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truck racing

I haven't been to Brands Hatch for a few years, but my children saw an advert for Truck Racing, and I didn't take much persuading. I bought tickets online and prayed for good weather.

The morning was dull and misty, but we were all up by 06:30 and ready to go by 07:45. I've made the mistake of leaving it a bit fine in the past, and the traffic can be horrendous. On this occasion, however, we drove straight in, and were parked with an hour to spare.

We spent some time wandering around the paddock, getting an idea of the scale of these 1,200 HP behemoths.

My son was invited to sit in the number 51 Ford Sedan of Simon Longman, from the Legends series. He loved these 5/8th scale cars modelled on American thirties classics, and cheered on number 51 all afternoon. Thanks, Simon!

I realised I'd forgotten to pack the folding chairs, so had to buy some at the circuit. We set these up at Paddock Hill Bend, and the gravel trap in front of us was to see plenty of action.

Not yet though! We couldn't even see the track through the early-morning fog. The racing was delayed by thirty minutes, but eventually engines roared into life and we started.

After an eventful Legends race, with plenty of gravel action, it was time for other classes, including Caterham's new starter series, the pickup truck racing championship (one race was won by 0.008 seconds), and saloon cars, it was time for the trucks.

By now, visibility was perfect – but not for long. As the turbocharged diesels came on track and revved up, the track disappeared in a cloud of smoke and particulates. There are restrictions on top speed, but seemingly not on pollution. There was a rolling start to the race, but on the first lap, two lorries crashed coming out of Druids and the race was red-flagged. It took a while to extricate them and rebuild the barriers, but eventually the race was restarted. It was quite fun, but to be honest, not as exciting as other race meets I have attended at this circuit. I was also surprised at how quiet they were, relatively speaking.

After seeing all the classes race once, my daughter and I went go-karting. Unfortunately, the person in front of us was in a party of twelve, so we had a long wait, especially as several karts broke, and an unfortunate lady broke a rib when she spun out. Eventually though, we were on track, and I loved it. I lapped everyone several times and revelled in hanging the tail out in most corners. My daughter drove well too, with good control.

We had time to watch the last truck race before heading home for tea. I then delivered them back to their mother for two weeks and started clearing up – after watching Lewis clinch the World Championship in a thrilling last lap nail biter.

updated Mon 03 Nov '08   give feedback...

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: : © Mike Bliss 2009