Zolder Preliminary Report

13. September 2018Zolder - If you can imagine the FIA European Truck Racing Championship as a racing circuit, the antepenultimate round at the idyllic Heusden Zolder in mid-September would be the final corner – any setback here is almost impossible for a driver to recover from over the two remaining rounds. The serene environs in which this multipurpose recreational facility is set, amid woods with the famous lily ponds of Terlaemen, the Albert Canal, and the pretty cottages of Bolderberg, haven’t the slightest cathartic effect on the competitors as the title race heads towards its climax.
After the rainy weekend in Most, the forecasts for Round 6 this weekend were the complete opposite – lots of sun and not a single shower, not even on the days when the teams were to arrive and set up the paddock. But just as the first teams pulled in on Wednesday afternoon, it started to rain – not heavily, nor uninterruptedly, but it still did come as an unpleasant surprise. Today it’s been somewhat more cheerful, nurturing the teams’ hopes – okay, of all of them except one – that it will be dry on the race days.
The action kicks off on Friday with FP1 and FP2, followed by the City Parade late afternoon. This is the first ever expedition, trucks and all, to the square in front of the Heusden Zolder City Hall and should be a hit with the fans.
After the pleasantries tomorrow, the rivalry resumes Saturday. Team Hahn Racing, the championship leader’s outfit, will have to be totally focused. The quadruple champion’s prospects of a fifth – that would be the first for Iveco – are bright indeed. But Jochen Hahn has mixed memories at Zolder. In 2002 his Mercedes rolled over soon after the start. While the truck looked much the worse for the acrobatism, Hahn himself emerged without a scratch – and only a broken pair of spectacles, a powerful testament to the safety of race trucks even back then.
The memory of his Zolder weekend in 2006 is considerably more unpleasant, though. Hahn was headed for his first title, again in a Mercedes before he was hit by a procession of mechanical failures, climaxing in Zolder with a series of turbo blowouts. That meltdown may have happened 12 long years ago, but the memory won’t entirely have faded.
And it’s not only Hahn who remembers. Everyone who was there knows how quickly fortunes can change. That’s why the (outcomes of) races in Zolder have always had a special significance. Clawing one’s way back into contention after Zolder is impossible in normal circumstances, and this season, moreover, the Top 10 are simply too closely matched.
Czech Buggyra pilot Adam Lacko must be secretly praying for rain, because he and his Fat Fox Freightliner are nearly unbeatable in the wet. In such an event it would still be possible for him to bridge the 48-points deficit to Hahn. The title will, in all probability, be decided between these two. Third-placed Mercedes pilot Norbert Kiss (HUN), 75 points down on Hahn, will have to watch out for MAN pilots Sascha Lenz (GER) and Antonio Albacete (ESP), both level 24 points behind him, with German Steffi Halm (Iveco) just 9 points further adrift. The battle for 3rd is hotting up.
With five German drivers in the Top 10, the trip to Zolder will be a very attractive proposition for the numerous fans of truck racing from the west and north of Germany who religiously make the trip over.