Countdown to the 2017 season: Team Hahn Racing

29. January 2017According to the Chinese zodiac, this weekend marks the beginning of the Year of the Rooster. Few in the truck racing community will be aware of something like this, or take it seriously even if they were.
If the Chinese astrological forecasts are to be believed, Jochen Hahn is going to be extremely difficult to beat in this Year of the Rooster. (Hahn is German for rooster.) That’s ostensibly because those born in a Year of the Tiger, as Jochen Hahn was, will “by their energy, courage, and abilities” become “leading personalities”.
Should Hahn succeed in defending his title, the bantam from Altensteig would draw level with five-times champion Steve Parrish.
On the other hand the forecast also warns against Icarian cockiness resulting from successes the previous year – you could have your wings melt off should you try to fly too high.
That’s not the only reason why Team Hahn Racing is putting no stock in the zodiac – the team’s constructors are hard at work as they’ve never been before, preparing three all-new Iveco Race Trucks from the ground up.
In addition they’ve also got the customer trucks to get ready for the new season. The workdays here last 12 hours and longer – and Sunday is the only day off.
Few teams in truck racing are anywhere as systematically organised and as professionally equipped as Team Hahn; yet even this seasoned outfit is at its limit.
The crew at the Egenhausen workshops are presently building the chassis; the new Iveco cabs have already been stripped out and reinforced with the regulation safety cages.
When the day is done, the “roosters” get together once again for evenings of relaxation at the Kota, the Finnish grill log cabin next door.

Impressions: