Steffen Faas is a new face in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship paddock as he joined Gerd Körber at Team Schwabentruck Iveco and had his debut at home round held at the Nürburgring.
Mostly known for his effort behind the wheel of a KTM sportscars, Steffen Faas is a new face in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship paddock as he joined Gerd Körber at Team Schwabentruck Iveco and had his debut at home round held at the Nürburgring.
An accomplished circuit racer with no previous truck racing experience, admits that getting to grips with a race truck was a bit of a culture shock for him.
“The driving behaviour of a truck is completely different and you have to get used to it. The response of the truck is way slower. You need to take the turns much slower, set the truck right and accelerate after you’ve taken the turn. It takes some experience to handle it right,” – he explains.
Faas’ everyday profession, however, helps him a bit with this adaptation process. “With regard to the size I’m not afraid of it since I’m driving a road truck from time to time in my job,” – adds the 33-year old.
A driver who made a name for himself predominantly racing KTM machinery admits that truck racing has always been his goal. “It was always a childhood dream. When I was a kid we always visited the Truck Grand Prix at Nürburgring,” – says Faas.
“I’ve been in contact with Jochen for quite a while and now the time was right. Before, Schwabentruck never had a free truck [for me]. Now that offer finally came and I seized the opportunity. I was very lucky that I could make my debut at the Nürburgring since this is my favourite circuit and it feels like home to me.” – adds the rookie.
Despite being presented with a dream opportunity, it was not all so perfect for the German as he was left with very little time to prepare himself for his dreamed debut. “I did a day of testing at the oval in Ulm. That was pretty much it. But then at the press rides on Thursday I realised that it’s a totally different story to actually race on a circuit.” – explains Faas.
Scoring the podium twice in the new 2017 Promoter’s Cup gave everyone a hint what can be expected from the new kid on the block who set the bar high for himself.
“To be really honest, I was expecting a little bit more. Having said that, I don’t want to complain either. The trends is clearly upwards. But clearly, I also realized that it takes a little bit more practice and some more experience to get used to the driving behaviour of the truck,” – admits the man.
Following a promising debut, the question arises: is Faas here to stay or his FIA ETRC appearance was just a one-off?
“Well, we have to see. It’s definitely something I can imagine doing, but at the same time, I have still some races to do in the KTM X-Bow Battle this year. I’m dominating this competition and in truck racing it might take some time to become a front-runner. It’s never easy to start from scratch and be back to square one. But I’d have the necessary motivation to go through this process.” – says the German, who enjoys being a part of the FIA ETRC paddock very much. “The atmosphere is great. People are making me feel welcomed and it seems like they appreciate me being a rather young driver bringing in some fresh air,” – he concludes.