FIA European Truck Racing Championship

Final round – Jarama, Spain

STRONG FINISH TO THE SEASON IN SPAIN

ALTENSTRASSER 4^th IN RACE ONE / 5^th IN RACE 4

VOJTISEK 6^th and 7^th PLACES ON SATURDAY

FRANKIE RACING RENAULTS 7^th AND 9^th OVERALL IN

FINAL EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

PLUS 3^rd IN TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

The final round of the 2009 FIA European Truck Racing Championship took place in front of a crowd of 41,000 at the hot and sunny Circuito del Jarama near Madrid this weekend (October 3/4).

The twisty and undulating Spanish track proved a tough challenge for the entire packed field of 31 competitors – but the Renault duo of Markus Altenstrasser and Frankie Vojtisek responded well and collected 22 and 10 points respectively.

In the first championship race on Saturday Markus, starting from the 5^th row of the starting grid made up an impressive four places on his way to taking the chequered flag in a fine 4^th place. Team-mate Frankie was also charging hard to make his way from 12^th spot on the grid through to a strong 6^th at the finish.

Championship race 2 brought two further good results as the two Renaults circulated in close company in a fiercely contested mid-field battle – Frankie and Markus finally coming home 7^th and 8^th respectively.

Sunday saw Altenstrasser again in the heart of the action, the Austrian driver taking a good 8^th place in Championship race 3. The Renault racer then started the final race of the season from ‘pole’ position and headed the field for a couple of laps before being overhauled by local hero Antonio Albacete (MAN). Markus then had a busy race as he battled with Levett, Hahn and newly-crowned champion Vrsecky… finally bringing the Renault home in a fabulous 5^th.

Frankie’s final day of the season didn’t really go according to plan. A clash with the aggressive French driver Dominique Lacheze unfortunately forced both Vojtisek’s Renault and the MAN into early retirement.

The Frankie Racing Team technicians quickly had the truck back in immaculate condition for the final race… but out-of-luck Frankie was once again forced to pull in after just a few laps as he suffered a broken shock absorber, a consequence of the impact in the earlier accident.

Despite this setback on the final day of competition Frankie maintained his 9^th place overall in the final FIA European Championship, having collected a total of 101 points during the season. Markus ends the year with 7^th overall in the championship – with a final point’s tally of 139 points.

The Frankie Truck Racing Team was positioned 3^rd overall in the Teams’ Championship.

The other regular Renault truck racer, Anthony Janiec, ended the year 12^th overall in the European Championship – and the Team 14 driver also had claimed first place overall in the 2009 Sponsor’s Challenge series.

Renault Trucks Espana used the Jarama event for a very successful hospitality event – hosting 70 guests in the Frankie Racing Team VIP unit where Vojtisek and Altenstrasser mingled with the visitors and gave an interesting drivers guide to lapping the Jarama circuit.