| TOP NEWS :: Truck Racing Thruxton 2006 :: |
Over the weekend of August 5th/6th the British Truck Racing Association was out in force to take part in a full programme of racing at the Thruxton circuit, including Rounds 6 and 7 of the British Championship. The warm, dry weather made for good racing conditions and served to entice a large crowd of spectators along to the meeting.
After the qualifying race held late on the Saturday morning, the teams had several hours to make final adjustments to the trucks before Round 6 of the British Championship race at the end of the day.
British Championship Races
Twenty trucks lined up on the grid with Dave Jenkins in the Sisu taking pole position and last year’s British Champion Ross Garrett in the Foden alongside. Within the first lap it was Garrett who pulled away to take the lead which he held throughout the race to finish in first place, and Jenkins followed him over the line less than one second later. Stuart Oliver’s MAN performed well to maintain the third position off the grid and give him third place on the Class A winners’ podium. The fastest lap time in the Class A group went to Jenkins in a time of 1:40.871 for lap 3.
Class B turned out an ever-growing field of competitors for this meeting. Relative newcomer Dave Ball in the Volvo FL10 provided some excitement for the crowd when in lap 5 he entered the chicane wide and, unable to turn, did well to keep the truck under control without sustaining too much damage before coming to rest alongside the barrier. Despite this early exit from the race, it was Dave who achieved the fastest lap for Class B in a time of 1:43.657 for lap 2. Garry George in the Foden took the Class B honours with Terry Gibbon in the Volvo White less than one second behind him to take second place. Sibling rivalry was at work between two of this season’s newcomers, Graham Powell in the Ford Cargo and Steven Powell in the Volvo FL10, but it was Graham who triumphed to take third place on the Class B podium – it was only in November last year while spectating at Brands Hatch that the two caught the truck racing bug! There was also some family competition between experienced driver Roger Brookfield and his son Carl who returned to truck racing for this meeting – with both drivers in ERFs, on this occasion it was dad who crossed the line first. The completely ‘new boys’ were Gareth Davis in the Seddon Atkinson and Adam Atkins in the Bonnetted White, both of whom have been encouraged to come into the sport by regular competitor Richard Collett.
With the day’s racing behind them it was a generally happy bunch of drivers and mechanics who returned to the paddock area to commence the evening’s festivities. Steaks and burgers were the main order of the day, although in one encampment it was curry and rice pudding that were on the menu! Needless to say, all of this fine cuisine had to be washed down with generous quantities of beer and by all accounts the partying went on well into the night.
For those who had snatched only a few hours of sleep, it was something of an effort to get going for the Round 7 British Championship race – the first of the day, starting at 9a.m.! However, the BTRA boys are a resilient bunch and once behind the wheel of those powerful trucks, they’re ready for action. Grid positions were taken from the finishing order of the previous afternoon’s race, so it was Ross Garrett who was in pole position with Dave Jenkins alongside. Stuart Oliver started in third position, moved up to second during the first lap, but quickly dropped back again to finish the race in third place. Garrett and Jenkins finished in first and second places respectively, so that the podium placings for Class A were exactly the same as for Round 6. Despite contact with Levett’s MAN in lap 5, Mat Summerfield in the Sisu improved upon his previous day’s position to finish in a very respectable fourth place whilst Levett spun and dropped back to cross the finishing line in seventh place. Steve Horne in the ERF once again raced well and came over the line fifth. Fastest lap in Class A went to Garrett in a time of 1:40.384 for lap 6.
In Class B it was a double victory for Garry George in the Foden and Terry Gibbon in the Volvo White who once again took the first two places on the winner’s podium – hopefully there’s plenty of room on the mantelpieces for this growing collection of trophies! David Ball’s Volvo had recovered from the previous day’s escapade and brought a delighted driver over the finishing line in third place. Graham Powell still managed to beat brother Steven, but in the Brookfield camp the tables were turned with son Carl pipping Roger to the post – which was probably fair as it was his birthday afterall! Two other Class B drivers who had a good weekend’s racing were Elton Boocock in the Seddon Atkinson who is moving steadily up the Class B Championship points table, and Steven Thomson in the Scammell. Fastest Class B lap time was achieved by Terry Gibbon in 1:45.102 for lap 6.
International Challenge
The International Challenge was the culmination of the whole event and brought the British drivers together with four teams who had travelled from France to take part. In the previous heats which were necessary to reduce the number of contestants down to the maximum grid number of twenty, Steve Horne took the honours in Heat 1 and Ross Garrett in Heat 2. Alongside them for the final, Jean Fournier in his Renault headed up the French challengers. The race was fast and furious with some of the closest bumper to bumper racing seen all weekend. Assertive holding of the race line in lap 3 by Oliver resulted in damage to the nearside rear tyre of the MAN and the retirement of Summerfield. In the following lap, Oliver himself was forced to withdraw after some exciting and crowd pleasing contact with Jenkins resulted in extreme deterioration of the tyre damage. In the end it was Garrett who made it a fifth win for the British in this International Challenge. Levett passed the chequered flag second, with Jenkins coming in third after achieving fastest lap. Fournier continued to lead the French contingent finishing in fifth place.
In the paddock area, visitors were welcome to look at the trucks and were no doubt fascinated by all the fine tuning and repair work which goes on between races. Drivers were on hand to answer questions and to sign autographs in the programme, on hats or whatever came to hand. While the boys were busy doing all the technical stuff, it was the girls, generally speaking, who provided the continuous supplies of food and drink. As always in the generous spirit of all the teams, commodities ranging from tyre bars to bottles of beer passed from one camp to another. Congratulations to the Summerfieldtrucksport team who won the prize for the best presented team. .
Close by, the BTRA stand was doing a good trade in clothing and memorabilia. Thanks are due to Kate and David who were on duty throughout the weekend.
In addition to the truck racing there was also a series of car races which featured AVO Ginettas, Radical Enduros and Minis, all of which entertained the crowds with their high speed laps round the track.
Show Trucks
Away from the track where over 150 show trucks were lined up for visitors to enjoy, life was being taken at a gentler pace. The drivers of these ‘on-the-road’ vehicles and their assistants spent most of the weekend cleaning and polishing, ready to be judged in a series of categories ranging from best interior to best fleet. This part of the weekend’s event was arranged by the BTRA in association with Shirley and Tony of United Truckers, and was made possible due to sponsorship from Powertrucks International Ltd., CDC Truck Accessories Ltd., Pentagon of Andover and Trucking Magazine.
The Thruxton weekend was a resounding success due mainly to the hard work of BTRA vice-chairman Steve Horne who co-ordinated the whole event. Thanks are also due to Secretary Terry Cox who aside from his duties in this role, had a busy weekend as MSA Chief Scrutineer for all competitors.
So, a great weekend of truck racing with Ross ‘Rocket’ Garrett grabbing maximum Championship points and taking home another five trophies to squeeze into the cabinet!
© Marion Jones – British Truck Racing Association. This article may be re-printed providing the credit line to the BTRA is printed.
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