Truck racing in Europe is divided into two leagues. The Race Trucks, which are based on road going trucks, and the Super Race Trucks, which are all purpose built racing trucks. The Super Race title is contested by 3 manufacturers, DAF having pulled out last year. They are Mercedes Benz (3 trucks), MAN (5 trucks) the Caterpiller sponsored Truck Racing Developments with just one truck, and the new Tatra, also with one truck.

Harri Luostarinen and the Caterpillar-TRD team are still on course to take the 2000 Supertruck title despite a weekend of wet weather and disappointing results.

With just the final round of the series to come on October 7/8, Luostarinen holds a 16 point lead over nearest rival, Gerd Korber (MAN). Third positioned Markus Oestreich (Mercedes-Benz) closed in on the leading duo with three wins during the weekend - and the final Jarama race should produce some thrilling action.

At Zolder the track was very wet and slippery for Saturday's practice session and Harri was struggling to find traction in the Caterpillar Supertruck. Nevertheless he still posted third fastest time - 2m.11.629 (average speed 114.329km/h) - headed only by Epole‚ man Oestreich and Antonio Albacete (MAN).

Conditions were still treacherous for the start of the Saturday Qualifying race and Oestreich made good use of his starting position to take an immediate lead - holding off his main challenger, Korber all the way to the finish.

Loustarinen's departure was not so successful - a lack of grip saw him losing a place to fast-starting Steve Parrish (Mercedes) on the charge into the first turn. Harri then ran a strong fourth for most of the race until another Mercedes driver, Ludovic Faure, mounted a challenge that dropped the Caterpillar truck down to fifth at the finish - just ahead of Alain Ferte (MAN).

The rain was still falling for Saturday's Cup race - and once again Luostarinen was fighting against a lack of traction and was forced to drive carefully to avoid any damage among the often sliding trucks. Oestreich again led the pack while second place fell to fellow Mercedes driver Ludovic Faure. Korber dropped back after a good start to take third just ahead of Albacete. Luostarinen looked set to pick up another fifth - but in the closing stages dropped to sixth as Markus Bosiger (MAN) made a successful move. Parrish trailed home seventh with brake problems with Alain Ferte completing the top eight.

"It's not been a brilliant day in terms of results - but Korber only gained nine points on me today. In these conditions it's better not to push too hard when we need to keep the truck intact for tomorrow's races," explained Harri.

Sunday morning brought more rain - but still an audience of over 45,000 attended the event. Practice times were quicker as a slightly drier line emerged on the track and Harri improved his best time to 2m.10.713 (115.618km/h). This was just 0.375 secs down on Epole‚ which was once again set by Oestreich. Second quickest was Faure - just 0.164 quicker than Harri - who lined up third.

The Caterpillar driver was in a determined mood for the start of the Qualifying race and squeezed alongside Oestreich through the opening turn - with only Faure in front. The German driver fought his way back past Harri before the end of the opening lap but Harri stayed in contention for the remainder of the race, running a good third ahead of Albacete. But in a very surprising move, Faure - who had been comfortably leading throughout the race - slowed dramatically on the last lap and allowed fellow Mercedes driver Oestreich through to gain a valuable extra championship point. The other main championship contender, Korber, could only manage to take sixth - behind Parrish.

The final race of the weekend looked likely to produce another respectable result for Luostarinen who was feeling happier with the truck as the track began to dry out slightly. Oestreich and Faure led the pack away while Harri battled for third with Parrish. For four laps the Caterpillar driver held off the challenge - but finally he had to relent and dropped back to fourth - importantly still ahead of Korber. But as the race reached mid-distance disaster struck for Luostarinen as a driveshaft broke - forcing him into immediate retirement.

Oestreich crossed the line first ahead of team-mates Faure and Parrish - but the German Mercedes driver was finally classified sixth in the official results as he collected a 10-second time penalty for overspeeding. That promoted Korber to third - allowing him to hold on to second in the championship - 8 points in front of Oestreich.

"Perhaps Oestreich losing that victory was the only thing I could smile about this afternoon - but I felt he could have been more of a threat for the title than Korber - especially with the team tactics that have been used. But we'll be heading off for Jarama with a reasonable 16 point advantage - and I've always had good results in Spain so I'm sure we can keep Caterpillar on top," said Luostarinen on Sunday evening.

Points Standings After Round 9

1. LUOSTARINEN Caterpillar-TRD 344
2. Korber MAN 328
3. Oestreich Mercedes-Benz 320
4. Faure Mercedes-Benz 306
5. Parrish Mercedes-Benz 282
6. Ferte MAN 245

For more articles and pictures about the Caterpillar TRD Super Race truck, visit our web site: www.chrishodgetrucks.co.uk and click on Truck Racing.