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Zolder Preliminary Report

Zolder Preliminary Report

17. September 2015Zolder - Compared to the Kiss carnival at the Hungaroring, the 7th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Zolder, Belgium, is going to be a sedate affair, at least as far as the exuberance of the fans goes.
Now that Jean-Pierre Blaise has taken the year off, there will be no local hero for the crowds to cheer.
Even if there’ll be nothing like the unbridled euphoria in the stands that we witnessed in Hungary, the racing in Zolder has always been extremely exciting. So many racers, active and retired, can point to the exact spots on the pit straight at which they crashed into the wall at some time or other.
But it’s not just the narrow straight that’s so difficult to survive in the dash to the first corner; time and again trucks have found themselves off the tarmac fighting for position in the various chicanes. And the fans have excellent view of the track from wherever, the stands or the numerous sandy berms that dot the circuit.
Circuit Zolder encloses a wood with a campsite and a small settlement of holiday cottages at its heart. And hidden in this wood is a tiny chapel. The service here on Sunday mornings finishes at 10, and activities on the track only begins five minutes later; no engines may be fired up till then.
A total of 15 trucks will be at the start. Of the full-season pilots Eduardo Rodrigues (MAN) is once again missing; the Portuguese, you remember, broke a leg in the summer and is still not fit to race.
MAN drivers Sascha Lenz (GER) and Jérémy Robineau (FRA), and the two Portuguese Renault pilots José de Sousa und José Teodosio are registered as race-by-race entrants. With MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Freightliner, and Renault we will see five marques in action here.
Not only will the largest group of racers – six in all – be German; the vast majority of the non-Belgian spectators will also be from over the border. For many fans from the north and northwest of Germany, Zolder is quite a bit closer than the Nürburgring.
And so thrice champion Jochen Hahn will be one of the crowd favourites. The MAN driver could do with the moral support; Zolder holds particularly painful memories for the plucky Swabian.
At the beginning of his career he had his most horrific accident here, and it was in Zolder 10 years ago that Hahn, apparently cruising towards the title, suffered the first of a series of fatal setbacks that took him out of the championship battle altogether.
Like Hahn then, Norbert Kiss (MAN) tops the standings at the start of racing in Belgium. But the Hungarian’s lead is far greater than Hahn’s then was. Even if he should fail to score, Kiss would still leave Belgium in the lead.
For the present, the bantam from Altensteig will be more focused on the challenge from the rear — Czech Adam Lacko in his Buggyra Freightliner is just one point behind. There’s no way either will concede while there are still 240 points up for grabs.

Impressions:

Zolder Preliminary Report
Zolder Preliminary Report