GRAND FINALE 2022 – BRANDS HATCH
The Grand Finale 2022 of the British Truck Racing Championship took place last weekend at our local Circuit – Brands Hatch.
Wow – Trucks and Fireworks what a weekend! Simon and Eleanor had a blast, lots of fun and learnings in prep for next year. Season 2023 here we come!
Friday 4th November
We participated in 2 open testing sessions.
The team made a few changes to Eleanor (Truck) since our previous round at Donington Park. This meant Simon had a lot of learning to do on and off the track. The team gained lots of data from the 2 sessions and managed to get a setup of the truck that Simon was happy with.
Saturday 5th November
The morning kicked off with qualifying and Simon set a respectable time of 1.12.821 in wet conditions. This meant Simon would start Race1 in P12.
Race 1 kicked off and was full of action across the whole grid. After a couple of red flag incidents, Simon managed to stay out of trouble and push Eleanor hard and finished in 10th place.
Later that afternoon in Race 2 Simon started 12th on the grid, another physical race which Simon managed to stay out of trouble, battled with other drivers throughout and finished in 9th place.
The end of Saturday saw the team give Eleanor a service and a few tyre changes. The team were informed of a weather warning ‘rain’ therefore the truck was then setup for the wet in anticipation of Sunday’s races.
Sunday 6th November
Race 3 on Sunday morning and yes, the rain poured down! A delayed start to the race due to the awful weather conditions. The race started under yellow flags for a couple of laps then…….. Goooooo!
Simon got a great start again avoiding the carnage of trucks spinning ahead of him. Even in the poor conditions he managed to battle hard and finished in 7th place. The wet setup worked, as his lap times were consistent throughout.
Race 4 with the rain still heavy so another wet race. Simon started in 9th place and got another great start from lights out and finished the race in 9th.
When Simon returned to the pits he reported back to the team of clutch and gear issues. This isn’t the news a team wants to hear after having such a great weekend, however the team pulled together and managed to make some adjustments so Simon could take part in Race 5 – The final race of the year
Race 5 the final race of the year and Simon started in the front row. Simon got a great start and managed to stay clear of the other drivers behind him. Sadly, it wasn’t the race we hoped for. The clutch and gear issues were still persistent, and Eleanor and Simon struggled during the race. This didn’t stop their race and Simon managed to continue battling until the end finishing in a respectable 10th place.
“It was great being back out on the track with Eleanor this weekend. A great team effort getting the results we got, lots of learnings. Thank you to our Sponsors and Supporters you keep us going, see you next year!
Simon Cole
We’re now looking for Partners to join us in 2023, have a look at our Commercial pack to see if we’re the match for you!
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