Photography "OSCAR" © Report by: Jonathan Reeves © truckrace.eu

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This year there will only be photos and reports from the ‘’Delphi British Truck Racing Championship’’ on www.truckrace.nl

contributed by Jonathan Reeves.

Calendar 2011: http://www.britishtruckracing.co.uk/Calendar.aspx

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2011 Delphi British Truck Racing Championship

Rounds 13 & 14 – Brands Hatch

by JONATHAN REEVES

 BRANDS BATTLEFIELD!

 GUEST DRIVERS SUMMERFIELD AND LENZ STAR IN CLASS ‘A’

WINS FOR LOVENBERRY & ZANDBERGEN IN CLASS ‘B’

 The final rounds of the 2011 Delphi British Truck Racing Championship took place in front of a huge crowd at an unseasonably warm Brands Hatch last weekend (October 29/30).

 With a superb entry of 26 trucks – including drivers from Holland, France and Germany – there were packed grids and the prospect of some thrilling races.

 Indeed the Saturday Class ‘B’ Championship race proved to be a thriller – a real ‘battle of the bonnets’ - with Cees Zandbergen sneaking his Scania ahead of Andy Lovenberry’s Sisu to snatch victory. 3rd place went to local Tonbridge driver Dave Smith (Foden) ahead of the newly crowned champion Steven Powell (Ford).

Brian Burt – back in action after an engine failure at Pembrey – brought his Volvo White home for 5th with Jim Bennett (Seddon) completing the top six.

Oscar Clark could see his hopes of second in the championship slipping away as he took 7th in his Volvo ahead of Adam Bint with Dutch visitor Marco Donk (Volvo) 9th. Steve Thomson in the ‘classic’ Scammell completed the points-scorers in 10th.

Extra ‘entertainment’ value was added to the race with the fastest five Class ‘A’ qualifiers joining the back of the field of 16 Class ‘B’ runners – but starting nearly half a lap behind.

That meant the large Saturday crowd got to see Mat Summerfield fending off fellow Man racers Dave Jenkins – the pair slicing through the field to finish 3rd and 4th ‘on the road’ – closely followed home by former double European Champion Heinz-Werner Lenz (Mercedes) and Terry Gibbon in his immaculately repaired MAN. The fastest machines were dipping below the 1-minute mark on best lap times for the first time this weekend.

Apart from a scary moment on the starting straight when Trevor Martin’s ERF was spun in the middle of the pack, the race proved to be exciting – but without too much drama. That was to come the next day!

 The first outing on Sunday was the Class ‘A’ Delphi British Championship race – with a host of top Class ‘B’ drivers slotted onto the back to make a full grid of 20 starters. An enormous crowd packed the Brand Hatch circuit to watch the first heavyweight battle of the day.

 The start provided plenty of thrills as pole man Summerfield braked late and ran wide, taking challenger Jenkins with him – leaving the door open for Heinz-Werner Lenz to slip up the inside in his Mercedes-Benz to grab an early lead.

Meanwhile Steve Thomas was having a major sideways ‘moment’ at Paddock Hill bend – with Dutchman Henry Tijhuis ploughing into the side of his MAN as they slid towards the gravel. Luke Taylor in the Renault had nowhere to go but off - and to avoid contact took a long trip through the gravel trap. But everybody survived the opening lap…

 Lenz enjoyed a brief moment of glory at the front – but within 3 laps speedy Summerfield was hunting down the orange machine –and finally dived inside to take over at the head of the pack. Ricky Collett – who had snatched third in the first turn confusion - was also close on the heels of the German with a recovering Jenkins right on his tail. Terry Gibbon – with his MAN showing no ill-effects of the Pembrey smash – was running a strong 5th – with Zandbergen the leading Class ‘B’ machine in 6th. The race was shaping up nicely – with a real battle for the podium places…

But unfortunately just before half-distance Trevor Martin ran wide on the exit of Paddock, his ERF ploughing into the gravel at speed. As he turned back toward the tarmac the wheels dug in – and over he went – the truck somersaulting onto it’s roof and coming back to rest on it’ side.

Naturally the red flags came out bringing the action to an early end. Fortunately Trevor emerged unhurt – but the subsequent recovery operation took some time and organisers decided to declare the race results after 4 laps.

 The next outing for the racetrucks was the non-championship ‘Semi-Final’ – providing an extra outing for anyone outside the top in each class who had not automatically qualified for the Grand Final.

This one saw Gibbon heading the field away with Dave Smith (Foden) boldly going around the outside at turn one with Graham Powell (ERF) and Steve Thomas (MAN) in close contention.

 Unfortunately the action ended after just two corners as a mid-field battle saw Adam Bint (Volvo White) clipping Steve Thomson – sending the Scammell smashing heavily into the barriers on the exit of Druids. Again we had a truck on its side – and it took a few anxious minutes before the hard-working marshals could extract the driver. Steve was taken off to hospital – but the good news is that he didn’t suffer any lasting injuries, which is more than could be said for the truck! 

Again the clean-up squads were in action – working to recover the driver and repair the circuit. Unfortunately they soon has an even bigger mess on their hands as a Fire tender vehicle skidded on some oil at Paddock bend – the Pick-Up truck rolling spectacularly onto it’s roof before bouncing back onto it’s wheels with foam spraying high into the air!

 More delays and a slippery mess to wash away too.  With light rain starting to fall and the afternoon light fading fast there were still two support races and the Truck Final to run….

Thankfully the patient audience finally got to see an un-stopped truck race at the end of day. With headlights on it was again Summerfield who made the early break while Jenkins dealt with the German threat and grabbed second. Despite clocking fastest lap there wasn’t much the new British Champion could do about the high-flying Summerfield – and Mat grabbed the winner’s trophy for the second time on Sunday.

Joining him and Jenks on the podium was Heinz-Werner Lenz with Collett a lonely 4th. The MAN armada continued with Gibbon holding off Thomas for 5th.

 Zandbergen had looked set to outpace a few of the Class ‘A’ boys in his Scania – but the Dutchman had to stop three laps from the flag with an oil leak (the only non-finisher). That left Graham Powell (ERF) to claim 7th – just ahead of top Class ‘B’ runner Lovenberry – the Sisu driver thereby safely securing the runner-up spot in the Class ‘B’ Championship.

Luke Taylor brought his Renault home 9th overall – with Dave Smith the 2nd placed Class ‘B’ finisher – ahead of champion Steven Powell (Ford).

Ben Horne – after a troubled day – brought his MAN through to 12th ahead of Brian Burt (White) and Stephane Languillat (Renault) – the top French finisher.

Oscar Clark (Volvo), Jim Bennett (Seddon) and Marco Donk (Volvo) finished in close company with James Aikenhead (Seddon) and Manuel Rodrigues (Volvo) the last over the line. 20 starters and 19 finishers proved that they can stay on the track… and provided a great end to a day that had produced just a bit too many thrills and spills!

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All information, Photos and reports of the FIA European Truck Race Championship can be seen on

www.truckracing.de / www.truckrace.info and

http://www.truckracing.de/truckrace/de/news/index.html

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