With the right mix of adventure and entertainment, the recent truck racing championship was an ideal occasion for motorsports enthusiasts
As we covered every inch of the path way leading to the racing track, the sound of roaring engines got louder. The clouds of dust occasionally rose as if they were guiding us in the right direction. We were heading for the T1 truck racing event by Tata Motors. The idea of the event was conceptualised to inspire the succeeding generations to take up truck driving as an inspirational profession and to address the scarcity of young skilled truck drivers in India.
This year, the race featured six teams with two trucks each and the spectators saw 12 monsters charging ahead the main grandstand leaving a screen of mist for racers behind. The weekend had not seen sunshine and the clouds finally gave way to rain. Hosted by Manish Paul the day saw great cultural performances by various artists like Badhshah, Garima Yagnik, Benny Dayal and the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-loy. As the trio raised the patriotic sense of the crowd, dance performers prepared themselves to give a performance on the wet track.
This was the first time the trucks were racing on a wet track. The championship consisted of two days of racing. There were two races to be held on the race day, one super qualifier of eight laps which would decide the pole position for the main race of 16 laps.
The racers were all experienced European truck racers who had raced in the British truck racing championship. Racers like Stuart Oliver, Matthew Summerfield and Dave Jenkins raced in the previous edition of the T1. Before the main race a safety truck took the crowd by surprise as it pulled out stunts on the noisy giant. The track still wet from the rain, the race was underway.
The first lap saw no contact but action started soon as a truck spun and slid on the grass facing the wrong way. A red light was given as the safety truck took the lead and the whole race was given a quick restart. The trucks were taking an average time of two minutes and ten seconds to complete a lap. The debut season winner Stuart Oliver took the championship title for the second time getting the Castrol Vecton team its second win.
Tata motors have also introduced an Indian Drive section for 2016 where they will train Indian drivers to partake in these races. Tata is building up a platform for truck racing in India. “The vision is to have several races in several parts of the country which can lead to the national championship. We want to include many more OEMs into the fray. We will take it one step at a time,” R Ramakrishnan, senior VP, Tata Motors (CV) has said.