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1998 - THE YEAR'S RACING

12 VICTORIES / 18 PODIUM PLACINGS AND SECOND OVERALL

IN 1998 FIA EUROPEAN TRUCK RACING CUP FOR CATERPILLAR-TRD

LUOSTARINEN ONLY MISSES SECOND SUCCESSIVE TITLE BY 13 POINTS

 

The Caterpillar-Truck Racing Developments team again proved to be a major force in the FIA European Truck Racing Cup series; after a brilliant win for Harri Luostarinen in the 1997 series, this season the formidable Finn and his Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck stormed to second overall in the championship, only beaten by the narrow margin of 13 points, after a total of 40 fiercely contested races in eight different countries.

 

An outstanding performance in the second half to the 1998 season saw Luostarinen collecting no less than 230 points in the last five rounds of the series - hauling himself from fifth to be the main challenger to eventual champion Ludovic Faure.

 

During the season Luostarinen took a total of 12 race victories (more than any other individual driver - and double the total collected by champion Faure) and was on the podium on no less than 18 occasions!

 

Pre-season testing of the all-new for 1998 Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck was limited by poor weather conditions in the UK and the late supply of some vital components - and the rival factory Mercedes-Benz teams started with a considerable advantage, their four drivers having tested in warmer climates some four months before Truck Racing Developments could begin their programme.

 

"I guess we lost a few points early in the season - which gave Faure and the others a chance to establish a lead which we were fighting to catch up all season" said TRD Technical Director Henry Gracia.

"The competition was so close this season that fractions of a second made all the difference between starting at the front of the grid or near the back of the pack. With poor weather and mixed track conditions it took us a few races to get the new truck set-up exactly to Harri's liking - but once we got there he was really flying. On-going development throughout the season kept the truck really competitive and by the end of the season it was clear which was the quickest truck on the circuits".

 

The championship got underway at a cool and wet Dijon in France. In some atrocious conditions the Mercedes drivers Steve Parrish and Markus Oestreich dominated the podium with only Fritz Kreutzpointner (MAN) breaking their stranglehold. Faure - returning to Mercedes after a season with DAF - also performed strongly and consistently to end the weekend second overall. Luostarinen made a promising start to the weekend with a strong fourth in the Saturday Qualifying race - but after making a brilliant start in the Cup race was pushed wide by Faure, dropping him down the field and leaving him to fight his way back to sixth at the finish.

In Sunday's very wet conditions Luostarinen netted a pair of fourth places - coping well with the conditions despite some aggressive driving attacks from local man Faure.

 

Round 2 took the teams to Misano in Italy - and again the weather conditions were mixed. In the Saturday Qualifying race Parrish took the honours with Luostarinen a strong fourth. The Cup Race saw a storming start from Luostarinen, to climb to second place - and he then collected his first win of the year as leader Parrish was penalised for over-speeding!

 

Sunday's Qualifying race saw a fighting third for Harri after a great battle with the Spaniard Antonio Albacete (MAN). In the Cup Race Luostarinen survived a fierce attack from Kreutzpointner (MAN) to finish third 'on the road' - but found himself demoted to a poor eighth after collecting an over-speeding penalty. Oestreich took a double victory for Mercedes in both the Sunday races.

 

Barcelona in Spain hosted the third round of the championship and Luostarinen started the weekend with a fine fourth place in Saturday's Qualifying race - with Kreutzpointner winning for MAN. The Cup Race proved to be a disaster, as confusion among the officials regarding time penalties finally resulted in the results being cancelled!

 

Sunday's Qualifying Race saw Luostarinen running a strong second - but the Caterpillar Supertruck soon came under attack from the aggressive Kreutzpointner who pushed Harri wide, leaving him to come home fifth.

In the Cup Race Luostarinen's hopes were dashed at the first corner as local man Albacete made a desperate attempt to pass and hit the Caterpillar truck so hard from behind that the ignition cut-out was activated. By the time Harri had restarted the truck his rivals were long gone and with some major mechanical damage he had no option other than to retire - his only non-finish of the season. Parrish took the win to go top of the championship with Faure holding second overall.

 

Round 4 of the series took place in a heat wave at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the sunny south of France. Kreutzpointner was on top form - the MAN driver scoring four wins to go to the top of the championship tables. Luostarinen was having some technical difficulties - a faulty differential making it hard to get the considerable power of the Caterpillar engine through to the road. But the Finn made good progress - moving from eighth on the grid to take fifth in the Saturday Qualifying race and then blasting his way up to a fabulous third in the Cup race.

 

Sunday's Qualifying race saw a fifth for Harri, just behind Faure - but he turned the tables on the Frenchman to take fourth in the Cup race. More than 1000 Caterpillar customers and guests were at the French event - and they had plenty to cheer about in the last race of the weekend as Luostarinen scored a dominant win in the non-championship Grand Final. Unfortunately this race didn't score any points towards the European Cup - but the TRD team considered it a worthwhile opportunity to test some new suspension setting in race conditions.

 

Round 5 of the championship was the biggest event of the season - the German GP at the Nurburgring - watched by a record crowd of 230,000. A damp track on Saturday made driving difficult - but Luostarinen took a fighting fifth in both the Qualifying and Cup races.

 

Sunday saw a much improved performance from the Caterpillar driver - powering his way to second place in both the Qualifying and Cup races. Only one man stood between Luostarinen and victory - the on-form Mercedes driver Faure who scored maximum points in Germany and went into a one point lead over Kreutzpointner in the championship. Harri was still lying 5^th overall - some 46 points down on the leaders, but the Finnish driver was looking forward to the forthcoming events.

 

The sixth round of the European Cup was on 'home' ground for Luostarinen - and the Truck Racing Developments team took advantage of the opportunity for some valuable extra testing at the demanding Alastaro circuit. This certainly proved worthwhile as Harri powered his way to victory in both the Qualifying and Cup races on the Saturday.

 

Unfortunately the success story didn't continue the next day; in practice Harri collected an overspeeding penalty - which meant he was forced to start the Sunday Qualifying Race from the back of the grid. But showing some real determination he passed no less than six trucks to finish a fighting fifth. Another strong drive took Harri to sixth in the Cup race - with his brakes running red hot. Parrish took victory and went back to the top of the tables - but fifth placed Luostarinen had closed the gap on the leader down to 37 points.

 

Round 7 brought the Truck Racing Developments team back to the UK and the sweeping Donington Park circuit - a favourite for Luostarinen. Some fierce first-corner action in the first qualifying race saw the Caterpillar driver pushed wide and Harri had to work hard to take fifth place. In the Cup race Luostarinen made a superb start to move up to third - and he chased Oestreich (Mercedes) hard all the way to the line, just half a second splitting the pair.

 

The next day saw Luostarinen on top form - securing 'pole' position and powering to convincing wins in both the Qualifying and Cup races, followed home by Faure (the Frenchman had won both races the previous day). The Mercedes driver still led the championship - and Harri was still lying fifth overall - but now the gap was down to 33 points!

 

The next event took the teams into eastern Europe - and the high-speed Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic. Torrential rain made Saturday's races very difficult - but Luostarinen survived to take sixth in the Qualifying race and improved to finish fifth in the Cup Race. Oestreich (Mercedes) took a double win.

 

Sunday saw slightly better conditions - and a much better result for Luostarinen. Just pipped for the win in the Qualifying race by Kreuzpointner he powered the Caterpillar into an early lead to score a superb win in the Cup Race. But there was some strange behaviour going on in the fight for the minor placings; on the very last lap third placed Oestreich slowed down allowing fellow Mercedes driver Faure to go ahead and collect some valuable extra points. The Frenchman still led the championship - but Harri had now moved up to fourth overall and within 31 points of the leader!

 

One week later and the action moved on to the Zolder circuit in Belgium. Luostarinen was on top form and proved unbeatable all weekend - blasting his way to victories in both the Qualifying and Cup races on both Saturday and Sunday. The record 70,000 crowd must have been impressed as the 'Flying Finn' completely destroyed the opposition…. And moved up to second overall in the championship - just seven points behind Faure who had a disappointing weekend in Belgium. Harri's nearest challenger at Zolder had been Markus Oestreich - and the German Mercedes driver was still a serious contender for the outright championship honours as he was just two points behind Luostarinen with only Jarama to come!

 

The scene was certainly set for a dramatic finale as the teams headed off to the twisting Spanish circuit near Madrid. But the weekend certainly didn't go to plan for Luostarinen….

 

The first day at Jarama was dominated by MAN driver Kreutzpointner - the German winning the Qualifying Race (after a tough fight with Faure) and then the Cup event with the other Mercedes driver, Oestreich moving into second place in the closing stages.

 

Luostarinen in the Caterpillar, starting from fourth on the grid, was pushed wide by the Mercedes duo Jordi Gene and Ellen Lohr on the opening lap and had to work hard to make his way up to sixth at the finish, behind Parrish (Mercedes) and Albacete (MAN) after a spirited drive.

 

The Saturday Cup Race saw Kreutzpointner holding off Oestreich to win. But Luostarinen also made a flying start to run a strong third, holding off his title rival Faure - until four laps from the finish when the Caterpillar driver was forced to slow with transmission trouble. Faure gratefully powered past to take third while Harri, with his gearbox overheating could only nurse his truck home in a lowly eighth position.

 

Sunday's Qualifying Race was full of incident and it took three attempts to finally get this race completed - and even then the result was subject to some headed discussions!

 

The pressure seemed to be getting to Faure; starting from 'pole' position the Mercedes driver left his braking too late and ran off the damp track into the gravel trap. Luostarinen - who had fought his way into the lead - was looking good for the championship! But Faure slowly emerged from the gravel and after rejoining the circuit his Mercedes came grinding to a halt, blocking the track and bringing out the red flag to stop the race.

 

Amid much controversy Faure was allowed to rejoin the action - taking his original starting place on the front of the grid. But the rolling start saw contact on the straight between Faure and Luostarinen as the Mercedes driver attempted to block Harri's passing manoeuvre.

Faure lost control and hit the pit wall - triggering a massive crash as Kreutzpointner clipped Faure and sent Jordi Gene (Mercedes) smashing into the barriers. The Spanish driver escaped with minor injuries after a double roll - but the race had to be stopped once again!

 

The third attempt saw Faure initially leading - before Luostarinen powered the Caterpillar ahead halfway around the opening lap. Faure (with a suspected broken bone in his hand from the earlier incident) was still in fighting mood and chased hard all the way to the flag to finish a strong second, maintaining his championship lead. Oestreich battled his way ahead of Parrish and closed in on the leaders to claim third. The Cup Race saw Luostarinen ending the season on a high note, leading home hard-charging Faure with local man Albacete third.

 

But although Harri and Caterpillar-TRD had ended the year with a double victory Faure had done enough to secure the outright European Cup by the margin of just 13 points!

 

Second place for the independent Caterpillar-TRD team was an incredible achievement in the most fiercely contested European Cup series ever seen - the single machine in the hands of the 'Flying Finn' finishing ahead of all but one of the five factory Mercedes, four 'works' MAN drivers and the factory-supported DAF duo.

 

Unlike most of the opposition (who regularly replaced engines as a 'service' operation) the Caterpillar team had operated the entire season with one base engine unit - and the results in the second half of the season proved once again that the combination of Luostarinen, Truck Racing Developments and Caterpillar power is a formidable one!

 

The total 'live' audience at the ten European Cup events totalled in excess of half a million (including several thousand Caterpillar VIP guest and customers) and truck racing continues to attract an enormous amount of media coverage - including international television.

 

Luostarinen is already looking ahead to next season: "The Caterpillar engine performed superbly throughout 1998 - and now I'm determined to regain the Number One plate in 1999. Everyone at Truck Racing Developments is ready for a busy winter and plans for the new truck are already underway - to make sure I'm in front next year!"