2018 FIA European Truck Racing Championship rookie Jamie Anderson eyes GRAMMER TRUCK CUP title success as his target in 2019....
2018 FIA European Truck Racing Championship rookie Jamie Anderson is eyeing GRAMMER TRUCK CUP success as his target ahead of his first full season of truck racing on the European stage.
“Clinching the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP and to be within the top 10 of the FIA ETRC,” said Anderson when asked about his 2019 goals.
2018 was the British drivers first year of truck racing of any kind, following a switch form rallying. In order to clock up as many miles as possible, he dovetailed a partial campaign in FIA ETRC with a season in his domestic championship.
“I am very satisfied with the way it has begun. In general, the 2018 racing season was very good and successful for us,” he explained.
“We were third in the British championship and for being the first year in a truck, I don’t think it was a bad thing at all. We had some good times out in Europe, [especially] Jarama and we’re progressing on from there.”
This year, with a season of experience on his side, he’ll fully focus on contesting the FIA ETRC and achieving his goals in terms of results. In addition, he’s planning two rounds of the British series.
“Donington in the summer time, in August, and Brands Hatch in November time will be our British events,” he specified.
He also admitted that rally outings are a possibility too. “Rallying is not a closed chapter in my life yet. 2019 is probably going to bring a couple of rally outings,” he revealed.
With the focus switching from gaining experience to achieving results ahead of his second campaign, the Anderson Racing outfit has been working on improving its MAN truck over the winter break.
“We’re working on progressing the truck. We’ve done a complete strip down and winter, fitted a new cabin, so that’s obviously good but whether that get us any seconds, I think we need to go out on track more than anything,” said Anderson.
The British believes that the official pre-season test held in April at Autodrom Most will be key in his preparations.
“We’re not doing any other testing anywhere [in the UK]. We’re going to Most in April for a three-day test with the European teams, so this is hopefully a good plan for us to go there and gain some more track time and experience on setup.
“We’ve been doing some driving analysis with me. We’re just trying to work it out on our own, to be honest.
Last year, Anderson took part in six of eight rounds of the FIA ETRC, ending up fourth in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP standings and 16th overall. He took four category wins and recorded seven top 10 finished along the way.