1984 British Truck Grand Prix

[Roop]

Does anyone remeber the first ever Truck Grand Prix in the UK - The Multipart British Truck Grand Prix at Donington in 1984...? Were you there...? What do you remember...? It was a huge event. IIANM, it still holds the record for the largest attendance at Donington with 130'000 spectators. The second highest is the 1994 European Grand Prix with 90'000.

My dad raced there in the over 350hp class in the T45 Leyland Roadtrain. He put the truck on pole and went on to lead the final, only to lose his brakes after 5 laps due to a team cock-up. He still finished 5th despite having no brakes for 15 laps.

Here he is in the works Leyland leading Martin Brundle in a Renault...

[Roop]

Found a video of the final, bizarrely in Japanese...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRklEqCBOpU&fea...

[Ahonen]

Yes I was there, aged 11, with my parents. It was a brilliant day - even the four hour queue to get out of the car park at the end didn't bother anyone.

Strangely enough I got to know Richard Walker (who came second in the final, I think) during the last year. He still owns a haulage company just up the road from where I used to work.

[heebeegeetee]

I was there!

[metalsteve]

I wasnt there, i was only 9. I did get into truck racing in the mid/late 80's and used to attend the mobil truck super prix at brands every year. Fond memories of drivers like kurt gorranson and gunther spindler power sliding down paddock hill bend. :-)

[metalsteve]

Roop, who is your dad and is that Gertie that he's driving?

[wst]

Wait, how... how the hell does he drive 15 laps with no brakes without going around at a snail's pace? That sounds amazing.

[mat777]

wst said:

Wait, how... how the hell does he drive 15 laps with no brakes without going around at a snail's pace? That sounds amazing.

engine braking?

[bobskii]

I was five at the time!

I love the fact that the truck is registered and appears to have a tax disc in the screen!

Fantastic stuff. What happened to truck racing? I used to follow Steve Parrish when he used to drive for Mercesdes in the 90's.

[jurbie]

bobskii said:

What happened to truck racing?

British Truck GP, Donington Park July 1st 2012.
http://www.donington-park.co.uk/events/trucks/

[wst]

mat777 said:

wst said:

Wait, how... how the hell does he drive 15 laps with no brakes without going around at a snail's pace? That sounds amazing.

engine braking?

Didn't think diesels had that much engine braking, unless the racing trucks are all fitted with jake brakes!

[mat777]

wst said:

mat777 said:

wst said:

Wait, how... how the hell does he drive 15 laps with no brakes without going around at a snail's pace? That sounds amazing.

engine braking?

Didn't think diesels had that much engine braking, unless the racing trucks are all fitted with jake brakes!

wait, what?????

Diesel engines have a massive amount of engine braking, many times more than petrol. Think of the compression ratio

[wst]

mat777 said:

wst said:

mat777 said:

wst said:

Wait, how... how the hell does he drive 15 laps with no brakes without going around at a snail's pace? That sounds amazing.

engine braking?

Didn't think diesels had that much engine braking, unless the racing trucks are all fitted with jake brakes!

wait, what?????

Diesel engines have a massive amount of engine braking, many times more than petrol. Think of the compression ratio

No throttle. No vacuum. Nothing to inhibit the engine from turning. They have pretty much no engine braking...

[Life Saab Itch]

wst said:

o throttle. No vacuum. Nothing to inhibit the engine from turning. They have pretty much no engine braking...

Not from my experience as a truck driver.

Plus trucks have exhaust retarders which are fairly good at braking in their own right.

[EDLT]

Life Saab Itch said:

wst said:

o throttle. No vacuum. Nothing to inhibit the engine from turning. They have pretty much no engine braking...

Not from my experience as a truck driver.

Plus trucks have exhaust retarders which are fairly good at braking in their own right.

Plus they weighed several tonnes and had the aerodynamics of a house. Lifting off the throttle must be like throwing a small parachute out the back.

[soxboy]

I was there as a 10 year old. One of the most entertaining days racing I've been to, does stick in my mind that it was mostly amateurs in road registered trucks, went straight out afterwards and got a Scalextric T45 Roadtrain.

Also fondly remember the Austin Rover motorsport day at Donington, think it may have been 1985. 3 tests of motorsport, autotest in a Rover 216 Vitesse, rally stage in a Metro 6R4 and circuit race in Montego Turbos. Think it was won by Juha Kankunnen but I may be wrong!

[heebeegeetee]

IIRC the winner was an Italian who had brought a load over with the truck he raced, and took a load back with it too. (According to the ad for Pirelli tyres, and IIRC).

[Roop]

metalsteve said:

Roop, who is your dad and is that Gertie that he's driving?

My dad is John Kent. Yes, it's Gertie.

[DanDC5]

Are they road registered trucks!? I wasn't even born when this was happened.

[Roop]

DanDC5 said:

Are they road registered trucks!? I wasn't even born when this was happened.

Yes. Back then they only had the minimum mods to go racing. Cage, extinguisher, battery cut etc. they were totally road going. Most of them returned to fleet service the week after the races...!