Nürburgring next stop on truck race calendar

After three races in England, the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC) goes European this weekend for one of the highlights of the racing season.

Drivers and their teams, including the Ecodrive-sponsored Ray Coleman and his LRS Racing team, will be heading to the world-famous Nürburgring chasing valuable points to push them up the BTRC standings.

Slicing cleanly through forest covered foothills to Germany’s border with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Nürburgring circuit is known as one of the most demanding in the world.

Dubbed the ‘Green Hell’ by Sir Jackie Stewart who won on the circuit three times between 1968 and 1973, the ring does not host as many races as it used to. But the 32^nd ADAC Truck Grand Prix will be there and will feature Britain’s best truck drivers.

European truck racing champion Jochen Hahn believes that the Nürburgring is one of the best circuits for truck racing in Europe.

He said: “This is a real drivers’ circuit. We love the history, but it also suits our trucks very well and is good to race on.

“The atmosphere for the drivers is fantastic and believe me when I say that the crowds are so loud that we can hear them, even through our helmets, and this enthusiasm is really inspiring.”

The three-day event expects to attract more than 200,000 spectators with a combined FIA, ETRC and BTRC presence in one huge international event.

As well as all the racing action, there will be a giant European Working Truck Show, an open air country concert and a heart-racing firework display to finish things off.

British championship finely poised

The BTRC remains finely poised heading into Germany. MAN drivers Ryan Smith, Mat Summerfield, Shane Brereton and Dave Jenkins dominate the top four spots with 13 points separating the four trucks.

Ecodrive-sponsored Ray Coleman remains in sixth place following several strong finishes at the last race meet at Thruxton at the start of June. Ray and the LRS Racing team managed a third place finish but the top podium spot still eludes them.

There will be four ranking races at the Nürburgring this weekend, so stay tuned to find out how the championship standings shape up.