Friday in Le Mans
07. October 2016Le Mans - Hadn’t the weather forecasters prophesied clear skies for this 8th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Le Mans? Today there was a thick layer of cloud over Circuit Bugatti, and the temperature was a crisp 14°C. The truck racing circus is quite enjoying the weather actually – espacially when we think about the Le Mans weekend 11 years ago when a frosted-over track on the Sunday delayed the start of activity till afternoon. Of course it isn’t close to getting that cold now, but everyone’s hoping that tomorrow will be like yesterday was – a perfect day for photography, the cynosure being a very special truck, which was shot at length from every conceivable angle in a range of ambient light conditions right till dusk.
Swedish truck racing legend Boije Ovebrink is in Le Mans with Volvo’s Iron Knight, the “fastest truck on the planet”. The beauty of this 4,5 tonne beast is how ferociously it accelerates – its quad-turbocharged engine, developing 2,400 hp (double the output of the top ETRC powerplants) with a similar torque rating of 6,000 Nm, propelled this prototype to FIA speed records of 13.71 seconds for the standing 500m, 21.29s (averaged) for the standing kilometre, and a top speed of 276 km/h.
The purpose of that undertaking last month was to demonstrate the extraordinary shift speed and torque capacity of Volvo’s series-built I-Shift Dual Clutch transmission.
Ovebrink obviously hasn’t come to Le Mans to set any new speed records – Circuit Bugatti is the wrong place for that; what you’d need is an airstrip or a vast plain like the Bonneville salt flats in Utah, USA.
The Swede will be showing the Iron Knight off to the media in France, and Thursday provided ideal conditions to present the Volvo in the best light – photojournalistically speaking.
There was quite a bit to snap today too. The drivers from the French championship did their first laps as they taxied VIPs and journalists around the track. “Pink Lady” Steffi Halm was gifted a media vest with her racing number 44 on it by the Truck Race Organisation TRO and series promoter ETRA. Steffi’s fondness for fashion accessories in electric pink is well known, and this year the standard-issue item of high-visibility safety clothing for journalists covering the action around the circuit and in the pits comes in the very colour the lady so loves.
Late evening Philipp “Casino”, one of the longest-serving truck race technicians and an absolute original to boot, kicked off his “presentation ceremony”, now an established tradition at the final Friday of the season. Casino has a little Book of Observations in which he wryly records all the racers’ quirks and foibles through the season, awarding them minus points (and the occasional plus point). Today he announces his “winners” to loud applause – and peals of laughter all round.
Impressions:
