MAN very pleased with the test days in Jarama
02. April 2014The MAN-hosted tests on the Circuito del Jarama at the gates of Madrid conclude today. Many of the participants used the opportunity to put the final touches to their preparations for the 2014 FIA European Truck Racing Championship season. As concerning external conditions, there was everything a regular season could throw at you, with pouring rain, blazing sunshine, strong winds, and wet and dry track surfaces. At the end of the day the truck racers were able to test in all weather situations they are likely to encounter throughout the season.
Markus Bösiger made a surprisingly good showing; after almost 10 years out of an MAN cockpit — the Swiss seemed to have absolutely no problem switching over from the Renault race truck he drove for the last four seasons. Not only did he effortlessly match the performances of MAN’s title defender Jochen Hahn (GER) and local matador Antonio Albacete; on occasion he was even a tick quicker than the two cocks of the walk. All three put their trucks through a thorough shakedown.
But it was René Reinert who devoured the kilometres most eagerly, not only in his own machine with the championship number 77 but also in an unnumbered truck, the one he’d acquired from Mika Mäkinen. How he plans to employ this second truck is open to speculation; one possibility is that it will feature in selected rounds, driven by race-by-race pilots, maybe even some prominent ones. Who gets to drive, though, is a question of who can bring in sufficient sponsorship.
On Monday morning it looked like the Hungarian OXXO team would be taking things a bit easy, but then Norbert Kiss and Benedek Major stepped up their pace, and how. You’ve got to give it to the OXXOs, though, because they only arrived at the circuit late on Sunday evening.
The French Lion team was evidently the most diligent of the lot. While Reinert had to test both his trucks, the bright yellow trucks were shared between four pilots. Steffi Halm, the German team leader who is concentrating this season on the FIA ETRC and will therefore not be defending her French national title, was accompanied by her Kazakh teammate Artur Ardavichus, who will fly the Lion flag in the French championship this year. Spaniard Javier Mariezcurrena, whose race truck Lion boss Patrick Folleas bought in the off-season, and Belgian Jean-Pierre Blaise completed the quartet.
Of the Spaniard it was known that he would take part in at least three races this season in his old truck — as a guest driver. Blaise’s appearance in Jarama, though, was a surprise. He had put his Renault truck up for sale and was said to want to devote himself to his business. Now the talk is that Blaise will probably race in the remaining events. But as is the case with Reinert’s team, it’s all finally a question of whether he can drum up the finance.
There was another surprise visitor to the Circuito del Jarama on Monday — the Portuguese Eduardo Rodrigues. Ambition seems to have gotten the better of Rodrigues, a foundational pillar of the truck racing scene, after it was made known that his son Jose would take over the cockpit of the erstwhile MKR Renault for the French Team 14. While Eduardo was busy lapping the circuit in Jarama, son Jose was on his way to the south of France, where a number of Renault teams gathered to test together starting Tuesday.
Impressions:
