So, to Donington, perhaps the traditional home of British Truck Racing, maybe even European Truck Racing too, the summer “holiday”, the party event.
Here it all started 41 years ago, November 1984 – I was there (aged 13 !). There may have been a small “club” event at the Paul Ricard circuit in France in 1983 (although I can’t verify that) but this was the first. And, I believe, still the biggest crowd ever to attend Donington with 300,000 (reportedly) spectators. The circuit was full, the gates were closed, the traffic was chaos (really it was). The M1 had to be closed, and so was East Midlands airport as none of the air crew could get to the airport. At the end of the weekend, it took myself and my (late) parents 4 hours to leave the carpark, yes to get from the middle of a field to the exit in the car. That was the beginning of it all and 41 years later it’s still happening.
For the Trucks, testing is the Thursday, so we arrive and set up a day earlier than normal on the Wednesday, and we’re ready to put the Trucks on the track bright an early on the Thursday. Lots of little niggles and set up changes and the usual “tinkering” was needed, but we had all day on Friday to sort that and to wash the trucks, so they sparkled in the sunshine in our “Hi-Viz” pink livery.
Qualifying was not the best for us – with two 3rd places and two 6th places. Archie’s truck was better, with a new turbo giving more power, but still far from ideal acceleration, and Simon’s no. 41had a few handling and braking issues to resolve.
However, the ”rookie” drivers start from the back of the pack, which left Simon in pole in both the first race and the second, and Archie 3rd, behind his dad.
The timetable was very tight for us, with little more than an hour to turn the trucks around for the races, adding 160 ltr of water and 30 ltr of fuel to each. Possibly a change of pads and discs thrown in for good measure, as well as any other necessary mechanical or bodywork repairs.
Race 1. Simon managed to stay on the tail of the Division 1 guys for the first part of the race before the truck performance started to tail off. In the end he came in 2nd in Division 2, with Archie, complete with a huge grin, coming in 6th.
Race 2. Simon came in 3rd, following a “racing incident” (or two) and the loss of various bits of body work, with Archie 6th along with most, but not all, of his windscreen. Another long night of repairs, fiberglass and windscreens followed! So, the lads were dispatched to find a screen and at close to midnight we could be found fitting it.
Upwards and onwards to Sunday.
Race 3. For the first race on the Sunday, the starting grid is the finishing order for Race 1, with the first 8 reversed. So, once again Si started in pole position with Archie behind him in 3rd and Sami in between. It was hard racing on this fast but challenging circuit, with Simon bringing Frankie home in 2nd and Archie in 6th. Frankie was not at her best and was losing power during the race.
Race 4. Once again this was a reverse grid start (for the top 8) based on the results of race 2, with the “rookies” put to the rear. This gave Simon and Frankie, a 2nd place start and Archie 3rd. Archie coming home 5th, with Simon bringing in Frankie 3rd, but on fire, well more or less!
Something was amiss with the rear hub or calliper or brakes – and Frankie was seriously hot, but this is racing, and the show must go on. A strip down and rebuild of the rear hub between races didn’t really identify any issues conclusively. A new / replacement calliper, brake discs and pads were all fitted – all and brake neck speed, and under difficult conditions as some parts were still several hundred degrees centigrade and needed to be cooled by water hoses. The truck was ready – but only just in time.
Race 5. The starting positions were the results from race 3, with the top 8 reversed, putting Simon on pole and Archie on 2nd place – following a few words being said to others by the stewards. Archie bought the old Volvo home to a creditable 6th – currently we are working with our sponsors to sort out something better for Archie next year – so fingers crossed on that. Simon did some amazing driving, bringing “Frankie” home in 2nd place, having had absolutely no brakes for the last three laps and once again almost on fire. A hose was quickly set up in park- ferme to cool the smoking truck and prevent any further damage. Although this must be completed carefully because cooling brake discs at 700c unevenly can cause them to crack or even explode.
Later, back at the yard, a full inspection of “Frankie” (the Iveco) found a damaged inlet manifold, with substantial cracks opening when hot. This was the reason for a “fading” performance during the races as “high” pressure air was being vented through the cracks and not entering the cylinders. Oh, and she needed a new windscreen too….
Check out our “Gallery” page for more pictures from the event!
Thanks to J H Haulage and Povey Transport who are helping us get around – so thank you, without you we would be stuck at home in Detling!
THANK YOU to ALL our wonderful sponsors; to the businesses who help us out in kind, or with cash (although we accept cheques too of course!), we could NOT do this without you ALL. No matter how big or small your help – this team of family and friends could not do this without YOU. YOU made it possible for Simon, and now Archie, and put father and son on the track as much as the rest of this family and friends based team. THANK YOU. (but we always need more help of course).
Please check out our “Partners” page to find out more about our sponsors.
Come and see us all, cheer on Archie and Simon and “THINK PINK” at the Circuit if you can – we are always happy to chat and show you our race trucks – unless we are repairing them of course, in which case best to give us some space to work safely.
If you cannot visit the track, then remember to check out the “BARC” live feed on YouTube – or of course on “catch up” later.
CTS#41 and CTS#40; Simon, Archie, John, Colin, Sam, Toby, Martin, Guy, Dave and Zeki.
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