Racing Championship round at the Smolenskring in western Russia, the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) descended on the brand new Moscow Raceway, a circuit that was thrown open only last year. While the truck racers brought their “battle” to Russia for the fourth time, it was the DTM’s first time here. And many were visibly irritated about the unexpected circumstances of their journey, the unpredictable road conditions, the sometimes incomprehensible behaviour of other road users, and indeed sometimes the strange customs in this country, even at the race track. The touring-car racers celebrated themselves as pioneers of motorsport who had made history in Russia, obviously forgetting that it was the pilots of the FIA ETRC that drove the first international circuit race in Russia — a good three years ago. And the things that the DTM circus made such a fuss about are now routine for the ETRC; nobody in this pioneering FIA series even thinks of complaining about them.

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