Provisional 2014 Calendar

24. October 2013The FIA Truck Racing Commission’s most recent session on 23 October has been rather surprising for the teams, the manufacturers, and the sponsors of the European Truck Racing Championship. The primary cause was the provisional calendar for the 2014 season released at this meeting. In normal circumstances this is presented to all the participants no later than the season-ending FIA gala, because everyone involved needs certainty on which to base their plans for the following season.
This time, however, there was no calendar in Le Mans; instead, the banquet hall was abuzz with the rumours that had swirled around the paddock in the weeks previously. The FIA session in Paris sprang a couple of surprises, though. Among other things, there were some new ideas concerning video footage and TV coverage.
But what everyone was waiting for was the race schedule for next year. The dates for the races at the Nürburgring (17 through 20 July) and Le Mans (11 and 12 October) had already officially been announced by their respective organisers, ADAC Mittelrhein and ACO. More recently, an official-looking release circulating on Facebook pages from Russia announced the dates of the Smolensk weekend as 25 through 27 July. But the Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring ends only on 20 July, and it would be delusive to imagine that the trucks would start again in Smolensk not quite a week later.
As things stand, the event in Russia has been scheduled for the first weekend in August (Week 31 on the calendar). Turkey has suddenly reappeared on the list. It was all along expected that the season would start in Misano, albeit at the beginning of June. The rumour in the paddock was that the Autopromotec show in Bologna for accessories and the aftermarket was going to overlap the traditional Misano weekend, the fourth weekend in May. But whoever this originated with seems to have overlooked the fact that this biennial trade show was most recently held in 2013, directly after the race weekend in Misano, which allowed exhibitors to make the best of both opportunities.
But now Misano has been advanced to 24 and 25 May (Week 21), and the season itself will actually start three weeks earlier — in Istanbul on the first weekend of May (Week 18). In 2012 both races were held within a week, and so the teams did not have to spend more to make the trip to Misano, which is practically on the route to Turkey.
The Navarra race in Los Arcos in the north of Spain will happen on 7 and 8 June (Week 23), followed two weeks later by Nogaro in the south of France. Here some people would have liked to have Nogaro follow directly the week after Navarra, again to save costs, because almost all teams have to pass through, or by, Nogaro on their journey to Navarra. The two locations are situated about 350 km apart, a half-day’s journey. Both, by the way, lie on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela; but the pilgrims naturally take a good deal longer to cover the distance.
The next two rounds, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, 4 through 6 July (Week 27), and the Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, 17 through 20 July (Week 29), were never in dispute. As mentioned earlier, the round at Smolensk has been slotted for the first weekend of August. Most (CZE) will happen on the final weekend in August (Week 35), followed a week later by a race on the Hungaroring near Budapest. Hungary isn’t a completely new development, it’s been discussed since the middle of the year.
The round in Zolder, Belgium, will take place – as it traditionally has – in mid-September (Week 38). And then, before the two final rounds the truck racers have ample time for the “obligatory” appearance at the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge in Hanover (25 September through 2 October). They are either required to attend the show or are compensated additionally — but either way, all look forward to being there.
Race trucks, meanwhile, will stand out at Solutrans, the most important commercial vehicle show in France, in Lyon from 19 through 23 November. TRO partners Meritor (also a truckracing.de / truckrace.info sponsor) and EUROPART are going to have trucks from the 2013 ETRC season on their stands as eyecatchers.
The race season next year will conclude once again with the race in Jarama on 4 and 5 October (Week 40) and the finale a week later in Le Mans (FRA).
That makes it 12 races in 10 countries, as against the idea of 10 in 10, the basis on which sponsors calculate the cost of their engagement. While the drivers who fight for the championship cannot afford to miss a single event, some of the smaller teams will have to decide which race to pull out of, because hardly any sponsor is going to be willing to cough up a euro more than what they’ve already budgeted.
In any case, it remains to be seen whether the truck racers will really start at all the events as they stand on the provisional calendar. It may well be that one or other race is eventually struck off. The event at the Hungaroring could also be a demonstration race without implications for the championship.
And then there’s still Bernie Ecclestone and his F1 circus to take account of, so there’s still a lot of change possible before the calendar is finally frozen.

Impressions: