Le Mans
24 Heures Camions : Come and see the Big Boys in the European Championship!
jeudi 30 août 2007 - 17h24
The Le Mans Bugatti circuit will host the seventh round out of the nine counting for the FIA European Championship for Trucks, the biggest (in every sense of the term) machines currently racing. There is nothing pejorative about this as it demonstrates the talent of the manufacturers and their engineers to transform an all-purpose truck into a sporting and technological showcase.
 
Judge for yourself: the minimum weight is 5500 kilos (driver on board) with 3300 kilos on the front axle. The maximum cubic capacity of the engines is 13 litres and the power output is between 1000 and 1100 bhp with a torque ratio of 5000 Nm!
Even more than in motorcar racing the performance has a strong influence on the image of the manufacturer as witnessed by the presence of makes like Daf, Freightliner, Iveco, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Trucks, Scania and Volvo.
The top speed of these XXL F1s is in the region of 220 km/h but they cannot exceed 160 km/h in racing for safety reasons. The FIA keeps a close eye on this limit. Any truck caught exceeding this speed for a period of 3 seconds or more is handed a penalty, and anyone who exceeds 170 km/h is excluded from the race.

Knowing how to drive a truck quickly is a real art as winning is done without the help of automatic gearboxes and anti-lock or traction control systems. This means that driving is a physically demanding activity and improvisation is out of the question. In addition to the specialists it attracts experienced drivers from karting, motorcycle racing and single-seaters including Frenchmen Jean-Phillipe Belloc (MAN) and Anthony Janiec (Renault Trucks). In 2006, the lap record in the race was set by Gerd Körber (Freightliner) from Germany in 2m 07.84s, an average speed of 117,674 km/h on the 4,180 km layout.

Since the start of the 2007 season the battle for the lead has been raging between Markus Bösiger from Switzerland who has never won the championship (6th in 2006), and the reigning champion Spaniard, Antonio Albacete, who’s after his third title on the trot. Before coming to the Bugatti circuit, the teams raced on the Most circuit in the Czech Republic where Albacete and Bösiger each won a heat. So victory at Le Mans will be very important as after the French event there are just 2 more rounds to go. The final will take place on the Jarama circuit in Spain on 6th/7th October.

This duel is also one between 2 manufacturers Freightliner (USA) and MAN (Germany), while the first French manufacturer Renault Trucks is in 10th place.

Provisional classification before the Le Mans event:
1/ M. Bösiger (CH - Freightliner), 2/ A. Albacete (E - MAN), 3/ D. Vrsecky (CZE - Freightliner), 4/ G. Körber (D - MAN), 5/ J. Hahn (D - Mercedes-Benz),
6/ E. Allgäuer (AUT - MAN), 7/ J.P. Belloc (F- MAN), 8/ S. Oliver (GB -MAN),
9/ C. Levett (GB – MAN), 10/ F. Vojtisek (CZE – Renault), etc.

Also on the 24 Hours for Trucks programme in partnership with the magazine FranceRoutes is the final of the French Trucks Championship and the last round of the Side-Car World Championship.


For information concerning the timetable and ticketsClick here
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