Notable firsts of David Vršecký…
On December 8th, David Vršecký celebrated his 45th birthday. First, a very shy man, but now, 22 years later, he is one of the biggest names in truck racing history. All thanks to his hard work and talent. Here is a quick summary of all his achievements.
First race: Dijon, 1998, and a successful debut for David. He took 16 points in France and grabbed 6th place in the standings right behind his team boss Martin Koloc.
First podium: France, again! However, this time at Nogaro, back in 2002, where David finished in 3rd place. The team photographer Petr Bér lost a bet and had to run naked over the main straight only with a Czech flag in his hand.
First win: A wet race at Nürburgring in 2003. David managed to beat his teammate and a reigning champion Gerd Körber. Antonio Albacete finished 3rd in a Buggyra special.
First world speed record: Dubai, February 12th, 2004. That was a day when David recorded a world speed record in a racing truck, with 281.723 kph. Since then, he has broken many more world speed records.
First championship lead: David Vršecký became the championship leader for the first time at Assen, 2004.
First German championship title: In 2006, a dispute between organisers and the FIA caused the Nürburgring event to be held separately as a German national championship race. Vršecký won the German championship title and then added some more later.
First win over an F1 champion: In November 2006, in a kart race on an ice rink at Krefeld stadium, David managed to beat Nico Rosberg. It took the German, who was racing for Williams back then, a bit over 10 years to get over it and finally clinch the championship title in F1.
First constructors’ championship win: 2007 season and a triumphant season with Markus Bösiger.
First championship title: David matched his mentor Martin Koloc in 2008 as he won the European Truck Racing Championship season. And he did it in a dominant style too, from start to finish. He repeated that a year later as well.
First win at Most: It took David Vršecký 11 years before he won a home race. It happened in 2009, in his 2nd championship-winning season.
First Dakar Rally: In 2011, David took the role of a co-driver of a Tatra special driven by Marek Spáčil. However, the crew did not finish due to an accident.
First Chinese championship title: David took his first win in 2016, and then repeated it for the next two consecutive seasons. It was his first time without Buggyra too, as he raced for Tatra Phoenix.
First Indian championship title: ‘Wherever he comes, he wins’ – those were the headlines in September 2017, after David Vršecký won in India driving a Tata special, beating three other European champions – Körber, Albacete and Kiss.
First title as a constructor: Adam Lacko won his first championship with Buggyra back in 2017 and David helped to design and build the vehicle, it was his first win as a designer and constructor.
