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2001 - THE YEAR'S RACING |
Harri Luostarinen made a promising start to the defence of his European Cup title with two strong performances in the Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck at the Circuit Dijon-Prenois in France on Sunday (April 29).
After getting pole position for the Sunday Qualifying race in the rain, Harri was outrun into the first corner by Parrish, a postion which he held until the last lap when the two made contact on the last lap, resulting in Harri running off and being relegated to 7th place. The damage was largely cosmetic and he was soon ready for the Cup Race, but now relegated to fourth row on the grid, on a wet circuit with few passing possibilities.
Harri was now determined to make up for this set-back and jumped from 7th to 5th place on the opening lap, and in the still wet conditions had fought his way up to 2nd place by the end of lap 3. However, Albacete the race leader held him off and Harri had to be content with second after a magnificent recovery. This gave Harri 19 points and second place in the Championships behind Antonio Albacete before the next round in Valencia, Spain.
This was to be a dissapointing weekend for Luostarinen with 2 fifth places and 14 Championship points which slipped him to 5th place. Saturday's practice saw him turning in a time just 0.767 secs from pole position Markus Bosiger, but even this close time saw him starting fifth. In the fine weather, and in front of a crowd of 23,000, The Qualifying Race saw lead positions unchanged to leave Harri at fifth spot. In the longer Cup Race, Harri still had to be content with 5th while the action to change places was going on in front of him. This was to put Harri back to fifth place in the Championship but the TRD team were lying second, ahead of the more numerous Mercedes team.
The next round at Misano in Italy saw Harri back on form an fighting his way up to 4th position in front of 30,000 fans and in extremely hot conditions. Although again close up with the leaders, his practice time gave him second row on the grid and although he lost three places during the opening lap's traffic, he was back up to 3rd by the end of it. Amazingly race leader Kreutzpointner mistakenly slowed down one lap before the finish, thinking he had already crossed the finishing line which allowed Albacete and Bosiger through to leave Harri with 3rd place.
The Cup Race saw Harri on the second row again and by the end of the first lap, he was lying 4th, but Bosiger was found guilty of dangerous driving and relegated to 6th from 2nd. On the track, Bosiger then ran wide letting Harri and Kreutzpointner through, giving Harri 3rd place and moving him up to 3rd in the Championship.
At the high A1 circuit in Austria, the altitude gave Harri some problems but he still managed to claim 3rd place on the grid behind Bosiger and Kreutzpointner, positions which were held in the Qualifying Race.
Harri started the Cup race from row two again, but from the rolling start lost third place to Albacete, a position unchaged at the end of the race giving MAN a 1,2,3 victory and 10 Championship points.
Harri Luostarinen moved up to third overall in the European Truck Racing Cup this weekend (June 23/24) at the sun-soaked Nogaro circuit in the south west of France – where a crowd of 32,000 saw some fiercely contested action. In the Saturday practice Harri proved to be back on form to take second place on the grid behind Markus Bosiger on pole, a position he used to snatch first on the charge into the first bend, a place he held to the end of the Qualifying Race, his first victory of the season. In the Cup Race, Harri found himself being pushed wide Bosiger and was taken by Kreutzpointner on lap three. Harri held on the leading duo of MANs to be rewarded with second place when Bosiger ended up spinning. This gave Harri a useful 15 points before the huge Nurburgring event with the Germans fighting it out before a traditionally large home crowd.
Timed practice on Saturday was held in typically unpredictable Nurburgring conditions – with the track drying out slowly in between rain showers. This required some careful tactics for the teams in choosing the right moment to send their driver out to achieve quickest lap times – and the Caterpillar-TRD team proved to be the masters of the situation as Luostarinen pulled out all the stops to top the timesheets. However the jubilation in the team was short-lived as a controversial decision by race officials regarding the wet tread preparation of the tyres saw all the front-running drivers incurring a penalty that dramatically re-shaped the starting grid. Five of the slowest competitors were placed in the front positions with Harri taking a place on the third row – a situation that almost guaranteed some frantic first lap action!
Luostarinen was expecting to make good progress in the early laps of the Qualifying race on Sunday – but as the starting lights changed green for the rolling start Harri suddenly found himself with no drive; the gearbox had malfunctioned on the upshift from 3rd to 4th and had selected neutral!With Harri ready for some exciting racing, his gearbox malfunctioned at the rolling start allowing the entire field past him and leaving him in 15th position. With track conditions improving, Harri now picked his way to a respectable fifth position once he had got the gearbox back into drive.
The Cup race saw another impressive performance from Luostarinen; surviving the normal Nurburgring first-corner mayhem he found himself held up by Faure for the first couple of laps. Finally the Caterpillar driver found a way past the Frenchman's Mercedes to move up to fourth. The flying Finn then set about closing in on the fight for second and third between Oestreich and Albacete. When Albacete was pushed wide Luostarinen quickly powered past to move up to third and spent the remainder of the race shadowing the very wide Mercedes of Oestreich.
"I was lapping about a tenth quicker than Markus but there is simply no way to pass when someone is blocking as effectively as he was" explained Harri after taking the final slot on the victory podium. "I came here to Nurburgring looking to win but after the Qualifying race problem (where I was lying 15th on the first lap) I'm really pleased to have collected third in the final. Now we've got to focus our efforts on the Alastaro race".
Victory in the Cup race went to the MAN of championship leader Fritz Kreutzpointner – a comfortable 10 seconds clear of Oestreich'. Behind Luostarinen came Albacete with Mercedes pair of Faure and Steve Parrish completing the top six.
Harri Luostarinen emerged from a frustrating weekend at Alastaro, Finland with a battle-scarred Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck – and fifth place in the main Cup race, dropping one position to fourth overall in the European Cup standings. Although the Alastaro event (watched by some 15,000 fans) is Luostarinen's 'home' event it's perhaps one he would prefer to forget following some controversial and frustrating action on and off the track.
Practice on Saturday brought the first difficulties of the weekend; an error by officials saw Luostarinen losing one vital last flying lap… just as he was on course to snatch 'pole' position. Eventually the Finn was classified 4th with a best time of 1m.42.917s. – just half a second down on the 'pole' time set by Markus Bosiger (MAN), with Markus Oestreich (Mercedes) and Fritz Kreutzpointner (MAN) lining up second and third respectively.
The rolling start of the Qualifying race saw a good getaway for Luostarinen wasted as he was baulked by the slow-starting Oestreich. As Harri tried to overtake Oestreich he found himself sandwiched between the Mercedes and the MAN of Antonio Albacete. Inevitably there was some contact and the Caterpillar suffered most with the heavy impact damaging the front suspension – and Harri did well to maintain his grip on fourth place for the first few laps. In fact for four laps Luostarinen was mounting an effective challenge on Oestreich – with the German driver blatantly blocking all attempts to overtake, despite blue warning flags being displayed. But all Harri's efforts were in vain as the suspension damage sustained at the start finally saw a steering link snap – forcing Harri into early retirement. That left Bosiger to take an easy victory ahead of championship leader Kreutzpointner with Albacete in third completing a clean sweep for MAN.
Back in the paddock the extent of damage to the nearside front corner of the Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck became obvious with a major rebuild required in the short space of time before the Cup event. The Truck Racing Developments technicians set to work and completed their task with impressive speed – and Luostarinen was able to line up for the start with a fine handling if somewhat less than immaculate looking machine. But the non-finish in the Qualy race meant that Harri was forced to line up on the back of the grid – with a lot of traffic in front presenting a major hazard. However Harri was determined to put on a good show for his many fans – and made impressive progress to move up from tenth to fifth after just three laps. But his charge through the field was then halted as he once again came up behind the 'wide' Mercedes of Oestreich, the German again defending his position strongly. With no passing opportunities arising in the remaining laps Luostarinen had to be content to bring the Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck home a respectable fifth – a very impressive performance considering his starting slot.
"It's been a difficult weekend with my traditional Alastaro bad luck striking us again. Of course it's nice to compete in front of my home crowd – but to be honest I'll be happy to get to the next event in the Czech Republic where I hope we can get back on the podium and regain third in the championship", said Luostarinen at the end of a long day of fierce competition.
Harri Luostarinen and the Caterpillar-TRD team scored two strong second places in a somewhat controversial Czech Truck SuperPrix at the Most circuit on Sunday (September 2). Conditions during the practice session on Saturday were treacherous with heavy rain making it very difficult to set a competitive time; however Harri proved to be a 'rain master' choosing the right moment to blast around the track in a time of 2m. 04.032s. (average speed 120.395km/h). This put him right at the top of the timesheets until Markus Bosiger pipped him to the 'pole' with a time 0.6 secs faster – the MAN driver finding a drier line when the rain momentarily eased off. But then a real downpour made the remainder of the practice session a waster of time.
Fortunately the sun had returned in time for Sunday's races and an audience of over 30,000 were on-site to watch the Qualifying race. From the rolling start Bosiger took the early advantage with Harri tucking in right behind him on the run through the opening chicane with another MAN in the hands of Antonio Albacete holding third just ahead of Markus Oestreich (Mercedes-Benz). Harri pressed the leader hard throughout the eight lap race – but Bosiger held his lines carefully and successfully defended the lead all the way to the chequered flag with Luostarinen just 1.6 seconds down on the line. The leading duo had pulled well clear of the chasing pack with third placed Albacete some 5.7 seconds behind Harri. Championship leader Fritz Kreutzpointner had top be content with fifth place – behind the Mercedes of Oestreich.
From the rolling start of the Cup Race, Bosiger again made good use of his 'pole' position to go in front with Luostarinen again shadowing him closely in second. As in the previous race the fight for third was some way back and again it involved Oestreich and Albacete – with the German driver this time taking the position. But attracting more interest were the activities of Kreutzpointner; he suffered a puncture during a clash on the opening lap and returned to the pits for repairs. After losing three laps and fitting a new wheel the Bavarian then obtained permission from officials to rejoin the race – and pulled out of the pit lane close behind the duo battling for the lead.
Before too long the yellow MAN was starting to become a nuisance to Caterpillar driver Luostarinen; running on fresh rubber and with a cooler engine Kreutzpointner was able to set fastest lap and was looming large in Harri's mirrors. Considering the German was not actually contesting the lead Luostarinen was therefore extremely annoyed to suddenly find Kreutzpointner slicing his way inside to take up position between himself and race leader Bosiger. For several laps the three trucks circulated in close company – Kreutzpointner successfully defending fellow MAN driver Bosiger from any possible overtaking move Harri could contemplate.
Finally in the closing stages of the race Kreutzpointner overtook Bosiger – but by this point there was simply no time left for him to mount an attack on the Swiss driver. Bosiger took the win by a margin of just 1.3 seconds over Luostarinen after 12 rather frantic laps. Again the other drivers were left trailing – Oestreich in third following the Caterpillar over the line some 9.4 seconds behind with Albacete and Ludovic Faure (Mercedes) completing the top five. Kreutzpointner – some three laps behind – was finally classified 12th and still collected another four points to stay on top of the championship.
"It was really in an unfair fight on this occasion. When Fritz got between me and Bosiger it took away any chance I had to make a passing move on the leader so finally I had to be prepared to settle for another second place and 15 points" said a very frustrated Luostarinen. Bosiger's strong showing moves him to within 15 points of championship leader Kreutzpointner – with Albacete dropping to third and now only 19 points ahead of Luostarinen.
Harri Luostarinen and his Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck proved to be top dogs in the ninth round of the FIA European Truck Racing Cup – held in front of over 60,000 fans at the Zolder circuit in Belgium last Sunday (September 16).Finnish ace Luostarinen mastered the changeable weather and mixed track conditions to record a win in the main Cup race after scoring a strong second in the earlier Qualifying race.
Practice on Saturday saw Luostarinen setting a scorching pace – taking 'pole' position with a best lap time of 1m.51.892 s. (Average speed 127.988 km/h) – just 0.214 secs quicker than nearest rival Markus Bosiger (MAN) with championship leader Fritz Kreutzpointner (MAN) setting third fastest time. The start of the Qualifying race on Sunday morning saw rain staring to fall as the black Caterpillar truck powered into an early lead while Kreutzpointner pushed his way past Bosiger on the opening turn to move up to second.
Luostarinen looked to be in control at the head of the field – recording the fastest lap of the race – but after four laps the rain intensified and running slightly wide onto a slippery kerb offered Luostarinen no grip, providing Kreutzpointner with a chance to blast through into the lead. Harri rapidly regained his composure but found no chance to re-pass the German driver – finally taking the chequered flag 1.13 secs. behind after nine hectic laps. Third place – some 4 seconds behind – fell to MAN driver Antonio Albacete with Bosiger (MAN) fourth and leading Mercedes driver Markus Oestreich fifth.
The rain had stopped in time for the start of the Cup race – but the track was still wet, requiring a careful approach in the early stages. But a fast start and skilful move saw Luostarinen taking the lead on the run into the first corner. The Caterpillar-TRD truck was handling well on the slippery track – but as a dry line started to appear in the closing stages Luostarinen had to resist a late charge from Kreutzpointner to win by 1.771 secs. after 14 laps. Behind the victorious Luostarinen and Kreutzpointner was Albacete – some 15 seconds adrift with Bosiger in fourth ahead of the Mercedes pair Oestreich and Ludovic Faure.
The next event on the calendar took place in two weeks later on the new EuroSpeedway, Lausitz in Germany – an unknown quantity for all the Supertruck teams. But Luostarinen was confident he could continue his winning streak and would be pushing hard to close the narrow 15 points gap that separates his fourth position from the 2nd placed driver (Bosiger) in the championship. "Realistically we're not likely to catch Fritz for the title now with just two rounds of the championship remaining – but 2nd place is still a real possibility" explained Harri. The Caterpillar-TRD team also only need to collect only one more point in the Manufacturers' Cup to secure second overall, ahead of the three strong Daimler-Chrysler squad!
Harri Luostarinen maintained his fourth place in the European Cup standings in an incident-packed weekend at the new Lausitz EuroSpeedway in Germany (September 29/30). Harri and the Caterpillar-TRD Supertruck performed well in the adverse conditions to secure a strong third place in the main Cup race – watched by an audience of 67,000. Practice on the Saturday for the Supertrucks was held on a dry track with some welcome sunshine. Luostarinen posted a best lap time of 2m.09.944s. – just 0.079 secs slower than Antonio Albacete (MAN) who lined up third on the grid, but 1.273 secs. down on 'pole' man Fritz Kreutzpointner, the championship leader.
The Qualifying race on Sunday saw a dry track – but apart from a rather early start by the trio of MAN drivers in front of him for Luostarinen it proved to be an uneventful run in fourth place throughout. The Caterpillar driver finished over five seconds clear of the next challenger, Markus Oestreich (Mercedes) while the three MANs pulled clear in front in the order Kreutzpointner, Albacete and Markus Bosiger.
Conditions had changed considerably for the Cup race as light rain started to fall. For Luostarinen the race initially came to a dramatic early stop; on the charge into the first turn he was squeezed into the tyre corner marker – lifting the whole left side of the truck one metre into the air! With this sizeable object trapped underneath the truck Harri came sliding to a smoking halt in the middle of the track and officials then wisely decided to display the red flag to stop the race. Some quick repairs by the Caterpillar-TRD mechanics saw Harri back in action, ready to take his place on the grid for the re-start. By this time the rain had become heavier and the circuit even more slippery – but Luostarinen was in a determined mood and made impressive progress.
Albacete had taken an early lead with the similar MAN of Kreutzpointner running second while Luostarinen battled with Bosiger for third. Kreutzpointner moved one step closer to securing the championship as he moved into the lead while Luostarinen started to close in on Albacete. The wet conditions were obviously suiting the Caterpillar-TRD truck – Harri soon finding a way past Bosiger and then starting to close on the race leader. However the rain started to ease and a dry line was beginning to form on the track – and in these changing conditions it seems to MAN drivers again enjoyed an advantage. Bosiger closed up and eventually re-passed the Caterpillar to take the runner-up spot – leaving Harri a fighting third. Victory again fell to Kreutzpointner with a 3.2 secs. advantage over Bosiger with Harri crossing the finishing line 3.8 secs. down on Bosiger after 12 busy laps. Albacete came in fourth with Oestreich the lead Mercedes driver completing the top five.
N's definitely seemed quicker when the track started to dry out, however it was important I kept in front of Albacete. Next week we're racing at Jarama – a track where I've been successful in the past and I'm aiming to end the year with a win". The result in Germany brought a further four points for Caterpillar-TRD – which ensured that they wouldl finish the year second in the final Manufacturers' Cup, well clear of the DaimlerChrysler teams. In the drivers championship Luostarinen lay fourth – only 10 points behind Albacete – so he was obviously be out to defeat the Spaniard in his home race.
The final round of the 2001 FIA European Truck Racing Cup produced plenty of thrilling action and excitement for a crowd of 40,000 at the Jarama circuit near Madrid on Sunday (October 7). Conditions were difficult for the Saturday practice session with occasional rain showers and low temperatures making the track slippery – and drivers had to choose the right moment to put in their best efforts for a quick lap time.
Initially the local driver Antonio Albacete set the pace with his MAN – but late in the session Harri Luostarinen put in a real 'flyer' to take the provisional pole with a time of 2m.05.139 (average speed 110.757 km/h). But in the closing moments championship leader Fritz Kreutzpointner blasted around the 3.85 kms circuit in 2m.04.485s. to push Harri down to second place on the grid.
Conditions had improved considerably for the start of racing on Sunday; a clear blue sky and warm sunshine keeping the huge crowd happy as the Supertrucks rolled out for the Qualifying race. But the start saw problems almost immediately for Luostarinen as the black Cat truck was hit from behind by the hard-driving Mercedes driver Markus Oestreich – the German finally pushing Harri wide in the first turn so that he was partly off the track and into the sand of the run-off area. This allowed the field to stream past –and when Harri regained his composure he was disappointed to find that as a consequence of the impact his engine had lost power.
While Kreutzpointner ran away at the front of the pack to collect another win (and the outright championship) in front of fellow MAN driver Albacete, Oestreich and Markus Bosiger (MAN), the Caterpillar driver had to battle hard to retain sixth 'on the road' – being sandwiched between the two Mercedes of Steve Parrish and Ludovic Faure. Harri was understandably furious about the first lap incident as he explained: "Oestreich hit me four times and finally pushed me out on the first corner. Then I found I'd lost 1.5 bar of turbo pressure so there really was no chance to fight back".Race officials also took a dim view of Oestreich's tactics – imposing a 30 second time penalty on the German which dropped him down to 7th in the official results, meaning Luostarinen was finally classified fifth.
The Cup race produced more close fought actions as Europe's top truck racers battled for honours in the last event of the season. Kreutzpointner again made good use of his pole position to steal an early lead which he held all the way to the finish while Albacete and Bosiger battled hard for the runner-up spot. Luostarinen couldn't challenge these front runners – because he was involved in a personal battle of his own – stuck for nine laps behind the Mercedes of Steve Parrish, who was driving in a very defensive manner. Finally Luostarinen managed to outbrake the British driver into a tight corner – and once ahead of the slower Mercedes Harri was able to quickly open up a sizeable lead. Setting a lap time a full second quicker than the best Parrish could manage Harri finally crossed the finishing line a fine fourth – some 6.4 seconds clear of his rival.
The consistent and determined efforts of Harri and the whole of the Caterpillar-TRD team have netted a fine fourth overall in the drivers' championship and a very creditable second in the Manufacturers' Cup – ahead of the three-truck DaimlerChrysler squad.
1) Kreutzpointner (MAN) 273
2) Bosiger (MAN) 233
3) Albacete (MAN) 228
4) Luostarinen (Caterpillar-TRD) 210
5) Oestreich (Mercedes-Benz) 144
6) Faure (Mercedes-Benz) 107
7) Parrish (Mercedes-Benz) 92
8) Korber (Buggyra) 28
MANUFACTURERS' CUP
1) MAN 96
2) Caterpillar-TRD 49
3) DaimlerChysler 29