After an international run to the GP-Strecke at the Nurburgring, the British Truck Racing Association headed to Donington Park this past weekend. The Summer Truckfest meeting was my first brush with truck racing, but it won’t be my last. Rikki has given me permission to post details of the meeting here with a link to my own website, Racing-Report.com where you can find more detailed information on the two days of the meeting.
The first session of the day was qualifying, topped by David Jenkins and David Smith. Jenkins drove his MAN TGA to a 0.240 second advantage over the #1 of Matt Summerfield, also an MAN. Smith on the other hand dominated second class in his Foden Alpha. The actual qualifying action took second string to a drama for the Iveco of Steven Powell however. Luckily, I was in the right spot to get the photo!
A turbo problem caused the truck to start smoking at Redgate, the first conrner at “Donny”. By the time he hit turn 2 there was a definite hint of orange in the smoke. By halfway down the Crainer Curves the fire had taken full hold and he was forced to abandon ship. He was forced back into the cab when the heat had burned through the brake lines. The truck continued to roll down the hill and pulled to a gentle halt in the Old Hairpin gravel trap.
20130817-IMG_2155 by Racing-Report.com, on Flickr
Nottingham Recovery took centre stage when the session was abandoned early and the wreckage was loaded onto an FH12 heavy wrecker.
A 2-2-1 formation handed all the victories to MAN. David Jenkins and Matt Summerfield had two each with Steve Thomas’ TGX entry grabbing the other class 1 victory. It was Thomas and Stuart Oliver who gave us one of the most thrilling finishes of the meeting, including the Caterham and Legends support package. The TGA came out of the final corner with a TGX engine TGS just along side. The power of the TGX put the Thomas liveried truck ahead by an axel when the flag was flown at the end of the race.
The other big event of the meeting was a clash at the first corner in class 1 during the final race of the day. The Renault Premium of Luke Taylor, an ex-FIA European Championship machine, came screaming into Redgate, a massive lock up left the Premium out of control and Taylor hammered Ben Horne’s MAN TGA into a spin. Extensive damage to the front end of the Renault turned out to be cosmetic, but Nottingham Recovery once again took the fore to grab the stricken MAN and return it to the team for an early pack up.
20130817-IMG_2194 by Racing-Report.com, on Flickr
In class 2 the question of if the tipper boys have it right was answered in the crucible of motorsport. Seven sessions run and six top spots for David Smith’s #11 Selor Transport sponsored machine was a more than suitable result. Especially as the only session which wasn’t a case of Foden to the fore was the non-competitive warm up, when the team didn’t even start the engine!
Behind the Foden the results sheets looked more like a service diary for a Renault and Iveco dealer. Reid took a second and two thirds but the other two races ended in wrecker rides. The same was true for the Powell brothers, brake issues stopped Graham on in races one and five, while problems in the morning on Sunday put the Renault bodied ERF into the garage for the first two races and it didn’t even grid up.
20130817-IMG_2501 by Racing-Report.com, on Flickr
Steven’s fire in qualifying benched the Iveco for Saturday and a retirement in race four left only a fourth place finish to stem the depression. The #54 machine limped across the line in the final clash and returned to the trailer on the back of the most famous wreckers in motorsport.
The Volvo White of Brian Burt was a mechanical disaster area, one assumes there is more White than Volvo in the mix. A second and third place kept the Volvo in championship contention but there was little else to please the Powertrucks International liveried wagon.
Full articles on both days of action are available on Racing-Report.com:
Day 1: http://racing-report.com/othernews/item/1198-british-truck-racing-championship-donington-park-day-1
Day 2: http://racing-report.com/othernews/item/1200-british-truck-racing-championship-donington-park-day-2
Mods: Please note that Rikki has specifically authorised this post and the inclusion of references to Racing-Report.com
