2010 Delphi British Truck Racing Championship Rounds 5 & 6 – Pembrey.
OLIVER UNSTOPPABLE IN CLASS “A” HORNE BEATS POWELL IN CLASS “B” BATTLE – BUT THEN CRASHES OUT OF FINAL RACE!
The Delphi British Truck Racing Championship returned to Pembrey last weekend (May 15/16) – and with adverse weather conditions making the track extremely slippery and unpredictable the UK’s top truck racers demonstrated their superb wet weather driving skills with some extremely close and hard-fought battles.
But unfortunately when the sun came out for the final race the accident rate shot up with a number of trucks badly damaged in an incident-packed Round 6 that had to be re-started twice!
In the opening Class ‘A’ outing Stuart Oliver was untouchable – the reigning champion powering his MAN to a comfortable victory of 9.455 seconds having shaken off the early challenge of Mat Summerfield (ERF).
With the wet track providing very little grip for the 1000 horsepower machines there was plenty of sideways action to entertain the crowds.
Summerfield held on for the runner-up spot – but had to watch his mirrors carefully as David Jenkins (Sisu) was hard on his heels, closing to within 0.3 seconds at the chequered flag. Richard Collett who had held off Jenkins initially, stayed in close contention to bring his MAN home 4th with Roger Brookfield (DAF) completing the top five.
Next out on the treacherous Pembrey track were the Class ‘B’ runners – and from the rolling start Championship leader Graham Powell looked set to continue his winning streak as he powered his ERF into an early lead.
But Ben Horne (Volvo White) had other ideas and chased him hard throughout – clocking fastest lap as he closed in during the latter stages of the race. On the final lap Powell ran slightly wide entering one turn and Ben needed no further invitation to grab the opportunity to slide the American truck down the inside and snatch the lead. Horne crossed the finishing line just 0.828 secs ahead of Powell – who had to admit afterwards that it had been “A hard but fair race”.
Oly Janes put on a superb showing in the tricky conditions to bring his Seddon Atkinson home in a fabulous third place – the newcomer fending off the experienced Carl Brookfield (ERF) and Steven Powell (Ford) to take the final podium spot in only his third race meeting!
Unfortunately Horne and Janes good fortunes took a major U-turn in the final outing of the weekend!
Brian Burt came out on top of a great scrap for 6th with fellow White racer Adam Atkins – the duo split by under half a second at the flag, with Trevor Martin bringing his ERF home in 8th. Craig Evans (Volvo) got the better of Jim Bennett (Seddon) in the fight for ninth….while Andy Lovenberry’s Sisu seemed incapable of doing anything but spinning and came home in 11th.
With all the Class ‘A’ and ‘B’ runners combined (but scoring points for the Delphi British Championship separately within their own Class) an impressive line up of 16 trucks took the rolling start of the Grand Final.
The sun had finally emerged from behind the clods for this final race – but some damp patches had already caught out some in the previous ‘Last Chance’ race including the unfortunate Jim Bennett who made heavy contact with the barriers as he slid off under braking for the first turn.
The full grid got away safely this time – but only after a delay as Steven Powell’s Ford refused to start! Oliver was again in command at the head of the pack but Summerfield and Collett were engaged in a great scrap for the other podium places while Jenkins was pushing as hard as ever in the Sisu. Finally he had to be content with 4th – admitting that while the Sisu handles well in the wet it lacked the sheer horsepower to match his MAN rivals in the dry.
But while the Class ‘A’ battles raged there were several other fierce fights for position right through the field. Graham Powell was back on top form to head the Class ‘B’ runners (in a strong 5th overall) while Lovenberry finally got the handling of his Sisu to his liking and move up to 6th overall (2nd in Class), with Roger Brookfield finishing 7th.
Horne had been running strongly at the start but lost several places as he overcooked his approach to one turn. Unperturbed, Ben was soon fighting his way back through the field. But unfortunately Oly Janes had clipped a rival’s truck mid-race and spun across the track at the fast Dibeni turn. Arriving at full speed, Horne had little opportunity to do anything other than brace himself for what was to be a major impact – the White ploughing into the left front corner of the Seddon. The sturdy construction, safety cage and full harness belts ensured that both drivers emerged unscathed – but the resultant mess understandably took a while to clean up. From the re-start Oliver again grabbed the lead ahead of Summerfield and Collett. Meanwhile Powell picked up maximum points in Class ‘B’ with Lovenberry and Brian Burt joining him on the Class ‘B’ podium.
The teams now have a few weeks ‘breathing space’ before the next rounds of the 2010 Delphi British Truck Racing Championship – at Nurburgring (Germany) on July 24/25.
Next outing on UK soil will be at Thruxton on August 7/8.
PLEASE NOTE: The Donington Park event scheduled for the first weekend of August has now been cancelled!.