A team member with MAN HydroDrive
There is nothing a truck cannot be. In the latest episode of MAN QuickStop, we get up close and personal with the MAN TGX that is being used as a mobile ski workshop for the German national biathlon team. And its driver Günter Hofmeister reveals why this MAN has what it takes to be an elite athlete in its own right.
Without drive, it’s a non-starter – in the case of the national biathlon team, this applies not only to the athletes themselves, but also to their mobile workshop, an MAN TGX 18.500, which is an ever-present at all competitions and training sessions. To ensure that everything runs smoothly, this winter sports Lion relies on the part time MAN HydroDrive front-axle drive. “He’s bailed me out many times,” says driver Günter, attesting to the operational prowess of his MAN.
“Without MAN HydroDrive, I’m sure I would have had to put chains on the tyres on many occasions and I wouldn’t have been able to get out of some waxing zones so easily.”
Most of these waxing zones are in snow and ice. Günter is a bona fide truck professional, has been behind the wheel for over 30 years and has been part of the national biathlon team for 11 years now. He ensures that the mobile ski workshop, which the MAN TGX houses in its semitrailer, is available wherever it is required. For Günter, this means taking the truck all the way to places like Finland, Sweden and Norway. “I have a lot of fun doing this job,” says Günter, and especially in the early days, it was certainly an exciting experience being able to drive the truck of the national biathlon team. Nowadays, the 52-year-old sees himself as being an integral part of the set-up; the team is like one big family, and he is also part of that.
“I’m Team Germany,” laughs the man from Kelheim – a fact that ultimately helped him get the driver’s job with the German Ski Association. At that time, he was working as a bus driver in Switzerland and met the then-national coach Fritz Fischer, who also comes from Kelheim, on a mountain pass. “He followed us in his VW van, flagged us down at a lay-by, and got on the bus: ‘A group from Kelheim, what are you lot doing here?’ he asked,” Günter recalls. Fischer then asked him about his driving style and offered him the job as driver of the “wax truck”. “I was simply in the right place at the right time,” says Günter.
And sometimes life takes you where your heart beats loudest. Günter has been a huge biathlon fan for 25 years and sometimes he still can’t believe that he is now part of the team. In addition to being responsible for transporting the equipment, the driver is often called upon to be a marshal at competitions, which means he gets very close to the sporting action. Günter even drove the MAN TGX to the filming location in Ruhpolding for the filming of MAN QuickStop. In the latest episode, skier Marion Wiesensarter showcases the MAN wax truck and explains how it is used. “The truck goes everywhere with us – he is like a member of our sports team.” Time for you to watch the video and get to know this athletic MAN TGX.