2021 FIA EUROPEAN TRUCK RACING CHAMPIONSHIP - LE MANS REVIEW
Another successful weekend of truck racing in the FIA European Truck Racing Championships as Luke climbs the rankings!
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Warm Up MV Commercials
The MV Commercial Racing Team worked into the night to repair the front-end damage sustained in a coming together with Andre Kursim’s Iveco which also resulted in a rear puncture for the German driver before sending Luke Garrett on his way for the morning warm up session ahead of qualifying.
Garrett complained of front-end push during the second race at Le Mans yesterday which denied him an opportunity to re-take Kursim and gain more points in both the FIA European Truck Racing Championship and the Chrome category classification.
The MV Commercial Racing driver currently sits seventh in the FIA ETRC Promoters Championship more commonly known as the ‘Goodyear Cup’ having taken 17 points this weekend so far to push his tally to 50 points, strong results this weekend will see him move above Heinrich Clemens Hecker who has competed in every round of the Championship to date.
It was an early start for the FIA ETRC Competitors, morning warm up being held at 8.00am local time, so the track was slippery with the morning dew and a little misty as the drivers took to the track.
Luke Garrett was steady in warm up and continued his track time learning the circuit as well as bedding in the changes in preparation for qualifying with a time of 2:22.604, 13th overall and fifth in class.
The result mattered little as this session was all about setting up the race truck and checking everything was working as expected.
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Free Practice 1 MV Commercial
The MV Commercial Racing Team were very happy in the first of two free practice sessions as they bedded in the MAN race truck ahead of the first of two races at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.
Luke Garrett recorded a time of 2:08.986 to finish 8th overall but more importantly second in the Chrome category classification as the team look to make ground on leader Teo Calvet.
The MV Commercial racing pilot managed 14 laps in the MAN, and only a late flying lap from FIA ETRC 6 time Champion Jochen Hahn and Rene Reinert denied him a top six classification overall.
Reinert will not be competing in the first race due to a misdemeanour in Zolder, serving his suspension so this will assist the MV Commercial Race team as they continue to make progress.
Their team partners The Apollo Tyres Tor Truck Racing Team lead the category times with Luke Garrett only 0.2 seconds adrift.
The MV Commercial Race Team MAN, sporting new decals from new team partners Fruehauf and LCI Spraybooth were competitive straight away and at one stage headed the Chrome Category live timings.
Garrett was delighted with the session, ‘As the day goes on and more rubber is laid down it will get faster, but I am happy with the time we recorded and I feel there is more to come, the circuit was very slippery at the beginning.’
The MV Commercial Racing Team driver added, ‘I feel more comfortable and confident, I am still learning what the truck can do but to be just 0.2 seconds from the class leader is extremely encouraging and I feel there is still more to come. It was good to analyse the data and see where Sasha Lenz was gaining time and we will learn more.’
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Race 1 MV Commercials
The MV Commercial Racing Team secured their first points in the main Championship as Luke Garrett brought the MAN truck home in ninth place and a fourth place classification in the Chrome Category.
The MV Commercial Racing Team were happy with the first race performance as Luke Garrett battled his way up from twelfth place on the grid to finish in ninth place and just off the Chrome category podium.
Garrett battled his way past Andre Kursim and Steffi Halm to move into the top ten, with a great mid race tussle coming to an end when Halm received a drive through penalty just as Luke out braked himself at the final corner.
‘To be fair I was pushing a bit too hard,’ said a delighted Garrett whose ninth-place finish is the best result so far for the MV Commercial Racing team.
‘The front end was pushing on a bit, we will look into this between the races. I was really pushing for it when I heard Steffen Faas had been given a time penalty but perhaps a bit too much, I had a warning for track limits and the team told me to calm down a little so I tried to race as hard as possible so a ninth place finish is a great reward for the team and also points in the Teams Championship as well as our first European Truck Racing Championship point.’
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Free Practice 2 MV Commercials
The MV Commercial Racing Team continued to make progress in the second of the two free practice sessions as they bedded in the MAN race truck ahead of the first of two races at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.
Luke Garrett improved on his time to record a time of 2:08.140 to finish 7th overall and again second in the Chrome category classification as the team look to make ground and an attempt to get into superpole for the first time this season.
The MV Commercial racing pilot managed 13 laps in the MAN in this session, finishing just behind Steffen Faas.
Their team partners The Apollo Tyres Tor Truck Racing Team suffered a mechanical failure and failed to record a time in the session
The MV Commercial Race Team MAN, sporting new decals from new team partners Fruehauf and LCI Spraybooth were competitive straight away and again at one stage headed the Chrome Category live timings.
Garrett was delighted with the session, ‘The truck feels very good, we are certainly competitive, and we hope to continue the progress made when we go out for qualifying for race 1.’
The MV Commercial Racing Team driver added, ‘There is more to come, the track is getting quicker, and we are starting to see the times coming down, it is important we continue to focus on each session and set our targets to be realistic but also competitive, the racing will be very close, and it is important we get a good starting position. The way this will be achieved will be to ensure we are well placed in the qualifying session, when that starts.’
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Race 3 MV Commercials
The MV Commercial Racing Team continued to amass points in the Chrome Category as Luke Garrett brought the MAN race truck home in fourth position in class just a fraction behind Luis Recuenco who made his truck as wide as possible in the closing laps to keep the MV Commercial Race team behind.
Garrett collected another seven points to his tally to make it 57 points in the Championship for the ‘Goodyear Cup’ and closing on Hecker who today announced he would be racing a Scania from the beginning of next season.
Jamie Anderson was an early casualty of the stewards of the meeting being disqualified for over speeding after a handful of laps.
Having left Hecker in his midst as soon as the race turned to a green flag, Luke Garrett closed on Recuenco but was unable to find the right line to move past on a wet circuit.
That was the story of the race and for the MV Commercial Race Team yet more valuable track time and a points haul of 24 points going into the final race of the weekend.
There is live streaming of all qualifying and races in the FIA ETRC Round at Le Mans Sunday 26th September on the FIA ETRC Website Links.
2021 FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Le Mans Race 4 MV Commercial
The MV Commercial Racing Team concluded their weekend’s work with another points finish in the Chrome Category of the FIA ETRC Promoters Championship, Luke Garrett moved to within a point of Heinrich Clemens Hecker in the standings amassing 34 points over the weekend, only Steffen Faas and Shane Brereton, the Championship Leader scored more than the MV Commercial Racing Team driver.
Once more it was a titanic battle with Steffen Faas just getting the better of Jamie Anderson for the minor podium places as Luke Garrett drove a strong race to record fourth in class.
Luis Recuenco and Hecker completed the standings in a race that had very little drama, at the front Andre Kursim pushed pole-sitter Brereton wide to gain an advantage he was never going to relinquish although Brereton was catching him at the end.
The MV Commercials Race Team pilot Luke Garrett pulled steadily away from Recuenco and set about those in front of him, closing the gap to Anderson but was never able to force a mistake from the British driver to give himself an opportunity to pass.
At the end of the weekend the Team were pleased to have secured points in the main FIA ETRC Championship as well as closing the gap to both Hecker and Aliyyah Koloc with just two rounds remaining at Jarama and Misano.
