OFFICIAL PROGRAMME ways before - through the middle of Spain or via the coastal highways . Through the middle is quicker , mostly motorways , but the coast is a nicer , more scenic route ,” said Tom . The background of each driver is that David … “ Drove trucks for 11 years , then decided to do vehicle graphics and wraps , and I ended up doing all the graphics on these trucks . Initially when they were Milwaukee , and then when they found out I could drive a truck , it was like , ‘ well , we could train you up to be a tyre man …’ so it was a bit of a bonus . That ’ s how I got into it .” David still does his vehicle wraps and Tom still repairs cars at his own garage when he is home . Tom said of his route into this working life , “ I am a mechanic but basically on cars , had a garage . The guy next door to me used to be in BSB , and he got a call one day to say , ‘ could you drive a truck to Misano ?’ It was for SMR , four years ago . He said he couldn ’ t do it but he knew I had a class one HGV licence . That got me started with the truck and on hospitality , but once the found out I was a mechanic they roped me in to also do the tyres .” Trucks now are so high tech and even connected to each other at times , that there can be a lead driver using the adaptive cruise control system , so that the following truck can brake when the front one does , to maintain a safe distance . They are like airplanes on the road now , it seems . And so comfortable for the following driver . “ Steering wheel attendant !,” joked , Tom . Driving time is as we have seen is limited , but how much easier are the new trucks than the old one . But tricky driving situations are tricky situations , like one faced by the SMP lads heading to Aragon recently . “ We were going up this really narrow mountain pass and all these trucks were coming down . But we are in a nice shiny race truck , the ones coming the other way in a tipper truck are not worried about bashing it ! Having automatic trucks , speed limiters , etc make it a lot easier coming up and down those kinds of roads .” The start of the three race combo already had the SMR lads thinking they would leave the track on Sunday night after Barcelona , to make the Monday drive to Jerez a lot easier . Monday is normally the day they do the big drive at a regular round . And speaking of big , numbers , Tom said , “ We have never run the trucks that empty but the usual fuel bill is about 1,800 Euros .” The trucks even have two tanks , a big tank and a smaller one , and it took David 1,100 Euros just to fill the larger of the two last time he did it . They typically fill at a quarter of a tank , and of course nowadays there is around 100 + Euros of AdBlue for the big diesel engines as well . All the material for the BMW garage , the bikes and technical stuff go into two trucks , and the vast new BMW hospitality area needs two full trucks of its own
“ Drove trucks for 11 years , then decided to do vehicle graphics and wraps , and I ended up doing all the graphics on these trucks .”
EXCITING CONTENT as well . But that is another story , for another time . The KRT WorldSBK team is full-time based in Barcelona , which as a crossroads of southern Europe is pretty central for most race circuits . But even with their own home base forming the start of the triple-header this autumn , they are liberating their regular two drivers , Ignacio ‘ Tambu ’ Tamburini and Chema Porrua , from the middle part of the job - the big drive from Barcelona to Jerez . The Jerez to Portugal drive is , of course , much shorter . As they are also a tyre guy and a mechanic respectively , they would be working every day for a month if they did not have this small break from their usual driving duties . Back in the British world , the doyen of paddock ‘ truckies ’ is Ashley ‘ Ash ’ Banks , who has been driving trucks longer than most . Even if he spend one part of his life as a bike courier in London . Someone like Ask has had lots of changes to deal with over the years , the last two have maybe been the most challenging , and certainly the most bureaucratic , especially for the Crescent Yamaha team . “ We are not really based in the UK anymore ” said Ash . “ Once the season starts , we tend to roll from track to track . The job has changed quite a bit , for me , anyway . Normally we would return the tracks and bikes to the workshops , strip them down and work on them and then load up and go again . But with Covid , and the races being every fortnight , that is just not possible . So almost all of the bike work has been done at the track . There is a delivery supply of material that comes to every other round . Specialist cleaning products for the bikes and trucks ; I look after all that now as one of my jobs . That stuff was all delivered to Milan at the beginning of the year and we have been carrying it to all the rounds . When we were in Misano I was able to go to Milan and pick up some more stuff there too . Some of the truck lockers ( under the main body of the trailers on each side ) are full , and they would not normally be . Things like that make loading so tricky now .” Truck drivers often fly home between rounds , usually , unless the practicalities of back-to-back races or closely linked races make it easier to stay where you were . But as Ash says , “ At either end of the event , you either have to take the truck away after the most recent event , or leave earlier to get to where you were before , to take it to the next event . So , like doing Portugal to Italy , that is three and a bit days of driving ! So , by the time you have gone home , it is not worth it . We have to come into the track on a Tuesday lunchtime now . We never used to come in until Wednesday , but now it ’ s a Tuesday . If I have to be here to
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