The third round of the 2023 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship was held at Tor Poznan in Poland. This is a new event for the championship and the first time truck racing has ever been hosted in Poland.
The whole paddock was excited to have a new country and circuit on our racing schedule and here at T Sport Bernau we have received huge interest from our team partners. Over the two day event we hosted around 200 guests from our partners PE, Varta, Nissens and Teng Tools.
The free practice sessions for this weekend were scheduled for Friday, this gave Antonio and the engineers the opportunity to learn about the track and perfect the setup of the truck ready for the weekend. Saturday morning saw the first qualifying session of the weekend and Antonio was able to secure 4th position for the start of the first race with only a marginal gap to the top 3. A great start to the weekend and a confidence boost for the team, proving that we were heading in the right direction with the setup of the truck.
Race 1 got underway and after a great start unfortunately one of the anti roll bars on our truck failed after contact with another truck. This made it difficult for Antonio to keep up with the pace of the front runners as the handling of the truck was compromised. With some great skill and determination Antonio was still able to find enough pace in the truck to come home in 5th position, salvaging some championship points for his efforts.
As always the reverse grid format saw Antonio start race 2 in 3rd position on the second row of the grid. However, in the first corner there was some ambitious moves made by some of his rivals from behind which resulted in Antonio being pushed wide and off the circuit. This resulted in Antonio tumbling down the order while he made his way back onto the track. Determined as ever, Antonio fought hard and was able to make up a few of the positions he had lost, climbing to 9th position. However after the turn 1 incident a problem developed resulting in Antonio being warned by race control for a very strictly controlled and measured “black smoke” warning. Unfortunately this was not something that could be rectified quickly by the race mechanics meaning we couldn’t continue in the race and ultimately were unable to score any championship points for that race. A disappointing finish to the day for the team.
Sunday got off to a much better start with Antonio setting a great lap time in qualifying to secure 2nd place on the grid. Unfortunately our optimism didn’t last long as shortly after the start of the third race of the weekend Antonio was once again pushed off the circuit, this time having a heavy impact with one of the Armco barriers that border the track. The race was suspended so that the safety barrier could be repaired which gave our mechanics an opportunity to make some quick repairs to the truck and get Antonio back into the pits before the race was restarted meaning he could continue with the race, albeit starting from the pit lane in last position. Antonio’s steely determination shone through once again and with some fantastic racing he was able to climb up the order to finish the race in 7th position. This meant he was able to earn more championship points and due to the reverse grid format he would start the final race of the weekend from 2nd place.
The final race came around and after a challenging weekend Antonio was able to drive the perfect race, starting from the front and leading from shortly after the start to finish. Rounding off the weekend with a trip to the top step of the podium, collecting a decent haul of points and some silverware to take away from the weekend. This was the boost in morale Antonio and the whole team needed.
Antonio now stands in 4th position in the overall championship standings, only 2 points behind Sascha Lenz in 3rd. All in all it was a challaging weekend for the whole team and we are still faced with a lot of repair work to get the truck back into the optimum condition for the upcoming Nürburgring event. We were however extremely pleased to race at a new circuit and to see so many enthusiastic fans and guests at the event.
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