Introduction

Set close to the beautiful Adriatic coast, close to the tourist resort of Riccione, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is a popular track for fans and competitors alike.

The tight confines of the circuit mean that action is guaranteed on the 16 turn 4.048kms track. The short start and finish straight leads in to a challenging right and left turn, while three hairpins ensure lot of outbraking manoeuvres are attempted.

The Italian truck racing fans swell the terraces on the Misano circuit to see the battle commence and last season they witnessed a memorable weekend of action when Adam Lacko scored a hat-trick of wins for Buggyra. The Czech's title rival Jochen Hahn claimed the other win while a returning Steffi Halm claimed a fine podium placing in race two.

Cab’s Eye View

Each race we will have an FIA ETRC driver to give us a unique insight into their view of the circuits on the FIA ETRC calendar – what is the track like to drive? what are their favourite sections? Even the best restaurants and places to visit in the area!

Who better to give us a guide to Misano than Nobert ‘Norbi’ Kiss, current FIA ETRC Driver Champion and driver of the No.1 Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz truck:

Misano is the kind of track I like very much, wide, smooth, and good combination of turns.

My favourite is turn 13 and 14 I think at the end of the back straight. This is the most challenging and difficult to do, because it is a hard braking zone in to a hairpin while your turning, and that is something really hard to do right. We can see a lot of mistakes there. It is very hard, that’s why I like it.

The track was resurfaced before the last season so it is very flat and good quality with ok grip, so very enjoyable to drive on. I like that we have a lot of turn combinations with a changing direction, but still I wouldn't call them chicanes because there is more space, so you can do some different racing lines, especially in the races when you fight with somebody, and it supports overtaking.

I think that racing in a truck is quite similar to racing in a car when you consider in terms of what you want to do and feel, but the thing that is much different is the rhythm. You have to be very patient with the truck because of the huge weight, and you have to think ahead and know exactly how you want to do the next turn.

Usually (Misano) is a good place for me. I got my first ever pole position in qualifying here in 2013 and when we were in front it was usually with a big gap. But I'll never forget when I lost an easy win because a spring broke in 2014. So I like the place.

It is always good coming to Misano because you get a big crowd of very enthusiastic fans, so it's great. It is also the only place in the calendar where we have the sea very-very close, so if you can steal an hour or two during the race weekend you could go and see the beach and swim there which is always a good thing. And you have that typical Italian beach with walking streets, restaurants and ice cream. :)

Last year we had rain, but the other times I have been to Misano, it is usually nice conditions, but not too hot around this time of the year, so very pleasant.

Norbert Kiss