MOST

MKR closes the season triumphantly in Le Man

Le Mans - A completely tragic beginning and an incredibly successful end. These words could summarize the events of this season’s last stop of the European Truckracing Championship in Le Mans, France for the north Bohemian team of MKR Technology. Whilst Saturday‘s unreasonable disqualification spoilt any chances to def…

More news

Jarama opened with a double and was closed by a hard hit and a bronze for Lacko

04.10.2011 13:15

Jarama – Euphoria, joy, anger and determination. MKR Technology’s team had to cope with all these feelings at the penultimate event of the European Truck Racing Championship at the Spanish track of Jarama. First of all, the trio of pilots attacked the second triple in history which was eventually spoilt by the champion Albacete’s third place and later their way to the highest ranks ended in collisions and hits. Markus Oestreich’s and Markus Bösiger’s black weekend was improved by their young colleague Adam Lacko. The tension is growing and the ultimate ranking of this year’s championship will show only after the very last race in Le Mans.

MKR opened the weekend in an excellent shape. Markus Bösiger recorded the fastest time of the super pole and his teammates Oetreich and Lacko followed, and so starting the main race from the first three positions was sensational. Euphoria continued, the only opponent to cut the black-and-red thread of Renaults was the reigning champion Antonio Albacete. However, the Spaniard overtook only Lacko and so the winners‘ podium ensemble was literally copied from the last year, when Bösiger had taken home a win, leaving Oestreich and Albacete closely behind. Lacko finished fourth. “From the start I was basically just defending my position. I knew I had a solid headstart so I didn’t risk too much and had Oese’s back. He’s got my respect, Antonio really got him under pressure,“ said Markus Bösiger, the victorious Swiss of MKR Technology.

The afternoon handicap race had the elite eight exchange their positions, which meant that Adam Lacko set off from the third line. Despite that, he made it through to the podium, occupying the third spot. “I secretly wished I could repeat what I had done in Smolensk and suddenly I was leading after the first chicane. That didn’t quite work out but I got to the podium after all. Mario said he trusted me to make it there, so I’m happy I didn’t let him down,“ smiled the overjoyed Adam Lacko, who crossed the finishing line after Albacete and Hahn respectively.

Originally, Lacko’s teammate Bösiger collected points for the sixth spot in Saturday’s handicap race, with Oestreich on the next position, but the penalty for exceeding the maximum speed limit which followed sent him as far as spot eleven. Eventually, Oestreich got to position six.

Anyway, a great portion of bad luck came on Sunday. The main race was restarted due to a big collision and most of the trucks returned to the starting grid with seriously damaged bodywork parts. “The mechanics couldn’t repair anything on the grid, except for things that could threaten safety of the race, like broken parts of the machines. I restarted with a defected outer rear left wheel, broken windshield and countless broken parts of the car,“ described his impressions Lacko, whose colleagues both had to survive in similar conditions.

However, the damage on Bösiger’s and Oestreich’s trucks was too big for them to make it from the second start to finish and both representatives of the north Bohemian team had to give up the race before they could see the chequered flag.

Adam Lacko, who finished on the fourth, also had to leave his truck in a somewhat unusual way in the end – through the other door and with glass in his eyes. The win was taken by Albacete one step before Vršecký and Hahn. “It was a wild race. Me and Bösi are going for gold in the constructors‘ competition. I don’t even want to imagine the impact this point loss can have,“ explained the disappointed Markus Oestreich.

The team was not spared collisions and difficulties in the handicap race either, since it also had to be started for a second time. The technology gave up on Oestreich after a hit and the drive through ordered to Bösiger after clipping corner markers dropped him all the way down to position fourteen. Adam Lacko sensationally got in front of Albacete and Vršecký to the bronze spot, Kiss and Hahn taking the gold and the silver respectively. “Never before did I see both races in one day get restarted. It was an incredibly hard day, for me personally as well as for the team as a whole,“ added Lacko.

Before the last race of the season Lacko is holding the third position, the German Jochen Hahn guards his lead from Spain’s Albacete, who got dangerously close to him. Markuses Oestreich and Bösiger are on positions five and six. As for the team competition, the leading duo Albacete/Nittel managed to get away from MKR’s Bösiger/Oestreich by forty-nine points. In comparison, Buggyra on the third place is beating the junior project MKR Team 14 Juniors, with Lacko and Janiec on board, by mere eight points. “The Irish band U2 sings about a bloody Sunday. In Spain we survived one. What happened here is hard to believe. I wouldn’t hesitate to use the word tragedy, although every one has to live through one time to time. We lost many important points in the least suitable time. On the other hand, Adam showed some amazing manoeuvres, which can be a kind of consolation for us,“ said Mario Kress with mixed feelings.

The closing event of the European Truck Racing Championship is scheduled to take place in Le Mans, France, on the upcoming weekend (8.-9.10.). “I’m always optimistic. Of course you must look at things realistically but until there’s still the chance to rise up, I’m not gonna see it as a lost cause altogether. The audience can look forward to Le Mans because we’re going to put up some serious fight there,“ added MKR Technology’s boss Mario Kress as the true leading man.

Text: MKR Technology
Foto: Patrik Pátek, foto-text.com