16 hour engine change.

As we are now racing outside of Europe, the Truckies do not have to drive their trucks and move the cars and equipment. But logistical problems still happen and thankfully, it is a problem for the WTCC freight forwarders, not the Truckies.
All of the cars and team equipment were loaded into 24 containers, at Termas de Rio Hondo, and driven to Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires. Once everything had arrived, the airport staff should have started to load the cars and equipment onto the special airfreight pallets. The only problem was that they had no experience of handling this sort of freight. It was time for the WTCC logistics team of DHL and Weitracon to show them what to do. To avoid damaging the wheels of the flight cases, the plan was to cut wooden blocks and rest the cases on these so that the wheels are up in the air. A few problems occurred with personal safety insurance for everyone who was working with wood cutting saws and driving forklifts, but once these were resolved, it was all systems go !!

After 3 days of hard work, the first plane was ready to be loaded and was ready to depart on the Tuesday evening at 2300 hours.
The next plane was due to leave on Wednesday evening but as it flew into the airport, they had an engine failure and the plane landed on only 3 engines.
Once the plane had landed, aircraft mechanics started looking for the cause of the problem. They noticed that the engine oil capacity was low so they put more oil in. An attempt was made to start the engine but now they could see that a bearing had failed and the engine and the turbine fans were covered in oil. The aircraft mechanic was in contact with the airplane company in the USA, via his mobile phone, and a decision was made that the engine would need to be replaced.
It was now 0400 hours on the Thursday morning. They could fly the aircraft, on 3 engines, back to the USA, or they could get another engine and replace it in Buenos Aires. Finally, a chief mechanic and a spare engine arrived on Friday morning from Miami,USA. His job was to supervise the 8 Argentinian, aircraft mechanics whilst they spent the next 16 hours replacing the engine.
Eventually, the aircraft was repaired, loaded up and took off for San Francisco on the Saturday.

Once the cars and equipment have cleared US customs, its a 2 hour drive to the race track at Sonoma and the WTCC show will continue. The reason why I write this blog is to highlight the logistics as we move around the race tracks of the world and to show you what a complicated job it can be. This little chapter in the WTCC calender is a perfect example.

Question time with Yvan.

As we are no longer driving the trucks to the WTCC races, it can be a little bit difficult to try and keep my blog interesting. This year, I have decided to try to include something new.
A couple of the drivers do have experience of trucks. Alex MacDowell is preparing to take his truck licence and also has sponsorship from ECM. And a man who already has a truck licence, Yvan Muller, who has sponsorship from TRANSPORTS TYM. I used my Truckie charm to ask Yvan a few questions related to trucks and here are his answers.

Yvan,s race helmet with Transports TYM graphic.

RT/  How old were you when you took your truck test and did you complete it at your first attempt? 
Is your truck licence still valid or has it expired? 
In the UK at aged 45, you have to take a medical every 5 years after that, is it the same in France?

YM/  I got my licence at the first attempt. I was 18 when I took the 19 tonnes licence and  21 when I took the big truck licence and I can drive a truck when I need to. In France, you have to take a medical every 5 years from age 21. When you reach 60, you then take a medical every 3 years.

  
RT/  When was the last time you drove a big truck on the road and do you ever help out at the family truck business, Transports TYM?

YM/  Last time I drove a truck was in April  when I went to Nogaro, France for the first race of the 2013 season with Yvan Muller Racing. 

Unfortunately, I am too busy and I do not have time to drive for TYM Transport.

RT/  Have you ever driven a race truck and trailer for one of the teams you have raced for? Which team and when?

YM/  When I was driving for Triple Eight Racing in the UK, I drove the race team truck once from the UK to Ireland, but that was a long time ago.

RT/  Have you ever had an accident in a truck?

YM/  No, never. 

RT/  Do you agree with the 90 KMH speed limit for trucks on the Autoroutes and motorways?

YM/  Yes. I think 90 kmh is fast enough for a big truck. 

RT/  Reversing a truck and trailer is…     
A/ Easy 
B/ Difficult
C/ It is part of our job, so we should shut up and just do it.

YM/  I think it is Easy, I was born to drive a truck ...

RT/  Have you ever had chance to drive a proper racing truck around a circuit? 

Can you describe it to me?

YM/  Yes. I drove a DAF racing truck at Jarama, Spain. That was nice. After the test day, the team wanted me to sign a contract because my performance was good. But I was with BMW at the time with their touring car. That was in 1995.

RT/  How important to you and other drivers is the overall appearance of the team race trucks and how do you think the race truck and trailer gives a message to the sponsors and fans? 
YM/  The Truckie is very important because he is in charge of the cars and all the equipment, between the workshop and the circuits. The truck is large and very visible and represents the team and the sponsors. It should be in very good condition and be clean and presentable.

Well, I hope that you find my little interview interesting and different from the normal questions that the drivers are asked. Thanks to Yvan for taking time to help me with this and I look forward to bringing you the latest Truckie news from Sonoma in September.

It,s a Long Way..........to Argentina.

The main talking point between the Truckies and the other team members has been the travelling time. Almost everybody has been in various airports and airplanes for over 30 hours. The race track certainly produced some interesting racing but we have spent alot of money getting here. Over 30 containers have arrived by ship to Buenos Aires, then a 1400 km overland journey to arrive at Termas Do Rio Hondo.

The teams have been working under tents in temperatures ranging from 5-25 degrees Celsius which has not been nice and everything has been covered in dust which has been blown in by the wind from the surrounding desert.

THE JOYS AND GLAMOUR OF MOTORSPORT !!!!

And now the race is over, it is time to pack everything away again so that we can race in Sonoma, USA. We do have a problem due to the fact that there is not enough time to send the containers using a ship. So all of the cars and equipment will be sent using air freight. This is a very expensive way to get to the next race but we have no option. The Argentina race was a bit of a late addition to the race calender and by coming here, we have to deal with this situation.

Zengo wait for their container to be opened.

Bamboo car will need some repair work in USA

The Panta Fuel container receives some attention.

JAS Honda equipment loaded on Argentine truck

A very cheap but beautifully hand painted sign