Truckrace Season 2008: the new TGS outfit
The Truck Race season 2008 will be starting on May 10th in Barcelona. Spectators can look forward to ten race weekends with exciting contests. 25 drivers with eight different truck brands will be competing for this year’s European championship title. As in recent years MAN Nutzfahrzeuge will once again be dominating the field of starters – this year a total of 13 race trucks will be bearing the lion in their brand emblem.
MAN racing trucks with the new TGS outfit
This year the newly constructed or modified MAN race trucks will be appearing in a new outfit geared to the image of the new MAN truck range TGS. This season the MAN race trucks can thus be recognised by their striking front grille, which is also sporeted by the on-road version of the TGS.
The engine technology of the racing configuration of the D 26 common rail engine has been improved, increasing the performance capability of the 12.4-litre in-line six-cylinder engine. Numerous optimisations, above all on the common rail fuel injection system and in the form of a larger turbocharger, raised the specifications of the six-cylinder version significantly. With the racing version of the D26 CR, power outputs beyond the 1100 bhp mark, generating torque of 5000 Nm, are achieved for the first time in the history of MAN Racetrucks. Just a few years ago this was still a threshold reached by just a few prototypes in the Super Race class.
MAN motorsports family with newcomers
Fans of the speedy MAN trucks will be eager to see how the newcomer to truck racing, Mikhail Konovalov (44), acquits himself. The Russian has been recruited by the Austrian Team Allgäuer. At the age of 14 Konovalov started cart racing in St. Petersburg. Team Allgäuer decided on Konovalov after looking at several truck racers from East Europe and Russia.
Moreover, there will be a famous addition to the MAN motor sports family: Jochen Hahn, 34, will compete in the coming truck race season with a 1000 bhp racer made by MAN. The experienced pilot from Altensteig in Germany was able to end last season as a Mercedes driver in fourth place. "In Jochen Hahn, we have been able to acquire a very good driver for the MAN brand," said MAN Director of Sales Peter Erichreineke about the new man.
Serial success: Team Bernau
Lutz Bernau, with four European championship titles as a driver and team boss by far the most successful player in recent years, will be taking part with the same line-up. With his crew he is preparing a truck for the Spanish Cepsa Team with the European champion twice over and current runner-up Antonio Albacete as the driver. Beside this, as already last year, Bernau will be assigning a second MAN to the French driver Jean-Philippe Belloc.
Team Stuart Oliver
The British ex European champion Stuart Oliver is another experienced MAN driver who will be competing for the entire season. Since this year Oliver will be taking part with a thoroughly modified truck which, as in all of the top teams, is powered by the over 1100 hp common-rail engine, he reckons he stands a good chance of once again successfully playing with the big boys.
Guest drivers in the Allgäuer team
As before, a 'reserve truck' of the yellow fleet from the Allgäuer team will be driven in selected races optionally by one of the two celebrity guest drivers of the team, Hans-Joachim 'Striezel' Stuck or Prinz Leopold of Bavaria.
Interesting information about Truckrace
An overview of the teams with the TGS race truck
| Team | Startno. | Driver | Location | Truck | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipo CEPSA | 23 | Antonio Albacete | Madrid Spain | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Truck Race Team Allgäuer | 6 | Egon Allgäuer | Sulz Österreich | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Truck Race Team Allgäuer | 5 | Mikhail Konovalov | St. Petersburg Russland | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Trucksport Hahn | 4 | Jochen Hahn | Madrid Spanien | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Trucksport Lutz Bernau | 7 | Jean-Phillippe Bellov | Toulouse Frankreich | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Team Birds | 8 | Chris Levett | Worcesters Großbritannien | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |
| Team Stuart Oliver | 9 | Stuart Oliver | Hexham Großbritannien | MAN TGS 18.480 | D26 CR |