The crew with the outside broadcast van travelled direct from France to Germany, with the result they had some spare time before set-up in Strassbessenbach. Imagine my surprise when on arrival at Frankfurt airport on Thursday, the message on my Whatsapp group was “We are at the beach - will send a car to bring you”.
“Beach - what beach”? We are hundreds of kilometres from the ocean in the north, so I was puzzled.
The cab journey was around fifteen minutes and the destination turned out to be an inland water park and leisure centre looking for all the world like a mediterranean seaside resort. It had sunbeds neatly set out in pairs under straw beach umbrellas just like Spain or Greece. There were water sports, a bar and snack restaurant, but most of all the weather. This weekend is forecast to be blisteringly hot, and it had already begun.

That was a perfect start to my weekend, but on entering the track on Friday, it was back to business as usual. I was reminded of just how spectacular this hillside track is, and what fierce racing it produces.
With six races and one hundred and sixty-five points up for grabs, including qualifying scores, the season is far from over. Twenty-eight points split Vanluchene and Lielbardis at the top, with just over fifty covering the top five teams.
Once more the atmosphere was building, with the main topic of conversation being the potential temperature on Saturday, forecast to be around thirty-plus degrees. The track here at Strassbessenbach is well prepared, and features a steep uphill climb from the gate, so horsepower will count for everything.
Watering will be an essential commodity this weekend, but it will be a difficult balance, as too much water on the hill will inevitably run down to the start area and spoil the opening few metres.
TV interviews this week included Killian Prunier, Davy Sanders, and a new name for me, local German Tobias Hertfelder, who has been away from the Grand Prix scene for fifteen years having his family and building a successful business. Already this year he has qualified and scored points, and that, as anyone who knows will tell you, is not easy.

Adrian Peter, a regular with us and another German national, did a bouncy social media interview with an appeal on the end in German, for spectators to get behind the teams and come to support.
Our live stream and live timing will be up and running from tomorrow to send you all the qualifying and race action as it unfolds over two days, so check out the subscription deal for a weekend pass.
Meanwhile stay with us as we continue to bring you everything as it happens here on www.fimsidecarcross.com and all our social media platforms.
From Barry Nutley