Thursday at the Nürburgring

18. July 2019Nürburgring - Every round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship runs over at least two days, some indeed take three. At the Truck Grand Prix on the Nürburgring, the racers are in action for four days. Thursday is set apart for the taxi rides for VIPs, press, team sponsors, and industry representatives – a full 225 minutes. That’s four three-quarter-hour sessions out on the track, followed by the hour of supplementary free practice. A race, by contrast, lasts barely 25 minutes.
Of course, the truck racers aren’t driving all the time. A VIP ride lasts three laps – the out lap, one flying lap, and one cooling-off lap. Then it’s back into pit lane to drop the rider off and pick the next one up. In the time that takes, the pilot could have done three more laps.
The queues of fans clutching VIP tickets and waiting to be issued overalls and helmets kept growing. It was rather hot in the sun this morning, but the sky slowly grew overcast at noon, and right at the start of the hour-long free practice a few drops fell. No more, thankfully, and the teams and drivers went about their final checks unruffled.