Hat-trick for Smith as he begins bid for 10th British Trucks title

Ryan Smith’s bid for an unprecedented 10th back-to-back British Truck Racing title made a solid start at the Easter Brands Hatch season opener.

Smith won three out of five races and finished third in the others, but a new rule that imposes air intake restrictions on the top three points scorers played its part in levelling the playing field.  

The affected drivers at Brands were Smith, Stuart Oliver and Steven Powell, based on the 2024 championship. Quickest qualifier Smith won Saturday’s first race without too much trouble, followed by Stuart Oliver and David Jenkins. However, Smith was mugged at Druids by Michael Oliver in race two. He regained the track in 13th place and recovered to third, Stuart Oliver and Jenkins well ahead.

Sunday’s reversed grids added another dimension, but a more immediate problem was a chain reaction as the race three grid set off, causing an immediate halt. Jenkins’ truck was too badly damaged to take the restart, and Smith won again after successfully appealing a track-limits penalty. A third Smith win then followed, but this fourth race was halted when Graham Poole rolled his truck into the Paddock gravel trap.

Bradley Smith (no relation) had pole for the finale and, although father and son Stuart and Michael Oliver found a way past, Smith kept his namesake and a chasing group bottled up until near the end, when Ryan Smith and Jenkins both squeezed through. The Olivers were out of reach by then, earning them a family triumph.

Lewis Kent and Alistair Camp were Civic Cup winners at the Donington Park opener, and Kent added to his tally on Saturday. Poleman Camp finished third to Liam McGill but dropped to fourth with a track-limits penalty.

A broken driveshaft ruined the second race for Kent, leaving Jack Ruddell to lead from pole (with Saturday’s top 10 reversed) to chequered flag, despite pressure from Jake Hewlett and Camp. McGill scored his first win of the year in race three from Camp, leading a group of up to five cars.

The Junior Saloons drivers also expected a triple-header, but their third race was cancelled because of damage caused in the Trucks’ finale. Josh Selvadorai won both completed races on the road, although track-limits penalties dumped him to fifth on Saturday. This elevated Luca Masarati to the win, while Selvadorai made amends in race two. Wilf Butler and Masarati followed.

A significant chunk of the programme was devoted to Classic Touring Cars representing different racing eras. Best of the action in eight contests was in the pre-1966 group, which brought two wins for the Lotus Cortina of Ian Thompson.

A brief Cortina versus Falcon duel in the first of these was resolved when Alan Greenhalgh’s V8 strayed off course while trying to keep the more nimble car at bay. The star of race two was Aaron Smith, who started last. He overcame the Falcon’s straightline advantage by passing it at Druids and hanging on round the faster sections, and finally did the same, helped by backmarker traffic, to beat Garry Townsend’s Lotus Cortina into second place.

A 22-race programme also included a first circuit outing for this year’s intake of Caterham Academy novices on Saturday, which was headed by Max Richardson by two tenths, and a scheduled pair of Track Action races on Sunday. The second of these was cancelled after the Truck finale’s incident.

Pre-’66 Touring Car contests were entertaining

Photo by: Gary Hawkins