Stuart Oliver strikes gold in Season-II of T1 Tata Prima Truck Racing

(L to R) Second Runner Up-Steve Thomas, Team Allied Partners, Winner Stuart Oliver, Team Castrol Vecton, Third Runner Up Steven Powell, Team Tata Technologies, of Season II of the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship, 2015

The pre-event entertainment had host Manish Paul regaling the crowd with his wisecracks and musical performances by the ever popular Badshah, Benny Dayal and the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who had the crowd on their feet even as the rain came pouring down.

After the Super-Qualifying race, Steve Thomas of Allied Partners started in pole position and Stuart Oliver started in second position on the grid. It was an intense fight to the finish for the top contenders, with both drivers running neck and neck till the 15th lap; unwilling to give each other an inch. It was a treat to watch them rival each other through some sharp racing skills. In the final lap Team Castrol Vecton managed to emerge victorious by the slightest of margins and Allied Partners finished second. Steven Powell of Team Tata Technologies finished third, but did manage to give the two a few jitters in the final lap.

The race which featured the mightily powerful Tata PRIMA race trucks proved to be a treat for spectators and had them riveted with edge-of-the-seat action, crashes, high speed cornering and more. The championship points were granted to the winning driver, and combined team driver points determined the winning team.

The competition was fierce and the huge crowd support was very helpful for the drivers, as champion Stuart Oliver said, “It was an amazing experience. I want to say a big huge thank you to all the fans coming out all this way, all the flags, all the caps, everything, it made such a difference this weekend. Steve Thomas and Steven Powell were phenomenal competitors. They did an amazing job today of keeping me on my toes, pushing me all the way up to the podium. It means even more than the first one. I feel so blessed.” He further added, “The Tata Prima race trucks were fantastic. It has been an amazing championship, with so much improvement to the truck that it just goes to show the capability of the vehicle and how the sport can be scaled up, with more power and speed, a delight for every motorsports fanatic. I would like to thank Tata Motors for having all of us over and for having done an incredible job with the Tata PRIMA.”

Each of these 12-modified Tata PRIMA race trucks of 370 horsepower were built for the purpose, and driven by experienced international truck racing drivers, from the acclaimed British & European Truck Racing championships. The Tata PRIMA race trucks for Season II boasted 10% more speed (upto 130 km/hr), a new aerodynamic design, with 10% increased acceleration and 10% weight reduction, over Season I.

Besides the winning drivers Oly Janes, Mat Summerfield, Simon Reid, David Jenkins, Steven Powell, Richard Collett, Mathew Summerfield, David Jenkins, Paul Alan McCumisky, Oly Janes, Graham Powell, Ben Horne and Chris Levett were the other top British truck racing drivers, who participated.