WTCC Moscow Part 1

Damage to the Zengo truck

Well, it is time to start our journey to Moscow Raceway. All of the importation documents have been obtained and we have got our Russian visa stamps in our passports.As I mentioned before, we have decided to take our older, 3 axle race trailer, as we feel that this will cope better with the very bad roads which we will be driving on.
We have 840km to drive to reach the German port of Travemunde. What we were not expecting was the many roadworks, no overtaking for trucks and the high volume of traffic on the German Autobahns. It takes us nearly 13 hours. That is an average speed of 63km/hour. Very slow and very frustrating. We left the factory earlier than we would normally do. If we had not done this, we would definitely have missed our boat. We try to plan in advance for any delays or problems but this time, the road conditions were totally unpredictable.

JAS Honda in Poland

This is our first time in Travemunde port and the truck parking is full. We wait 30 minutes until a space is available. As we try to manoeuvre the truck into this very tight space, a small van drives into the parking space from the other end. The driver gets out and I have to get rather angry with him and tell him that we were here first and that he should find somewhere else. I think my physical siz3 convinced him that he was going to lose any argument with me. Once we are parked, we go to the shipping office, fill out more paperwork and collect our tickets for the boat. A short drive through the automatic gate system and we park up alongside the ship and wait to be loaded.

Think Tank truck on a very bad road

My decision to go with a boat from Germany to Latvia is one that I made for safety reasons. The cost of driving through Germany, Poland, Lithuania and into Latvia is approximately the same as the cost of the boat. But if we breakdown or have punctures, we will be delayed which means that we would have to leave the factory even earlier than we did already. If you factor in the cost of road tolls, any security issues that we may have and the general cost of running a truck on a Euro per kilometre basis, I know we have made the right choice.

Some WTCC trucks waiting for the boat in Travemunde

As usual, I have been in contact with the other WTCC Truckies. Some teams have decided not to use the boat. And to highlight what I just mentioned about the problems of driving such a long way, I can tell you that one truck hit a very large animal which ran in front of their truck. The damage will be expensive but luckily they have made a good temporary repair and can still continue their journey into Russia.
The boat we are using is a freight boat and it is full of truck drivers from mainly Eastern European countries.

Night falls at the meeting point,Karsava, Latvia

 After a 26 hour boat trip, we arrive in the port of Ventspils, Latvia.This town is so quiet and there is hardly a vehicle in sight. We drive towards Riga and after a 100km, we find a petrol station with a large truck parking area so this is the end of of our day as daytime turns to night.
Tomorrow, we will continue to the meeting point and our first encounter with Russian customs.
TO BE CONTINUED..................................................