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Most This And That

Most This And That

02. September 2015Most - It was a torrid 6th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Most, with temperatures of up to 33°C in the shade and the track surface sizzling at over 51°. On Monday, as the teams took down their tents and tended to their trucks, it had grown even hotter — 36° on the thermometer and the asphalt in the paddock over 55°. In this enervating atmosphere one could do little but take things real cool. There were no takers for Autodrom Most’s offer to test further. None, that is, except the Czech Frankie Vojtíšek, who went out in his MAN for an hour on Tuesday.
Everybody badly needed a break. After all, they’d been at it since Thursday, beginning with the drive through the town and the presentation at the square in front of Council Hall. And now they’ve got to get going again almost immediately at the Hungaroring.
Many of the 90,000 spectators were German — not surprising considering that half the field was made up of racers from Germany. No less exuberantly than the Czechs cheering the two one-two victories of Buggyra-Freightliner pilots David Vršecký and Adam Lacko did the German fans hail Jochen Hahn’s three podium places – a win, a second place, and a third, – and his MAN colleague Steffi Halm’s third place. That was, after all, Steffi’s first podium-place finish in the FIA ETRC.
The two grid walks were a total success, as was the autograph session on the grid. The fans were loth to leave the track, mindless of the blazing sun. The racers in their fireproof overalls really made for a pitiable sight, as they kept looking for a shady place to stand, or simply sidled up to the long-legged young ladies that sashayed through the grid with umbrellas of various sponsors. But there was little hope of relief; soon enough they had to climb back into their cabins, which were by now baking at 60° and more.
Defending champ Norbert Kiss is now well placed to take his second title in a row. The Hungarian showed no signs of weakness, and even his MAN looks to be in top form. But there’s still hope for his two most determined pursuers, Lacko and Hahn, given that both were able to score strongly in Most.
However, the truck racing circus now moves to the Hungaroring, a racetrack Kiss could drive in his sleep. Of the rest, nobody really knows the track — excepting Frankie Vojtíšek, who was last here 25 years ago, and Roland Rehfeld. Even so, the man from Berlin will hardly be able to translate all his experience racing sportscars on this circuit to his four tonne tankpool24 race truck, even if it’s a Mercedes.

Impressions:

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