A very slow 224 kilometres.

Yokohama truck follows us as we leave the Agip petrol station in Slovakia

We leave Slovakia on the Monday morning and drive to the Agip garage, near Medvidov. We have to return the Slovakia truck toll box and get our 50 Euro deposit back. Last year, I mentioned how much time it takes to process all the paperwork and this year was no different. The total cost for driving our truck in Slovakia was 7.75 Euros, but the cost to print out the 10 pages of A4 paper must cost the government much more!!
It is just a short journey to the Hungarian border and when we arrive, the police direct us to the weighbridge. After the truck has been weighed, we stop to buy the Hungarian truck vignette. When I go to the small office that I have used before, I am told that they no longer sell the vignette here so we have to get back in the truck and drive another 6km to a petrol station where we can buy the tax. 15000 Florins for a 10 day truck vignette and we are on our way to the the Hungaroring.
We drive into the town off Gyor but have to take a diversion around the side of the town as trucks are not allowed into the town centre. From here, it should be a steady drive on the Hungarian motorways, to the race track.
NO SUCH LUCK FOR US.
As we reach Budapest, again we are forced to take a diversion around the city due to weight restrictions and some very low bridges. The M0 motorway has been under reconstruction for the last 4 years and is still not finished. With a combination of roadworks and an accident blocking part of the motorway, it is a very long and slow journey for 25km. When we finally arrive at the Hungaroring, it has taken us 6 hours to drive 224km. SLOW, SLOW, SLOW.

Entering the town of Gyor,  notice the "NO TRUCKS" on the sign on the right.

We ask if we can park the trucks outside our garage at the Hungaroring as some teams have done already. But our team is suffering from poor communications and we leave them on at a separate paddock area. As I write this, we have just received a phone call to go and move the trucks to our team garages. In this age of mobile telephones, email and even talking in person, we can still make a simple job into a difficult one.
At the back of my hotel is a very large banner with pictures of famous Hungarians. I think that the Hungarian driver, Norbert Michelisz, will soon need to be added to this as we are again expecting a huge crowd attendance to cheer on their hero.

Pictures of famous Hungarians.

Someone wants to be a Truckie !

Three Yokohama trucks lined up

Hello from sunny Slovakia.
Hopefully I now have a new reader of my blog as I was talking to the WTCC driver, Alex Macdowall, and he has just started to apply for his LGV driving licence. One of his sponsors is the UK company ECM (Vehicle Delivery Service) Ltd and I guess he feels that it is important that he can drive a truck.

JAS Honda unloading last thursday

The process to apply for a licence in the UK involves tests in a classroom before you can even start driving a truck. The first part of the licence means that you can drive a truck, up to a maximum weight of 17.5 tonnes. Once this part of the test is complete, you can then move up to a fully articulated truck, such as the race trucks and trailers that we drive. The cost of all this is approximately 1600 Euros.







You can look at Alex,s sponsor by clicking on this link.
http://www.ecmvds.co.uk/english/index.htm 

                                                                        Copyright Photo4

Good luck with your training and I hope your need for speed will not be lost when you have to drive a truck at a maximum of 90kmh. And do not drive over the plastic cones when you are driving your truck in the test.

All Inkl.com team cars

The paddock is very busy at the Slovakiaring as we have all of the WTCC and ETCC trucks, inside the paddock area. Some of us will be leaving on Monday and making the short trip to Hungaroring whilst other teams will stay in Slovakia, for a few days, to repair their race cars.

PB Racing truck unloading

Eastern Europe brings sadness and happiness for some Italians.

Spanish police stop us near Burgos, Spain.

It has been a busy time for me since leaving Morocco. The journey form Algeciras, Spain was a long one and we also had a little bit of trouble with the Spanish Guardia Civil police. They wanted to check the documents from the truck and see where we were going to. With a few Spanish words from us and a smile, we were free to continue our journey.
Some of the trucks were heading back to the UK from Bilbao, Spain and  the rest of us were spreading ourselves around Europe. One German team had a puncture on their way home from Morocco but everyone else seems to have had a trouble free journey back.

RML catch the ferry to the UK

                                                                       

We have been busy testing since Morocco and I have have used all of my truck driving hours so I must take a break. My work collegues have taken over the truck driving duties and I join up with them today at the Slovakiaring circuit.
It is 25C and the temperature and weather is looking good for the race weekend.

With the ETCC race as well, this weekend, there are alot of Yokohama tyres which will need fitting and a truck was in Slovakia to deliver the tyres and put them into the garages. Any tyres that they could not put in the garages were loaded into a truck. Belloto tyre services from Italy who support the ETCC, will be very busy as the ETCC race is expecting a 28 car entry list.

I hope you can look at my latest video that I have posted and keep checking back at my blog to get the latest information on the WTCC Truckies.
Here are a few more pictures from today at the Slovakiaring. One Italian team had a nasty puncture before they had even left Italy which has damaged the side of their race trailer. But it was also a happy time for another Italian team now that they have now bought a new Iveco Stralis, 450HP tractor unit.

Italian sadness

Italian happiness.

Michelisz car being prepared on thursday morning.

Visual TV camera equipment before it is fitted into the cars.

A Trip to the Mont Blanc Tunnel

After the 1999 fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel, our trucks must go through a regisration process, for safety reasons, before we drive the 10km towards the entrance to the tunnel. Here is my video as I drive to the WTCC race at Monza, Italy 2013.
It costs us approximately 450 euros for a return ticket, or 300 euros for a one way ticket.
Enjoy the scenery and welcome to a little piece of "my world".

Harlem Shake........PB Racing style

Watch this and be happy with me. What a fun bunch of guys away from the race track.
I know and work with some of these guys. PB Racing team rock.........

Pictures from the last two races

RML trucks being repaired in a French garage before the Monza race

View from above at Marrakech

BMW Truckie wearing a fez

Moroccan police at Marrakech circuit

Driving back to Tangiers port

Parking the truck before we go through to the x-ray scanner

Worth more than gold

JAS/Honda leave the scanner area and head for the ferry boat

Auto GP truck in Tangier port

RML drive onto the ferry from Spain to the UK

Bamboo truck inside the boat.

Destination Spain.

It is 0130 hours when our ferry finally reaches Algeciras in Spain and the journey from Marrakech has taken a total of 21 hours.The Truckies slowly and carefully drive their race trucks up the loading ramp and onto the quayside. A queue has formed and while we wait to complete the passport checks, we can finally relax. A short drive to the secure parking area and a good nights sleep ends our very long day.

I have now been to four WTCC races in Marrakech and I am fed up with it. I am appaled with the abysmal hotel staff and lack of customer care, the blatant overcharging, the short changing of money, the dual pricing system that the taxis seem to employ, the security staff who were caught stealing chairs from our garage at the weekend, and the corruption in the port by police and customs officials.
Two of the Truckies experienced problems at their hotel last year when they tried to leave their hotel and it happened again this year at the same place. They had checked out of their hotel at 0300 hours on the monday morning to go to the circuit and had taken their truck to the hotel so they would not have to mess around waiting for a taxi at such an early time. When they drove up to the hotel security barrier, they were accused of not paying their hotel, WHICH THEY HAD DONE, a massive argument occurred. Despite the security calling the reception to verify that the hotel bill had been paid, THEY STILL REFUSED TO LET THE TRUCKIES LEAVE THE HOTEL!!
It took the intervention of a member of the Eurosport TV crew who moved one of the security staff to one side and pushed the button to raise the barrier which allowed the Truckies to drive out of the hotel and leave. He knows who he is and the Truckies have asked me to say thank you. A few beers will be coming your way when they see you at the next race.

And to the owners of The Kenzi Menara Palace, Marrakech, you are now officially named and shamed.

Despite paying my hotel bill the night before, I also experienced similar problems when I tried to leave the same hotel about an hour later. We stay in hotels all over the world and I have never been to a country where I encounter and hear of so many problems about the hotels and from so people.

Parking the trucks before we enter the customs area.

When myself and seven other trucks arrive at Tangier Med Port at 1300 hours on monday, we are met by the man from Wietracon. They had helped us to gain entry to Morocco so much quicker than in previous years and we need them again to get us through the police and customs procedures. There is no doubt that the port system is corrupt but Wietracon have employed a local company with knowledge of the police and port officials and I can personally say that the Truckies felt much safer and we were well informed of which procedures we must complete to enable us to get through the port and onto a ferry to Spain. Unfortunately, Tangiers Med Port still allow people to enter the port area who are just there to extort money from the many people in cars, trucks and buses.
It still takes us seven hours before we are on the boat but we are all happy. As I write this, there are still Truckies that I have not spoken to but from my own experience, I feel confident that they will not have encountered any problems as our shipping agent has been working hard, non stop. Some of the race trucks will be leaving on a boat to Italy, as this is more convenient for them, whilst the rest of us will be going to Spain.

Auto GP truckie earns his money, reversing onto the boat.

The problem of people trying to climb underneath the trucks whilst we are waiting in the various areas within the port has not been as bad as before. The port has employed more security staff, many of them with dogs, better camera surveillance and higher fences but two of our trucks still ended up with "unwanted passengers". You can read more about Morocco and its problems if you read my older blog posts from April last year.
 http://racetruckie.blogspot.com.es/2012_04_01_archive.html
On the sunday before the WTCC races had started, one of the Spanish teams needed to call out a truck technician to sort out an electrical fault which meant that the engine would not run properly. After much head scratching and connecting a laptop to the trucks "brain" they managed to trace the fault to a simple fuse. Our modern trucks are so reliant on electrics and electronics that diagnosing and repairing the fault can be very time consuming business, even when the repair is a quick one.

Truck problems for Seat in Marrakech

I must make a special mention to Rob from LED Screen Hire who was in Marrakech again. He supplies and puts up the very large TV screens around the circuit. I spotted him limping around the paddock but still working hard after he needed over 50 stitches in his leg due to an accident whilst working in Nigeria. Get well soon mate!
I could write several thousand more words about this part of the WTCC calender but I have written too much already about a place that I would rather forget and never have to go to again.


Once again, the internet speed is preventing me from including more pictures and I will do a photo update very soon.

Marrakech update and some photos.

I have to start this with a wonderful Twitter quote from a touring car legend, John Cleland.
dont get carried away with the romantics of Casablanca. The airports a shit hole and nearly had a bus shunt on the runway !!!

Well, it looks like we have all made it through the Tangiers port, but we are missing Nika Racing, We have completed the formalities through the customs in a much quicker time than in previous years and I have never seen all of the WTCC, Auto GP, and hospitality Truckies, looking so happy and relieved. For those of us who have done this trip before, it is unbelievable. For the new guys, it has been an experience that they will not forget. Unfortunately, we still have the return journey and I will let you know when it happens.

Damaged air compressor filter

We have had some more truck problems. A broken air compressor, broken hydraulic pipes and a some electrical problems. Thankfully, everything has been fixed or will be repaired at the circuit.

If you read my last story, you will see what I said about washing trucks when you are parked too close to somebody else so you can imagine how upset I was when somebody decided to wash their truck next to mine after I had spent all day polishing it. So when they get to the circuit tomorrow, there first job is to clean my truck and race trailer again. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID people. I know they will not make this mistake again though.
The Lada team have just arrived on Wednesday which is understandable after having to repair one car and build a new car.
Heroes.......every last one of them.
I have been out and about with my camera so please enjoy the photos.

MST track timing guy, digging up the track to install the timing gear in 28 Celsius heat.

RML Truckie hard at work

Alles einfach LKW waschen

The Italian Roal Truckies hard at work

The 250,000 Euro Tenneco/Monroe show truck under construction.

The view through the Marrakech garages before the teams start setting up

Washing the trucks in Marrakech.

RML truckie looking happy this morning.

It was good to see some more of the Truckies as they arrived today from Tangiers. So far, every truck has managed to come through the port very quickly. But I have been talking with some Truckies that used a different shipping agent and they also managed to get through the port in a very short time .I think I will have to speak to our shipping agent and see why we are being charged more money for the same service!!
The paddock in Marrakech is still under construction and tents and display stands are being built everywhere. There are water taps all around the paddock and I was rather amazed that when I got to the circuit this morning, the trucks parked next to me were being washed. Now we all have to make our trucks presentable and clean them, but I cannot understand why you would want to wash a truck when you have a 1 metre gap between each truck. The washing brushes are on poles which are 3 metres long so I am sure you can appreciate how difficult it is to work in such cramped conditions. The trucks parked either side of me have new drivers and I had to explain why it was so stupid to try and wash a truck in such a confined space. Hopefully, they will take my advice and not do this again. Common sense is not some peoples strong point !!!
You can see in the picture just how close some of the trucks are.

For anyone who is coming to watch the WTCC, in Marrakech, it will be easy to see who is a Truckie as everybody, today, seems to have caught the sun and we are all suffering from some sort of sunburn.
Next time, I will let you all know how the journey back to Tangiers port and the inevitable customs procedures progress. I think that with so many race trucks trying to get back to Spain at the same time, delays will be inevitable.



MOROCCO !!  PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG.

Entry to Morocco.

Road to Marrakech

It is 0400 hours and it is raining very hard in Algeciras. My journey to the truck parking place is not very long but when I reach the truck, I am soaking wet. A quick change of clothes and then I hang my wet clothes around the inside of the truck. With the heating system on high, my cab starts to resemble a hot and damp laundry. Myself and the other 7 trucks that are with me drive through the maze of roads in the port and we stop in front of the ferry. The chief boat loader signals me to drive onto the boat and then indicates that I should drive up a very steep ramp, to an upper deck. I tell him that you cant do this with a race trailer that sits so low to the road. He consults another man and a sensible decision is made and I should now drive onto onto a lower deck. Once we are on the boat, we complete an immigration card and go and get our passports stamped.

The trucks are parked very close together on the ferry to Morocco

The weather is making the sea quite rough and when the ferry arrives in Tangiers and the ramp is lowered onto the quayside, I can see the ferry is rising and falling approximately 2 metres due to the waves. Driving off safely involves timing your journey, down the ramp, at just the right moment when it is level and not at an acute angle. Unfortunately, one the trucks sustains some damage to one of the trailer landing legs. There is little we can do to make it any easier for us to drive off. I have mentioned before in my blog that these race trailers are not designed for all sort of driving conditions.They are designed to look good and to carry the cars and equipment. The skills that we have as drivers of these sort of race trailers can only be learnt through experience and talking to other Truckies. There is no book of instructions.

A damaged trailer landing leg which happened as the truck drove off the ferry

Once we were off the ferry, we parked up and waited for our shipping agent to collect our paperwork. In previous years we have had to wait many hours but this time, we waited only 2 hours. We then collected a piece of paper which has a barcode printed on it. This allows us to exit the parking area and drive to the customs area. We did have a delay due to the high numbers of trucks in the customs area but we were soon driving through the port.

The customs area is the same area that we use when we re-enter the port. I will tell you more about this when we leave Morocco.

And here is its foot.

I can only describe the activity in this area as CHAOS.
There are trucks being turned around, by the customs men, in such confined conditions and I personally had another trailer being moved about 2cm away from my trailer. My heart stopped as I could only hope that the other truck driver did not scratch the side of my race trailer. The port is huge so I do not know why they insist on trying to process all of the trucks in such a small space.
I was directed to try and park next to a fence and a customs man asked to look inside the trailer. When he was inside, he had a look at my carnet and then proceeded to ask me questions in French. I do not know how he understood what was written on the carnet as it was all in English !!!!
I shut and locked the trailer and with a little Moroccan wave of the hand by a policeman, I WAS FREE TO LEAVE THE PORT.
Total time from the ferry to getting on the road to Marrakech was 4 hours. UNBELIEVABLE.
Why this has not happened in previous years I do not know, but I was much, much happier.
The long drive to Marrakech is always easy as there is no real bad traffic. The only dangers are the many trucks and cars that have had a breakdown and then block one of the traffic lanes while they are being repaired.
I shall leave you with some more pictures from inside the port.

The customs men take a look at a BMW

The random chaos that is the Tangiers customs area

Honda truck being checked by customs

I know the way to Marrakech and also I know which direction Mecca is now