WTCC Calendar 2013.......Version2.2

It doesn’t matter how many years you have been in motorsport, jet lag will still treat you the same as it treats someone who has just started in this business. It’s a silent voice in your head that wakes you up at 4am when you arrive at a race and tells your eyelids to start growing heavy at 4pm. Obviously that is not an option so you just have to work through it. I’m reliably informed that you get back one hour of time difference per day when you are abroad and the same when you get back home.
Despite my frequent travels, I now have very bad jet lag from my trip to the USA and also have a horrible cough and cold which I have brought back home with me, I am already useing my second box of tissues and my nose is very sore.

I have just seen a revised calendar for next year and it has put a smile on my face. Version1.1 was definitely not attractive to me and the other Truckies.

Please read this blog entry;  http://racetruckie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/41300-kilometres-and-counting.html

I am praying that the first race in Spain will be at a different track, not Valencia, for the sake of the fans more than anyone else. And it looks like we will be doing 13 races rather than the 12 in this years calendar. Where we could possibly go to between Italy and Slovakia? I really do not know.
The gap between Portugal and Brazil does seem rather a long time but the Italian(organisers), do seem to like their holidays!
Also, Shanghai seems to be before Suzuka.?????? I think that this is a typing error on the FIA website which is where I got my information.
The present world economy is a major consideration when it comes the WTCC calendar. Spain and Portugal seem to be in the news everyday, concerning their economic status. The rest of Europe is not in a brilliant position either. The cost involved for the teams, the organisers, the circuits and the television company is HUGE. And whilst I know that the WTCC is still gaining momentum around the world, everybody is struggling to find the money to go racing. This has been very noticeable in the paddock this year. Teams have not been spending as much money on new equipment, wheel rims, bodywork, tyres for testing, boarding for the garages, etc. Motor sport is one of the last businesses to suffer when a recession happens and it is the last to get back on its feet when the economy picks up again.
Anything that the Truckies can suggest to help their respective teams save money for next years racing will definitely help. When it comes to the logistics of moving everything around, we have a much better understanding than maybe someone sat in an office in the teams factory.

10/03 SPAIN.....to be confirmed
24/03 ITALY Monza
07/04 ?????.....to be confirmed
28/04 SLOVAKIA Slovakiaring
05/05 HUNGARY Hungaroring
19/05 AUSTRIA Salzburgring
09/06 RUSSIA Moscow Raceway
30/06 PORTUGAL Porto
21/07 BRAZIL Curitiba
15/09 USA Sonoma
13/10 CHINA Shanghai    I SUSPECT THIS SHOULD SAY SUZUKA !!!!!!!!!
27/10 JAPAN Suzuka       
17/11 MACAU Macau

I am sure that the WTCC calendar, Version3.3 will not be too far away. In the meantime, I just want to get rid of my cold and cough with some pills and vitamin C.

Statistics do not lie.

There is a saying in English, "BLOW YOUR OWN TRUMPET"
If someone blows their own trumpet, they boast about their talents and achievements.
I started this blog with the intentions of giving you a behind the scenes look at the life of a Truckie in the WTCC. It was not meant to be anything more than a written journal of what we do for a living. But I have been amazed at the interest that you have shown. The statistics that I get from Google have shown that the interest has gathered speed as each month has passed. The readers of my blog come from all over the world with many of you signing up for email notifications, every time I post something new.
I can see that Internet Explorer is the No.1 browser that you use, closely followed by Firefox and Safari.
Windows is the No.1 operating system and Android is No.2. The amount of people using a smart phone to view my blog is increasing all the time. Iphone is No.3
Referrals to my blog seem to come from Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully this is because you are finding my blog interesting.
The UK is where most of my page views come from but I suppose this can be expected as I write in English. Surprisingly, Russia is No.3 so I can only say that there are many fans of WTCC there and if we race there next year, I think we will have many spectators turn up.
Recently, the amount of views coming from the USA, actually exceeded the UK. It will be interesting to see if these figures remain high now that we have raced there.
The Translator option does get used very often and I hope that the people using it can still get a good understanding of what I am writing about. A mechanical translation is never perfect but should enable the reader to understand 70-80%. I have found that in my years of travelling around the world that more and more people speak some English. In an ideal world, we should all be able to communicate in a single language but for those of you that use the translator, I hope that it helps you understand me.
As the WTCC is coming close to its end of season conclusion, I aim to show you more interesting aspects of what the Truckies do using more video and hopefully telling a better story than I can ever do with words.

THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.

Sonoma update and High Definition video.

Washing area at the side of the garages

I thought that I would give you all an update on this weekend,s race at Sonoma, USA.

The Truckies and teams had a hard job to get everything loaded and put back in the containers so that they were ready to be collected and taken to the port at 0600 hours on Monday morning. The next stop for the containers is a 5000 mile journey fom Oakland to Kobe, Japan.


A couple of irritating problems for the Truckies were the wash facilities and trying to establish a good TV connection.
An attempt was made by the circuit concerning the wheel washing issue. Large metal washtubs were placed at the side of each block of garages. Apparently, there were enviromental issues regarding allowing the water to go into the drain system so we were forced to use the washtubs. This was ok for the teams who were close to them but not very good for the teams at the far side of each garage block.

Another BIG problem was the live television feed and timing screen feed to the garages and the pit lane area. Considering we were racing in the land where TV is KING. it was diabolical. I do not know how the circuit normally provides TV to the other races that they hold here but if we come to Sonoma again, I think this will the first thing that they have to put right.
I was hoping that I could include some pictures of big American trucks but the support racers did not have the money for this sort of equipment. I did manage to take pictures of one truck that was there. This was wrapped in carbon fibre effect, vinyl graphics. The total length of the truck and trailer was 76 ft.(23 metres) in length. In Europe, this would have not been able to use our smaller roads. Our trucks and trailers are 16.5 metres long. Also, in some states in America, they can drive at 85-90 MPH(140 KMH) In Europe, we are limited to 90KMH. The rules regarding the hours that a driver can do are totally different to European rules. Here, they can drive for one hour, take a 15 minute break, and then carry on driving for up to a total of 11 hours. In Europe, we also have a digital or analogue tachograph to monitor our driving time. In America, it is just a hand written, log book.

The only American race truck at Sonoma

American truck drivers log book

Inside the truck, the driver has a much more spacious sleeping area but, in my opinion, the layout around the drivers seat does not look as well designed as the trucks we have in Europe.

On the Saturday, I spent a long time taking video, with the aim of showing you how far the teams were having to move all of the cars and equipment to the pit lane. Unfortunately, I am totally new to this and did not have the video set to record in HIGH DEFINITION.
WHAT A FOOL I AM !!!!
On Sunday, I tried again, and I have included this video of my efforts. I decided not to try and edit the video, in case I messed everything up again. My apologies if it looks rough and amateurish , but I think you will get a good idea of the distance that the teams had to walk and hard work that they had to do this weekend.

I spent a long time talking to Paul(GIGAWAVE) and also to Stephen(INFINITIS). They gave me some very good ideas of how I can use the video to produce some very different camera angles and hopefully, before the season ends, I will be able to post some better video clips for you to watch.

Next race for the Truckies will be in Japan and I will be updating my blog again from there. As I am typing this, I have just found out that my return flight home has been delayed. It is at times like this that I miss my truck and I just wish that I could get in it, start it up and drive home.

Sonoma Sunshine

The view towards the Sonoma hills

After arriving at San Francisco Airport, I have to catch the monorail train which takes me from the International Terminal, and  finishes its journey at the rental car desks. Whilst collecting the hire car that has been booked, I am already being asked whether I would like a bigger vehicle for the same price.  

OKAY....SUPER SIZE ME !

A pleasant drive from the airport, through the park area and across the Golden Gate bridge towards San Rafael and I arrive at my hotel, which is approximately 20 minutes drive from the Sonoma circuit. I have been trying to stay awake to avoid any jet lag. This seems to have worked as I managed to get a good nights sleep and feel okay when I woke up the next morning. The containers arrived at the back end of last week and are already on the ground, lined up and ready for the teams. Several teams have arrived before us and have started the arduous task of unloading the containers and setting up the garages.

Sidelifter container rig

Containers at Sonoma

As I expected, the team garages are some distance from the pit lane area and will mean that it is essential to make sure that everything is taken to the pit lane area when the cars are on track. i  measured the distance from the team garages to their allocated space in the pit lane and it was approximately 227 metres(745 ft).

THAT IS A LONG WAY TO HAVE TO MOVE SO MUCH EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS.

Also, the issue of electric power supply is currently being sorted out and the local electrians have been very, very busy locating large generators behind the garages and also in the pit lane area. They have managed to supply the teams with a 400 volt, 3 phase power supply, by turning down the output from the generators and they have also provided us with a 240 volt single phase. This single phase supply is making some equipment sound a little bit strange as it is running on a 60Hz cycle. Normally, in Europe, it is 50Hz. But.....everything is working as it should and the electricians have done an amazing job.

Generators being set up behind the garages

Pit lane area in front of the main grandstand

 One thing that is missing in the garage area is a water supply. How are the truckies meant to wash the wheels? The toilet blocks are some distance from the team garages and this means that buckets of water will have fetched and carried and just makes the job much more difficult.
This may seem like a silly point to make but presentation is very important at WTCC level and to have cars going on track with dirty wheels and rims is not good for the overall appearance of the car.
I think that European circuits have a much better layout than Sonoma. The concept of having garages that are some distance from the pit lane is strange. It obviously suits the different American racing formats but makes so much extra work for the WTCC.
With plenty of sunshine forecast, it will be interesting to see how many people turn up this weekend and appreciate all the hard work and effort done by the organisers, the teams, the circuit and everyone else involved.

Garages being set up at Sonoma

                                    Here is a video I took of the circuit from a golf buggy. ENJOY.

I have just received a video from Brent at Kiwi containers. They were involved in bringing the containers to Sonoma and it will give you a good idea of how their truck drivers move the containers around.

02/10/2012 N 07°06' W 080°42 Panama Canal

Gatun Lock, Panama Canal

Ships position 07/10/2012

As I am typing this, the WTCC containers have travelled through the Panama Canal and are on the last part of their journey to the USA.
I have managed to get a web cam screen shot as the ship passes through one of the locks.(it is the Hapag Lloyd ship in the picture). I spent a lot of time tracking this ship and constantly checking the web cam until I finally managed to get this.

I MUST BE MAD !!!!


Elsewhere in the world of the Truckies, various teams have been testing at Vallelunga, Brands Hatch, Slovakia Ring and Magny Cours.
Engine tests, suspension tests and for the new Honda WTCC team, testing a complete new car.
 
I would also like to thank Paul from  Racingage.com who helped us out by supplying one of his excellent tyre inflation cages at very short notice. This allowed us to meet the very strict Health and Safety regulations when working in the UK.
So as the season continues in two weeks time, I will have chance to update my blog more often and give you something interesting to read. Personally I am looking forward to seeing my Truckie friends again rather than just sending SMS and emails. I am also hopeing that we all get easily through the American immigration controls which I have experienced before.

Racingage.com inflation cage

UPDATE 12/09/2012
It looks like our containers have arrived in Oakland, USA.
HELLO AMERICA

Destination Oakland