Top British drivers for Tata truck racing

Some of Britain's finest truck racers will be seen in action March 23 at the T1 PRIMA Truck Racing Championship, introduced in the country for the first time by Tata Motors, at the Buddh International Formula 1 Circuit in Greater Noida.

Top British truck racing drivers, including Bran John Burt, David Jenkins, Paul Mccumisky, David Ball, Stuart Oliver, James Horne, Simon Ashley Reid, Richard Collett, Steven Powell, Steven Thomas and Graham Powell, will be showing their driving skills during the event, the organisers said in a statement Sunday.

The spectacle, the first-ever truck racing championship held in India, will mark another small step forward for Indian motorsport as the country increasingly asserts itself on the global motor-racing stage.

The series will use six heavily-modified Tata Prima beasts capable of putting out 370 horsepower and reaching a top speed of 110 km an hour driven by international drivers.

The event has been inscribed on the calendars of FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) and FMSCI (the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India). It is being managed by T.I.C.

The T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship is being organised by Madras Motor Sports Club of India (MMSCI), with safety and performance standards being followed as per British Truck Racing Association (BTRA) guidelines. Each truck/team is owned by a principal sponsors. There will be six teams of two trucks each.

Besides the truck drivers of international acclaim and foreign nationals, Indian drivers especially trained for the event will participate.

The truck racing is a highly popular international sport worldwide since 1979. Tata Motors wanted to bring it to India and the major challenge for T.I.C. was to persuade the globally famed truck driving champions and designing the trucks of international standards.

To make these Prima trucks fit for racing, 22 key modifications were made to meet a mix of safety and performance needs as per guidelines from British Truck Racing Association.

These included significant changes in fuel tank, brake cooling system, propeller shaft guards, racing seats and safety belts, exhaust, steering wheel among others. The trucks have gone through multiple quality checks and also tested on the test circuit at Jamshedpur for high speed run and control.