Nürburgring This And That

06. July 2018Nürburgring - Who’d have believed that the 33rd Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring would pass off without a single drop of rain?
Going into the 3rd round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, everyone had last year’s miserable experience on their minds. Not only had it poured then; the last race had had to be called off because the track was too slippery for trucks to race on. A truck from the British championship had spilt several litres of diesel on the formation lap, and it took a few days after to mop up the mess. The embarrassed driver of that offending truck wasn’t allowed to forget the incident – his rivals didn’t miss an opportunity to pull his leg about it.
But this was water under the bridge. The TGP has lost none of its popularity, as the 118,000 fans who showed up will attest. The RV parks were full up the weekend before, and all the hotels, BnBs, and guest houses in the vicinity of the Ring were booked to capacity, forcing some exhibitors to put their guests up in digs 60 km away in Bonn.
For the Truck Grand Prix is more than just a top-notch motorsport event; it’s also a must-visit trade show. Spokespeople for the exhibitors were outspoken about the very real value they get from participating in what, for several years now, has been the next most important industry event after the IAA in Hanover.
And then there were the truck races too. The Mittelrhein Cup heats count towards the British championship, but with an overwhelming number of entries the grid was anything but all-English.
The FIA races could have accommodated a few more trucks were it not for another problem – not quite unique to the Ring, however, – the paucity of real estate in the paddock. The exhibitors need a lot of space, and the teams too have an ever-increasing space requirement. A modest setup may have sufficed 20 years ago; today’s sponsors want much, much more. Meeting every request is a serious challenge, given that the paddock area hasn’t grown in all these years.
On the other hand, the emphasis of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship is on the pilots and the racing. Jochen Hahn was able to cement his lead in the standings, even if things didn’t go entirely as he’d have liked. But when the Iveco pilot from Altensteig in the Black Forest doesn’t do well in a race, owing to problems with his truck or otherwise, it’s always been in the second race of the day, meaning a smaller loss of points.
His „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ teammate Steffi Halm must have hoped for more. Nevertheless the two Ivecos were able to expand their lead in the European Champion Team classification.
Czech defending champ Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner) is now second in the championship, even if he picked up five fewer points than Hahn. Spaniard Antonio Albacete came away with the highest score, but homeboy Sascha Lenz’s hopes of a good showing were dashed on both days, on the very first lap of each day. He did go on to set a couple of fastest laps, but those were of no avail.

Impressions: