Brands Hatch Race Report

Well what a weekend that was! Last weekend was rounds 3 & 4 of the LINE-X Pickup Truck Racing Championship at Brands Hatch which provided all with a good weekend of racing. Qualifying started early afternoon on the Saturday which saw Simon Carr topping both time sheets and ourselves 3rd & 4Th respectively, unfortunately for ourselves we had a problem which seemed to be a fueling issue which meant getting drive out of clearways seemed to be an issue. Sunday Morning saw the first race, and for ourselves we thought we were on top of the fueling issue but that did not appear to be the case, It was a frantic start with Damien Carr and Nic Grindrod racing towards the Druids Hairpin jostling for position for the better line which ultimately Damien took, behind the leaders there was lots of changes too, Simon Carr in the #15 LINE-X Truck was moving up a couple of places as was the 2009 Champion, Pete Stevens, By Lap 8 Nic Grindrod was starting to have issues with his truck which meant he was starting to lose gears and subsequently track position to Pete Stevens and Michael Smith. By lap 14 Nic's problems worsened and he started to experience engine problems which pushed him even further down the pecking order. With Damien building up a 6 second lead it was left to Michael and Pete to battle for 2ND and 3rd which resulted in a 2ND for Pete & 3rd for Michael, I personally cant help but feel the result may of been different had we not been nursing a fuel issue but that is racing you take the rough with the smooth. Nothing can be taken away from Damien who had an excellent race. Sunday Afternoon was Race 2 which we knew we were going to be starting with the same issues as we could not rectify them prior to the race so for ourselves it was more about damage limitation with no realistic opportunity for a podium unless we managed an early lead then some ultra defensive driving which did not happen. The race started with Lee Rogers from pole and Dave Briggs in second racing to Druids and Lee keeping the lead out, Not everyone managed the Druids Hairpin so gracefully as Simon Carr and Martin Heath ended up in the gravel trap which brought out the safety car. Racing got back underway on lap 6 with Lee still in the lead from Dave Briggs and Paul Saunders in the #90 Truck in third. Lap 10 saw Dave Briggs take the lead from Lee Rogers and a little later saw Steve Dance take 3rd from Paul Saunders. Not content with 4Th, Steve Dance was now eyeing up Lee Rogers 2Nd which he ultimately took on Lap 17 and left Lee holding onto 3Rd dearly for his first podium. Simon Carr was experiencing his own problems from his earlier off which meant he was driving just to get enough laps to get in the points. Now i don't know if it was the sun but some drivers seemed more intent with being off the track than being on it, the next being Dave Longhurst which forced his retirement. The race ended with Dave Briggs holding on to his lead with a hard charging Steve Dance finishing 2Nd from Lee Rogers in 3rd. For ourselves we ended 8Th which as i mentioned earlier was damage limitation especially as after the race when checking the truck after Michael reported handling issues after an incident with Dave Longhurst we found a shock absorber to be snapped in half so i imagine that may of caused a handling issue or two. So all in all a good weekend had by all. Now a long break for everyone before we head back to Rockingham for rounds 5 & 6.