FIA ETRC 2021: Autodrom Most - Friday & Saturday

Friday:

MOST Free Practice 1

Persistent rain altered the nature of the circuit and the MV Commercials Team dry race set up for Free Practice 1 as Luke Garrett made his debut in the number 86 MAN.

With little time to assess the changes made, Luke went out onto the circuit and ensured there was no drama as he posted 15^th quickest time in the MV Commercials liveried MAN.

A time of 2:23.594 was the best time he achieved as the team watched on through the wet session.

‘I really enjoyed being out there with the best truck racing drivers in Europe, I made mistakes on every lap as it was slippery and I had never driven at this circuit as I was trying to find the right line to take’, was Luke’s initial assessment as he was congratulated by his team mechanics and support staff.

‘I think there are a couple of seconds, maybe three that I can gain, a lot is down to the braking, I didn’t want to total the truck by being over zealous in my first run. I prefer it in the wet I feel more comfortable’.

Luke closed on his debut session by saying, ‘I am really looking forward to the second practice session, the first was the quickest half hour of my life in a race truck’.

The team are confident they will close the gap to the early event pace maker Teo Calvet in a little over an hours time when the trucks go out for the second free practice session on what is at the moment a drying track, but the forecast is for more rain by the time the session starts.

Saturday:

MOST Qualifying 1

The MV Commercials Racing Team went into warm up having made a few changes to the set up to deal with a predominantly wet circuit with a set of new tyres on both axles and new front disc brakes to be bedded in ahead of the first qualifying session that determined the grid for Race 1.

Luke Garrett performed admirably despite some difficulties in qualifying, Aliyyah Koloc returned to the circuit after an off that forced Luke to lift on his ‘flying lap’ and traffic on his second lap caused a rethink as the tyres started to go away.

A time of 2:05.22 saw the debutant into 17^th place, only half a second behind Jamie Anderson who lines up 12^th.

The MV Commercials team driver commented, ‘I am really enjoying this experience, although I have been racing for some time, I am learning from the best in the business and it is a step up’.

Garrett added, ‘The MV Commercials MAN is becoming more responsive although I feel I didn’t quite put every corner together in one lap so there is more to come’.

‘The race plan is to let things take their course, we feel as a team that a podium in the Goodyear Cup Chrome class is a definite possibility and that is what we are aiming for in the racing, I am becoming more confident with every exposure to the circuit and I am trying not to put myself under pressure although I do feel as though I have a lot of people watching me’.

The MV Commercial Team pilot added, ‘I am delighted at the amount of support and best wishes that have been given not only to me but also the team in general from a wonderful Czech crowd, it is very uplifting and I would like to do my best for them as well’.

MOST Race 1

Luke Garrett’s race debut for the MV Commercial Race Team was eagerly awaited and he did not disappoint despite being held up throughout the race by the Buggyra Racing Freightliner of Aliyyah Koloc before taking the flag in 17^th place.

The race itself was started under the yellow caution sign which meant racing speeds could be attained but there was no overtaking allowed until they crossed the line at effectively was the beginning of lap three.

Norbert Kiss raced to a commanding early lead over Jochen Hahn’s Iveco which for the second round running behaved like a mobile chicane as a quiver of drivers lined up to overtake him.

Sasha Lenz finally got past with the two coming together resulting eventually to a retirement for the former European Champion, Antonio Albacete also passed the ailing German but a mistake allowed home hero Adam Lacko to take the final podium position after a thrilling 8 lap battle to the line.

In the Goodyear Cup the Buggyra Freightliner of Teo Calvet took a victory and finishing in eighth place it gave the young French driver a commanding advantage for the reverse grid race starting from pole and eight places ahead of his nearest ‘Goodyear Cup’ challenger Shane Brereton in the Apollo Tyres Tor Truck Racing MAN. Fellow British driver Jamie Anderson took third place in that category.

‘I felt a bit nervous at the start and obviously when we were told it was a full course yellow start it allowed all the trucks to effectively gain track position and the drivers to compose themselves’,’ was Garrett’s initial thoughts, ‘it was a frustrating race, four times I got alongside Koloc but each time I could not quite make the move stick, in fairness she also closed the door on me a couple of times, what made it worse was I could see the other trucks of Hecker and Lukas Hahn disappearing up the road’.

‘At a circuit like this, where apart from the start finish straight you feel you are always turning so you cannot build up speed to overtake, unfortunately even slowing to leave a gap I allowed Aliyyah a three second opening but caught her within the same lap’.

‘Towards the end of the race we were suffering from brake pressure problems, related to something from the water injection, although the lads have not found the cause of it just yet and there was a clutch problem so that made the task of overtaking more difficult’.

‘The key to gaining places at this circuit is in qualifying, if I can find another half a second then the race takes on a different perspective, but for my first race I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the second race a little later this afternoon’, a buoyant but frustrated MV Commercial debutant exclaimed.