Jagat Singh and Nagarjuna were crowned as the first winners of the Indian class of the T1 Prima Truck racing. The 12 Indian drivers were split into two batches with the top honours being awarded for each batch. The international class was led by Graham Powell who claimed first position in Race 1, second in Race 2 and third in Race 3.
Talking about the introduction of the Indian drivers to truck racing, Mr. Ravi Pisharody, executive director, Tata Motors - Commercial Vehicles, said, “Trucking is vitally important to the nation's economy and the T1 Racer Program has been designed to help put a name and face to the men, who deliver essential commodities across the country every day. Since inception in 2014, with the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship, we made a conscious decision to give Indian drivers an opportunity to be part of this prestigious event, and today, we have the final 12. We are proud to have collaborated with our customers for a shared vision in promoting the profession of truck driving and are excited and honored to have these individuals, as the newest members of the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship.”
Amongst the 12 international drivers, the best lap time was set by Rick Collett (1:50:998) followed by Graham Powell (1:51:211) and Paul McCumisky (1:51:454). With improvements in the truck, lower profile tyres, lowered suspension which is tuned better and improved brakes, the lap times have also gone down. The 12 Indian drivers were let out for qualifying in two batches of six each with Jagat SIngh from Haryana clocking the overall fastest time of 1:53:354 in Batch 1. Starting in position two and three tomorrow for Batch 1 will be Malkeet Singh and Rabinder Yadav. Batch 2 pole position was taken by Bhag Chand from Rajasthan (1:51:897) followed by Nagarjuna (AP) and Anand.
The final races were quite entertaining with lots of action, overtakes and contact with every driver putting his best to have a go at the podium. The first batch race of Indian drivers was won by Jagat Singh after fighting a fierce battle with Rabinder Yadav that saw the latter spinning off. The second batch race was dominated by Nagarjuna from Andhra Pradesh after his move to claim the lead from Bhag Chand at the second corner. The drivers were elated to come out of their ordinary trucker lives and compete at an event held at international standards in just three months of preparations and training.
The international class was mayhem. The truckers, with years of truck racing experience behind them, were much more aggressive and fought savagely for their track positions. Broken bumpers, smashed windshields and bent cabins stood witness to the undented racing spirit. While Graham Powell emerged as the overall winner scoring maximum points over the three races, each race saw a different winner. Race 1 was won by Graham Powell followed by Mat Summerfield and Rick Collet. Race 2 saw Mat Summerfield claiming the first position from Graham Powell in an 8-lap race with Rick holding position. Race 3 was the longest and ran over 20 laps. David Jenkins fought hard with Rick Collet, Graham Powell and Mat Summerfield in the first half on his way to a well deserved victory. While Mat spun to fall back, Rick and Graham fought till the last corner with Ben Horne for the second, third and fourth positions.
