Friday in Most
28. August 2015Most - Those weathermen must have been a bit too optimistic when they forecast bright sunshine for the Friday – and the following days – in Most. For sure, the temperatures touched 25°C, but thick clouds continually threatened rain. It stayed dry, thankfully, and the skies even cleared a bit by evening.
Under a brilliant blue sky yesterday the majority of the racers in the field for this round of the FIA European Truck Championship took out a goodwill procession through the town. The Czech police not only cordoned the parade but also temporarily closed off whole streets so that the convoy could reach the town centre without difficulty.
The roads were lined with hobby photographers and the marketplace was milling with enthusiastic townsfolk. In the midst of it all the truck racers freely conversed with the crowd and eagerly signed autographs.
Today it was back to the track. After a break of nine weeks everybody, and the racers most of all, was itching for action.
The taxi rides for VIPs and the press in the morning drew long lines of eager riders, but everything went off smoothly and the racers managed to give everyone a turn.
ETRC events that schedule taxi rides also include an additional hour of free practice, and it was the usual suspects who set the pace – the three MAN pilots Norbert Kiss (HUN), Jochen Hahn (GER), and Antonio Albacete (ESP), and the two Czechs Adam Lacko and David Vršecký in their Buggyra Freightliners, – all five timed within a second of each other.
From the looks of it, it’s as good as certain that three of these will ascend the podium after each day’s first race. But in the two second races that start with the (partial) reversed grid, German Iveco pilot Gerd Körber, and MAN drivers Anthony Janiec (FRA) and René Reinert (GER), have thrillingly demonstrated time and again how you can make life difficult for the hotshots - and grab a podium spot or two in the bargain.
These three, and German Stephanie Halm (MAN), were the most dogged pursuers of the top five in free practice; expect them to take the most points off the top dogs this weekend.
Impressions:
