We asked Steffi Halm to keep a diary of her weekend at Slovakia Ring last weekend. This is what happened.....
Hi All,
I’m Steffi Halm and I am racing for Reinert Racing in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship this season.
With this little diary I’ll give an insight on my weekend at Slovakia Ring, the fourth round of the FIA ETRC. It turned out to be one I will never forget!
Friday 14th July.......
Well, my day was pretty good. The Slovakia Ring is a new track and is fun but not easy to drive, especially with a truck! Finding the right lines and setup is quite a challenge so far.
Friday's are a bit more relaxed than the other days. Usually we have the VIP/Press rides. These start a bit later and so I can have an nice and easy coffee in the morning and relax a bit!
I like the VIP/Press rides because I get some track time without any pressure. I can check a couple of different lines, especially here on a track I’ve never been to before and analyse the data afterwards. It is also nice to meet new people and show them what we do in the cockpit.
Today is a long day with the second free practice at 7pm and drivers briefing at 8pm, which is not super usual compared to the other races but it was ok. In general it’s not just a very long day but also a very full day with a lot of track time and a lot of work for the team after the sessions preparing for tomorrow and the first Super Pole and races of the weekend.
Saturday 15th July…..
Yeah! I was back on the podium today and really happy with this second place in race two. The day in general did no go 100% as I was hoping. I couldn’t find the perfect line in qualifying and lost some important time there. Positions two to five were super tight as usual!
In race one it could have been way better for me and the Reinert Racing MAN. Right after the start I made it to second position but was just a little bit unwary in one moment and immediately Jochen Hahn and Adam Lacko passed me.
The start was very good again in race two even though it was a bit tighter in but I’ve found my way through. I’m slowly getting used to the difficult track here, but I’m still searching for the perfect lines and also the truck and tyres are changing during the race, so you always have to find a way to deal with it and find a new, maybe better line.
I’m still missing a bit of experience on this track, but I think this is the same for almost everyone. As I go to bed tonight have a good feeling and so I’m optimistic for tomorrow and getting another chance to capture my second victory of the 2017 season.
Sunday 16th July……
Finally I am back on top of the podium, yeah!
A perfect end to the weekend for me and the Reinert Racing team!
After a solid day yesterday we’ve had some big goals for today. Race three was ok with a fifth place, maybe I wasn’t the luckiest driver there but I felt that I can keep the pace of the best.
So for race four we changed the set-up a little bit, which surprisingly worked out very well even though we’ve had to deal with older tyres. The start was absolutely perfect and I could right away make the gap to Jochen Hahn. From there I knew that I needed to bring it home.
From the races before I knew in which parts of the track Jochen is strong and weak so I’d have been prepared for him catching caught me back up. Being in the lead and alone is good on the one-hand, because I like to be out of trouble, but on the other hand you have to keep pushing hard and remain offensive.
The championship is still very open and everything is possible for me. I’m going into the summer break now with a good feeling and I hope to continue like that at Hungaroring next month.
Thanks for following my little Slovakia Ring diary, have a great summer and see you back in Hungary!
Danke
Steffi