Motorsport Trucking to Portimao Portugal

Sgt Bilco

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I've done a bit of Motorsport Trucking over the years but to be honest it's a bit dull. You fly into say Monza, drive the F1 truck to Barcelona and fly home so although you may be driving a great truck full of Ferraris', it's not at all exciting and it's all over in a couple of days.

However, a few months ago I was offered a really good gig down to Portimao to the Mclaren Pure festival working with Protyre and Pirelli. I got all excited about it until they pulled the plug 6 weeks ago as they din't need an extra truck.

Well the phone rang a couple of weeks ago and it was back on and was I available? The rate had gone up enough to make me accept and move my other work about. The thought of 17 days away in a year where I've been precisely nowhere was too good to turn down.

The plan is to drive down to Portimao, work in the Pirelli pits garage doing whatever and then drive home. All expenses paid, hotels every nice and wall to wall sunshine.....happy days!!

1st job is to get down to Didcot to collect the truck. My mate Harry, who runs Academy Motorsport and lives locally, was taking one of the trailers down so he picked me in his silver Scania and off we went.

Got to Didcot, sorted the trucks and trailers out and headed to Portsmouth. My trailer was loaded withg 543 Pirelli slicks for the Mclaren GT3 and 4's for the weekends action. The other guys had all the fitting and garage equipment as well as wet tyres and the balance of the slicks.

I was given a brand new Protyre DAF XF530 which is a brilliant truck so happy days. Harry was in his own R730 V8 Scania and Richard was in a clapped out old Pirelli Scania which had seen better days but was all they had spare. Most of their fleet was heading off to Russia for the F1.
 

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A nice run down to the port, get checked in and await loading onto the new Galicia for the 36 hour cruise to Santander.

We get loaded at about 9.30 pm. Good to see a few bikes on there but I didn't spot anyone I knew or wanted to talk to.

They squeeze the trucks in pretty tight and there were only a couple of chains on each truck which in my experience meant a smooth sailing coming up..
 

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The new Galicia is a great boat I reckon but seems a lot smaller than the previous one. Each cabin has it's own entertainment system with loads of fils to watch so at least the crossing isn't as dull as it used to be. They also had Moto GP up on the big screen in the bar........which was nice.

Uneventful crossing and the food was pretty good. As freight we get 80% off everything and I spend a grand total of £7.40 on food and a few beers but when you are paying around £2500 return you expect something:D
 

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Cruised into Santander bang on time and unloaded. Because race trailers tend to be very low, you really have to be careful getting off the ferru as the ramps can be steep and ripping the underside off would be a miserable start to the day. The crew and dockers always make a point of watching you closely and I reckon they run a book on it seeing who does most damage.

No issues as I'm always ultra careful and come off at an angle. Drove around to Spanish customs to await our fate with the Carnets.
 

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For all the Brexiteers.......thanks :rolleyes:. What used to be a simple process of travelling across Europe has turned into a bit of a drama.

Because we are bringing everything back we have to travel on a Carnet which is not only time consuming but expensive. You have your heart in your mouth as you present the Carnet to customs in Portsmouth and of course customs in Spain who can be unpredictable at best. Luckily for me, they seemed to accept I was carrying the 543 tyres on board without a physical examination thank the lord so we were out of the port in about an hour.

One reason for shipping straight in to Spain is to avoid France because the French are being utter c***s with paperwork and will target any UK registered truck. It really isn't worth the hassle if you can avoid the place.

Out through the barriers and away after a faff with a security guard who said Harry's truck wasn't on his list. Even though he'd crossed from Portsmouth, cleared customs, showed his the Carnet etc etc he wouldn't let him go until his list was updated.....!!

Out of the port, get some music on and head south:cool:
 

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Lovely scenery out of Santander and some big hills but 530 dutch horses coped easily enough especially as I'm only grossing about 29 tonnes.

Many of you won't ride these main roads but from my seat, cruising along at 55mph and sitting high up it's a nice relaxed place to be. I'm a big fan of the big DAF XF trucks as they are quiet, comfortable, have everything you need and just get on with it with minimum drama.
 

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Excellent fun! Gimme a shout next time! :D :thumb2
 
One thing I like about Spain is the cafe's a truckstops. None of the over priced tat we put up with in the UK and you can get everything from a decent meal to some company (allegedly) with no problems ;)

We'd stopped for a quick break outside Santander so after our next stint of 4.5 hours (which is the legal limit you can drive in one stint) we pulled into this great truckstop for a sandwich and coffee for about 3 euros each. I really like central Spain as it reminds me of central California.

We had a good look at the knives we could have bought but decided to pass.:eek:
 

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our route today had taken us down through Palencia, Valladolid, Salamanca and on towards Seville but after 8.5 hours driving and 705 kms we called it a day just south of Merida.

Now being Motorsport truckies, it's verboten to sleep in the truck if you can avoid it a Richard knew of a hotel which was in an ideal spot. Richard has been doing this job for years and worked with Ferrari and a load of other top teams in Motorsport so he knows all teh best places.

We parked the trucks, checked in the hotel and went for a beer and some nosh. The hotel was like a Premier Inn except it was spotlessly clean and only 40 euros for a room which is ridiculously cheap.

An excellent couple of beers later and after watching the sun go down it was time for some zeds.
 

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our route today had taken us down through Palencia, Valladolid, Salamanca and on towards Seville but after 8.5 hours driving and 705 kms we called it a day just south of Merida.

Now being Motorsport truckies, it's verboten to sleep in the truck if you can avoid it a Richard knew of a hotel which was in an ideal spot. Richard has been doing this job for years and worked with Ferrari and a load of other top teams in Motorsport so he knows all teh best places.

We parked the trucks, checked in the hotel and went for a beer and some nosh. The hotel was like a Premier Inn except it was spotlessly clean and only 40 euros for a room which is ridiculously cheap.

An excellent couple of beers later and after watching the sun go down it was time for some zeds.

Did that last week . Had a great night in Salamanca

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Snap

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Had a small steak there too

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Bloody good trucks the big Daf; like you say; quiet; comfortable; and a great ride; also a bunk to die for;:okay. I've done that route a few times on the way to Jerez; and also across to Estoril; we stopped at a truck stop near Seville one year;; Monosterio i think. My mates wife drove the Pirelli truck; and also the Bridgstone truck some years ago; she's been HGV for donkeys years; also rides a bike.
 
A different type of ride report - really interesting:thumb2

That 1906 beer is a great beer - and really strong as we found out in July past:blast

Enjoy the rest of the trip Chris:cool:


Cheers................................Grizzly:beerjug:
 
Enjoyed that, you should follow it up with a report on a trip in the U.K. To highlight the difference, not sure how enjoyable that one would be!
 
Sunday 19th September

So, nice lie in as it's only 5 hours across to Portimao.

Breakfast on the balcony and away we go. Note the fuel guage on the top left hand side of the dash. It's hardly moved since leaving as I've got a 1400 litre tank on board and at 12mpg at this weight, that goes a long long way without a top up. Normally I wouldn't bother topping up but given the issues in the UK I'll brim the tank in Spain before shipping back.

For those interested, the dash is fairly basic but the dark space above the picture of the truck is the truck computor and you can bring up all the usual info on there from oil level to drivers hours.Revs are very low as is a 13 litre engine pumping out 530 bhp and bif diesels are very happy in teh green band between 1000 and 1500 rpm.The only time you go above that is on a downhill slope with the engine brake engaged which works really well on this truck so you only need a footbrake when you stop.


I haven't been to Portugal before in a truck so it's another one ticked off as we cross the river into the country.

As it's Sunday, the roads are empty and this is why I love European Trucking. Empty roads generally, nice weather and good facilities.
 

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