A FIGHTER at heart
Sascha Lenz is a dreamer, a fighter, and a truck racer through and through. It’s a powerful mix to produce a winner in the motorsport scene.
His career began in 2015 with the first FIA races (“Race by Race”) driving a used MAN. With only five points-scoring international races under his belt, the talented driver fought his way up to eleventh place in the overall standings. “I drove my way into the hearts of the fans and top-name sponsors with my unbounded fighting spirit,” recalls Sascha. The very next year, 2016, Lenz started all the season’s championship series races, finishing seventh in the overall standings. The following year he climbed his way up another place.
“I drove my way into the hearts of the fans and top-name sponsors with my unbounded fighting spirit,”
The very next year, 2016, Lenz started all the season’s championship series races, finishing seventh in the overall standings. The following year he climbed his way up another place.
“It was then time to develop the first race truck of my own,” he says. With “Stella”, a MAN truck, he continued his rise in 2018, achieving fourth place. Following some technical changes in the regulations, the team decided to develop another truck for the 2019 season. “Unfortunately the races with our MAN “Simba” didn’t go quite as we’d hoped,” Sascha reports. There’s a fine line between victory and defeat in motorsport. And so it was that a broken steering cable and a burst tyre deprived the “Simba” team of the success they had hoped for.
Yet they had no thought of giving up!
“Right from the end of that season, I had no doubts that we’d start again with MAN in 2020 and build a new race truck,” Sascha recalls, underlining that renowned fighting spirit. And in fact the team is currently working on a new chassis and suspension set-up. “It’s going to be a ‘girl’ again in 2020,” the 32-year-old tells us with a laugh. “And what could be nicer than a girl with a new dress!”
“And what could be nicer than a girl with a new dress!”
The new “dress” is something of an haute couture item, having just recently rolled off the “catwalk” in Bilbao: the new MAN TGS model range. “We’re incredibly proud to be representing the new MAN Truck Generation,” says Sascha. And, of course, his ambitions are set high. With his new “girl” he’s aiming to finish in the top three in the final race in Jarama. Heart on his sleeve, diesel in his blood, lion under the bonnet: the race is on!
Brought to a standstill
At the time we conducted the interview with Sascha, he was still working on the basis that the truck racing season would start in May. Of course, the situation has changed significantly due to coronavirus, and it is currently unclear how and when the races will actually take place.
“It’s a difficult time for everyone,” states Sascha. He continues: “We were in the midst of making preparations for the season and the first official test weekend when the crisis really started. Until then, everything was going to plan. The newly developed chassis had been built, and with each day the new cab was gradually progressing.” Work on the truck has now come to a standstill due to the ban on social contact. “Of course, safety regulations take precedence,” the driver states understandingly.
It’s still unclear how the situation will develop: “The paddock experience is something special in truck racing, as they are open to people – this is different from other motorsports events,” explains Sascha. As in Formula 1 and other car racing series, there are now plans for a temporary digital start to racing with the latest trucks. After all, if the fans can’t come to the races, then the races will come to them in their living rooms. But Sascha remains optimistic – just like his fighting spirit: “I think there’s a chance for the 2020 season if we see a gradual return to a certain kind of normality, under professional management and with the right conditions.” Let’s hope that things soon get back to normal for the truck racers – we’ll keep you in the loop.