It was a wet second ‘season’ of the Tata T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship. With just the solitary weekend, Tata repeated the format from last year in partnership with JK Tyre’s motorsport division. JK Tyre’s marketing muscle has seen it arrange for packed grandstands at previous racing series with passes distributed through its dealer network.
The discipline of truck racing is a fairly recent one in motorsport, having been started in 1978 and generally regarded as more for fun than the more serious circuit racing categories in car and bike racing. It’s profile in Great Britain has increased of late and Tata’s effort to use motorsport to position itself as a dynamic brand involves drivers from Britain to consult on the construction of the truck as well as race them. So far, Indian drivers have not been put behind the wheel although it is hardly outside the capabilities of veteran touring car and rally drivers to put on a good show for those in attendance.
When the trucks came on to the track for the beginning of the qualifying race the entire grand stand erupted into a massive roar. The qualifying race was soon underway with twelve massive trucks tearing down the track in the pouring rain. Steve Thomas of Team Allied Partners was the winner of the qualifier followed by last year’s champion Stuart Oliver of Team Castrol Vecton.
So for the final race it was Thomas on pole and Oliver behind him. As soon as the race started the two drivers raced neck and neck for 16 laps. The entire race witnessed a lot of aggressive driving and it was almost as if the drivers were engaged in a game of bumper trucks. And with such massive machines racing at high speeds, and on a wet track with drivers that were bumping into each other, there were some crashes and two trucks were out of the race. As the race continued Oliver was leading on the final lap and fought off Thomas who was just inches next to him. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as both trucks came into the final turn neck and neck and then raced to the finish line.
FROM BEHIND THE WHEEL
Driving a vehicle at 130 km/h is not considered that big of a deal these days especially given the presence of many multi-lane highways in the country. Although doing so in something that weighs well in excess of six tons is a bit disconcerting! autoX was given a chance to sample one of the Prima racing trucks at the Buddh International Circuit prior to the race weekend and we have to say we are intrigued. Even though we were instructed to not push the truck or take any chances while braking on the shortened 3.1 km short loop, we came away with the impression that learning a new racing discipline could well be fun for those in Indian motorsport. Provided of course, they actually get to race in them rather than just wait for TATA until it deems local racers worthy to get behind the wheel. Coming back to the truck itself, hitting speeds of 130 kmph with the same ease as a Swift is hard to wrap your head around and the rear is prone to stepping out under even mild braking due to the reduced weight. The stock commercial gearbox takes getting used to but eventually even a novice journalist can start to feel comfortable. Imagine what seasoned Indian racers – should they feel inclined to do so – could do.
-Vinayak pande
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