Winter plans.

Now we have got all of our equipment back from Antwerp, we have had chance to make a list of things that need repairing or need replacing. Whilst we all pack and strap everything in the trucks securely and drive our trucks carefully, the container freight is out of our control and the containers can have a very rough journey around the world. Minor damage to wheels on toolboxes or packing boxes is almost unavoidable and we always have to replace some of them every year. The trucks and trailers are also due for their inspection checks so a trip to the workshop is the next thing that we need to do.
Yesterday, I drove to Silverstone to talk with some old Truckie friends and also get some up to date information on Russia. We have been looking at the many various routes that we can take for the first WTCC visit to Russia. There are several ferries that will take us to the port of St Petersburg where we should be able to clear the customs, relatively quickly. The other options of driving overland through Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are also available to us. As these countries are in the European Union  there are no customs checks, but we will still have to clear customs as we go into Russia. Some of the Russian border crossings have a ticket system to help the drivers. When you arrive, park your truck and proceed through the customs when your number is called. Unfortunately, the crossing point at Terehova, near Zilupe, which is on the most direct route, is also a very, very busy border crossing and has no ticket system. Further north, there is another crossing at Grebnava and whilst the distance in kilometres is more, we may be able to cross the border quicker due to less traffic.

There is a very helpful website http://www.vid.gov.lv/default.aspx?tabid=9&id=5784&hl=2# which shows you the waiting times at all of the border crossings from Latvia to Russia
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The WTCC teams will be driving to the Moscow Raceway from Spain, Italy, Germany and other countries. Due to the complexities of border crossings, road tolls for the trucks and also the condition of the roads in some Eastern European countries I think everyones options are quite limited. A "fixer" to help your truck through the customs process and language barriers is a worthwhile consideration. If you search for Latvia/Russia border videos on Youtube, you can see what we MIGHT have to deal with.
AND WHEN THE RACE HAS FINISHED, WE  HAVE TO CROSS THE BORDER AGAIN. I cant wait...hahahaha.
Figures released for 2012 show that around 90 people die every day on Russia’s roads and the figure is showing no sign of reducing in 2013. Accident reports are flooding the news on a daily basis. The driving habits in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are nearly the same so we will have to use all of our skills to avoid any accidents.

Before I leave Silverstone, I take the opportunity to drive past Bamboo Engineering and take a picture of their race trailers outside their workshop.

 

A cold day in Belgium

Europe in winter time and the wind and rain is depressing. I am at the container warehouse in Antwerp to collect our sea freight, which has finally arrived back from Macau. DHL and Weitracon are here to help the teams again as we unload the containers and put cars and equipment, back into our trucks.

STR loading one of their race cars

Yokohama, Special Tuning Racing and RML are here at the same time. I ask the RML boys if they have any idea of the teams plans for the 2013 season. Everything is just a rumour with nothing being finalised yet. It will be a shame if they do not make it back into WTCC. I have known them all for so many years and I will miss the camaradrie and friendship. Yokohama had a busy time due to the fact that they had over 2000 tyres to load into their trucks. We are so lucky that most of the races are in hot countries and when you pick up a tyre, it feels compliant and soft. With the 2 degree temperature in Belgium, they now feel as hard as a rock.
Lunchtime arrived and we drove the short distance to a cafe in the market place and devoured the huge portions of french fries and mayonaisse that the Belgiums are renowned for.

Lunch !!!

  

The start of the season is a couple of months away and the list of teams who will be competing is not yet complete. Unfortunately, the Arena Ford team, seem to be struggling with finances and calls to their truckies have gone unanswered, so I do not know what is happening with them. The WTCC paddock is a very friendly environment and I know that the Ford team members were well liked and respected. The working environment in the WTCC means that you may travel on the same roads, see each other at different airports and stay in the same hotels and of course we work at the same race track. You get to know people very quickly under these circumstances and while we are all here to work, personal friendships are also made. And when a team stops racing, you really do feel that you have lost some good friends. With my new look blog, I have decided that I do not want to simply repeat what I did last year so in 2013, you can expect some interviews with various team members and other people in the WTCC community. I will also be highlighting the jobs of some of the other truckies who work in the support races that make up a WTCC weekend.
A competition is being being planned with various prizes up for grabs. But I will have to look into the legal implications of this first.
My trusty camera will be in action again and I hope that after practicing my video editing techniques, I will have something that I can post on You tube.

How to get a Racecar to the Track

To start this years blog, I thought that I would have a quick look at the history of the vehicles that get all these race cars to the circuits.

Auto Union(Audi)

To win a race, you have to get to the race first. So you’ve got to take your racing car, team crew and all its assorted paraphernalia sometimes over a 1000 kilometres from home to a circuit often lacking in many of life’s necessities One of the problems for early race car team owners was that there were few if any firms that specialised in the specific design and construction of a race car transporter, and it wasn,t until the advent of the 1970s that custom built trucks started to appear. Before the 1970s, when big money from sponsors helped to smarten up the paddock, all sorts of buses, furniture trucks, vans, trailers and other types of lorries were used in some shape or form.
Years before Europe,s motorway system had been developed, the teams had to move their cars, as quickly as possible, from the factories to the race tracks. Before tachographs were a legal requirement, mechanics or other team members would drive almost non-stop, taking turns to sleep and drive. There are some truly fantastic stories of journeys involving accidents, breakdowns and other incidents. Encounters and bribes with customs officials when they crossed the borders and trying to find fuel for the vehicles as there were not so many petrol stations. Many of the earlier trucks had petrol engines and after a race, they would use the leftover race fuel from the cars. Finally, they changed over to diesel engines when the fuel companies made it harder to take the petrol. Drivers had to endure the hot, fume filled and sweaty cabs (no air conditioning) as the under powered engines crawled slowly up the mountain roads and the smell of the brakes that started to overheat when they came down the other side. All the things that I write about in this blog, the behind the scenes stories at the race meetings, and also between the races, I think it all makes a better story than the racing itself.

1953; Alfa Romeo at Le Mans

Mercedes Benz 1955

In 1955, one of the most famous and distinctive of all transporters was produced when Mercedes-Benz engineer, Rudi Uhlenhaut, introduced this high-speed special, superbly built around  a well-tuned Mercedes 300SL engine, drivetrain and suspension parts. It could cruise at 175kmh when it was empty and at a genuine 160kmh when it carried a car. 

The 1957 Vanwall team who made the car for the legendary Stirling Moss, used the truck you can see in the picture above. It certainly doesnt look very glamourous.

1971 Team Tyrrell

Nurburgring paddock 1972

The stories of yesteryear may never be repeated as modern day trucks and the driving hours are regulated so much by law. The fantastic transporters that today, totally dominate the paddock areas, are worlds within worlds. The modern day tarmac or asphalt paddock areas have replaced those which were once covered with grass, often muddy, but endlessly interesting paddocks of the 1950s and 60s-with super-attenuated high tech offices and garages.
There is a very good book called " Inside the Paddock: Racing Car Transporters at Work" Written by David Cross. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Paddock-Racing-Transporters-Work/dp/1854432540
It is a fantastic read and has many stories and pictures showing how things used to be done and if my blog interests you, then this book will be even more interesting.

Look at  the difference in these two pictures and see how things have moved on.

BRM

Aston Martin

Ecurie Ecosse(Jaguar)

Lotus F1

Ligier team

Ferrari at Dutch GP 1969

British GP 1991

Surteess F1

Williams F1 1981

1953 Lancia team

Copersucar Fittipaldi team

Mclaren F1 1992

Jordan Racing 1981

Dutch GP 1985

Race trucks 2009
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