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| Washing trucks at the Salzburgring |
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The Salzburg weather has given us everything from snow, hail, rain and then continued into glorious sunshine. But as we arrive on the Monday morning, at 0530 hours to collect the truck, the skies above the mountains are very grey.
We need to get as far as we can today and the autobahn in Germany has roadworks everywhere. That is why we are at the Salzburgring so early. It is 35 kilometres to the Austrian/German border and there is very little traffic. We have to buy German road tax for the truck and the first chance to do that is at the Autobahn services, at the border.
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| Still some snow on the Austrian mountains |
As we come around the corner and up the hill, we can see that the services is absolutely full of trucks. I make a quick decision and decide to stay on the Autobahn, even though trucks should not take this route. Normally, all trucks have to go through route the services. This gives the customs and police chance to stop and search any suspicious or dangerous looking vehicles. My decision to stay on the Autobahn looks like it may come to a very quick end. A police car is parked by the side of the road and I can only hope that we do not get stopped. I would just have to plead ignorance and try to talk my way out of any trouble.
Myself and another race truck behind me, slowly drive past the police. I look in my mirrors and I am sure that the police car has turned onto the Autobahn and is now following the truck behind me. We both continue driving, but nothing happens. We do not get stopped and are free to continue on our journey.
IT,S A MIRACLE !!!!!!!!!!
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| German roadworks |
Several trucks are passed on the way and they pass us again when we stop for a quick coffee.The roadworks are never ending through Germany. Kilometre after kilometre. Through the clouds of dust caused by the bulldozers and other earth moving vehicles, and on towards France.
A short detour from the German Autobahn, near Baden Baden, takes us across the River Rhine border crossing, and onto the French Autoroute. The Autoroute system is luxury compared to what we have just driven through and we can enjoy the journey a little bit more.
Our final destination will be England. But this evening, a hotel we know offers us the chance to rest up for the night. Unfortunately, some Bridgestone race trucks had got there before us and had parked in the hotel car park so that they took up 6 parking places with 3 trucks. NOT VERY CONSIDERATE! We spend the night in France and then just a few hours drive the next day, we will reach the port of Calais and cross the English channel, by ferry to the UK.
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| 41 Kilometres of roadworks |
One of the teams had arrived at the Salzburgring last week, with some serious damage to one of their trailers. A tyre had exploded and this not only damaged the bodywork and paintwork of the trailer. It had also broken all the electrical system that operates the tail-lift. Before the truck could be unloaded, the electrical system had to be repaired and then the bodywork had to be patched up to make the trailer look nice again. AND THEY DID A VERY GOOD JOB OF IT. The image of the trucks and trailers is as important as the cars and the garages. The spectators who walk around the paddock area take note of all of these things and it reflects on their teams personal image when things do not look 100%. You will see many people having their photograph taken next to some of these them. That,s how good looking the trucks are!!!!!
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| Exploding tyre damage |
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| Trucks parking up for the night in France |
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| Yokohama meets Bridgestone in France |
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| Chevrolet and Yokohama are friends again after the Austrian race. |
