They are a two-wheeler driver’s nightmare, virtual road hogs and traffic rule violators they are notorious for causing accidents and mowing down whatever comes in their way of rash driving.
Indeed, truck drivers in the recent past have drawn a lot of flak by Delhiites for their incorrigible driving skills. But recently, thanks to the inaugural ‘Tata T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship’ at the Buddh International Circuit, Delhiites got to see the other side of truck drivers!
Team Castrol Vecton won the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship, with Stuart Oliver and Dave Ball of United Kingdom as its drivers. The drivers drove the modified Indian-built trucks with international T1 drivers who roared on the Buddh Circuit. To give them company were Bollywood singers Mika, Salim and Sulaiman, famous drummer Sivamani and Sanjay Shetty’s troupe of dancers.
The ten-time British truck racing champion took 30:26.848 minutes to complete 15 laps starting at pole position. The 50-year-old also got a stiff challenge from Mathew Summerfield of Team Cummins who took just five minutes more, i.e., 30:31.522 mins and came second in the race.
David Jenkins, who was representing Tata Technologies Motorsports, finished third with the timing of 30:32.413 minutes among the other 12 contestants. The 12 racing mammoths which weighed about seven tonnes each, gave Delhiites a thoroughly entertaining afternoon in the country’s first ever truck racing event.
Top British truck racing drivers included Bran John Burt, David Jenkins, Paul Mccumisky, David Ball, Stuart Oliver, James Horne, Simon Ashley Reid, Richard Collett, Mat Summerfield, Steven Powell, Steven Powell, Steven Thomas and Graham Powell showed their driving skills during the event.
The six teams for the T1 Championship were Castrol Vecton, Cummins, Tata Technologies Motorsports, Allied Partners, Dealer Daredevils and Dealer Warriors. At this event fans were treated to the first-ever truck racing championship held in India and marked another small step forward for Indian motorsports on the global motor-racing stage. The series used 12 heavily-modified trucks which are capable of putting out 370 horsepower and reaching a top speed of 110 kilometers.
Although, it was disheartening not to see any Indian truck drivers in the race, but one hopes that soon some will be given adequate training and will one day win the title on their own soil.