Bird’s Motorsport -
Smolensk 2010
FIRST EVER RUSSIAN RACE
The all-new Smolensk circuit hosted the first-ever international Russian motor race event over the weekend of August 7/8 – and Chris Levett only just missed out on podium position in Race 1 having set a stunning pace in qualifying.
With temperatures soaring to 40C there were some concerns whether the new track and the race machinery would suffer – but in fact both the circuit and the racetrucks coped remarkably well with the extreme conditions.
During the first ‘free practice’ sessions it became clear that overtaking on the tight and twisty 3.362km Smolensk Ring was going to tough – and that a clean and quick lap time for a good grid position would prove essential.
Chris Levett certainly didn’t disappoint with his performance in the Saturday timed qualifying – posting a best time of 1m.51.498s. (112.361km/h). Only one driver was able to beat Levett’s time; Championship leader Antonio Albacete who was quicker by just 0.069s. – so the Bird’s Motorsport MAN lined up on the front row, alongside the Spanish driver.
Levett started strongly in Race 1 and shadowed Albacete in the early stages – but eventually Jochen Hahn (MAN) and David Vrsecky (Freightliner) got ahead denying Chris a place on the first-ever podium. In fact the closing stages of an exhausting 14-lap race saw Levett fully occupied in holding off the challenge of Markus Oestreich (Renault) – Chris successfully defending his 4th place to cross the line just 1.5 seconds ahead of the German.
This result, combined with Albacete’s victory enabled Truck Sport Bernau to collect first place in the Teams’ prize ceremony.
In race 2 the ‘Reverse Grid’ format for the top 8 finishers obviously handicapped Levett – forced to start from 7th spot on the grid. Nevertheless after a relatively lonely race Chris brought the Bird’s MAN home in a strong 6th position.
Sunday morning saw another day of record high temperatures at the Russian circuit – but an enthusiastic audience still braved the conditions bringing the crowd total for the weekend to 18,000.
Levett was not so happy with the ‘set-up’ of his truck on Sunday and in practice was nearly 0.9s slower than the previous day – thereby qualifying 7th.
Championship race 3 didn’t go so well – and Levett lost a couple of positions in the early laps and finally came home in 9th position – still ahead of the Freightliner driven by ‘local hero’ – Russian driver Michail Konovalov.
In Championship race 4 – which had to be re-started after Markus Bosiger (Renault) ran off following the initial start – Levett put on a good performance to climb through the field from 9th on the grid to a strong sixth at the flag. With Albacete taking victory again, Chris’ result again provided Truck Sport Bernau with the valuable points to gain first place on the Teams’ podium.
Levett’s points tally for the Russian weekend was 22 – so he still holds 6th overall in the European Championship standings. The next race is at the Autodrom Most (Czech Republic) on August 28/29.
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