11 truck races for young guns
This weekend finally marks the start of the 2021 truck racing season for Aliyyah Koloc and Téo Calvet, as they head to a difficult French circuit Charade. Aliyyah and Téo, the youngest truck racing winners and stars of Buggyra Academy, face a huge amount of 11 races, as they will combine the European championship and the French championship.
According to the team owner and father Martin Koloc, this follows after very thorough discussions, especially about the 17-year-old Aliyyah. “Sure, she’s 17 and for such a number of races, you’d have to go back to times when I was racing. On the other hand, she’s used to it from tennis. She’s also under a close watch and she has a well-functioning team behind her,” said the two-time European champion. And of course, the goal is to learn rather than focus on results. “We spoke with David and Adam, whether Aliyyah’s win in Nogaro did not come way too early. Racing is not about making jumps, but rather about slow progress and gaining experience. She can’t get under pressure, but she also doesn’t let it get to her. While Téo is a big favourite, Aliyyah aims to become the best rookie.”
“11 races? That’s great,” said the youngest and also the fastest truck racing driver in history, who has already done testing in desert and ESET Cup races this year. “It’s alright. There’s never enough adrenalin. That tyre explosion in 240 kph that I had at Slovakiaring, that was something. I still don’t have enough experience to compare, but I know that I’m in the best hands and that’s good enough for me.”
And Téo Calvet also does not see any issues in having a busy calendar. “Unlike Aliyyah, I didn’t test the Can-Am DV21, so I’m fine with 15 or even 20 races per season. I’m glad that it’s finally going to begin this season. It seemed like an eternity. My goal is to win the championship this year and I strongly believe that I can do it.”
But according to Jan Kalivoda, the head of communications, the team cannot underestimate the French championship. “There will be 31 drivers in total. For example, Janiec, who just a few years back won the whole truck racing weekend at Le Mans in the European championship. It’s true that we’ve got better vehicles, but we’re against experience. Téo is not going to have it easy,” said Jan. “And I wouldn’t underestimate the marketing side of things as well. It’s the oldest truck racing championship in Europe, with around 160.000 spectators per year, and around 25.000 spectators per event. Race highlights that are produced by L´Equipe reach up to 1.000.000 fans per year on average and the social media re followed by 200.000 fans of the series on average.
