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.
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| 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.
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| 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.htmlOn 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.
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| 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.
