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...

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

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

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metalsteve said:

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

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

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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...!

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Resin Rocket said:

Pretty sure that that particular Roadtrain was a "French" spec one fitted with a Rolls 340Li engine. In that same race Willie Green drove a Silkolene sponsored ERF and Steve Parrish drove a Merc. Barry Sheene also raced but I can't remember what truck he was in. We were standing at Redgate and everyone took a step back when 6 tonne of ERF made its way through the gravel trap and ended up virtually in the fence !

Correct. It was a French spec Roadtrain with a 350hp Rolls. Yep, Willie Green in the Silkolene ERF. Steve Parrish in the Mitchell Cotts Mercedes. Sheene was in a DAF...

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gtdc said:

That brings back memories. Op thank you for posting it and awakening such a good bunch of photos and links.

Welcome. It was a cracking event.

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GC8 said:

Where did that vehicle end up, do you know?

I think Gertie got raced in France. Now looking a bit sad. Would make a cracking restoration project.

I'd love to know what happened to the Leyland T45 Crayford Cabriolet...

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Resin Rocket said:

Pretty sure that that particular Roadtrain was a "French" spec one fitted with a Rolls 340Li engine. In that same race Willie Green drove a Silkolene sponsored ERF and Steve Parrish drove a Merc. Barry Sheene also raced but I can't remember what truck he was in. We were standing at Redgate and everyone took a step back when 6 tonne of ERF made its way through the gravel trap and ended up virtually in the fence !

Correct. It was a French spec Roadtrain with a 350hp Rolls. Yep, Willie Green in the Silkolene ERF. Steve Parrish in the Mitchell Cotts Mercedes. Sheene was in a DAF...

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n3il123 said:

I was there

I was only 6 or 7 at the time and I remember my dad taking me in green ambassador!

I have some photos somewhere that I will scan in.

I used to love the truck racing, we used to go to Brands in April and Silverstone (not sure when!) every year for ages... good times

Excellent Be good to see photos

[Roop]

n3il123 said:

wasn't Gertie repainted later into a dark blue with the flag? and a smaller engined version (300 bhp?) joined her called Flo?

Close. Gertie was re painted for this event. She was a sort of sky blue in the flag but became royal blue for the 84 GP along with a shed load of new sponsors. Yes, there was a sister truck that was slightly smaller and less powerful (300hp iirc) called Flo. Well remembered...!

[Roop]

n3il123 said:

This was the colour scheme I was thinking about with a bit more blue.

That's Gertie on the left, pre-repaint...

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Thundersports said:

I recall a John Kent racing in the TVR Tuscan series?

One and the same.

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CNHSS1 said:

My Dad took my Bro and i there as kids, fab day out! Paddock was like a truck show and racing was fast and furious, as much action on the grass as the tarmac!
It was Mel Bacon iirc, my Bro and i were cheering for him and Richard Walker.
I do remember one spinning thru last chicane and punching a hole in the pitwall!

It was featured on Top Gear (pre Clarkson) and then presenter Chris Goffey was in a celeb (??!!) Truck. The footage shown him dicing into corners then getti g left for dead on he exit. He finally realised he was bracing himself on the brake pedal in the corners--muppet! Lol

My dad shared the truck with Mel Bacon. Whoever qualified quickest got to drive the final. As my dad put it on pole, he got the drive.

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3059hp said:

I was working there running the T45 Team promotional activities in what I seem to remember was the covered Scrutineering Bay.

You may well know my uncle then, Peter Chambers. He was Product Development Manager for Multipart at the time, The Truck GP was his idea / baby.

3059hp said:

There was also some sort of celebrity race for Roadrunners with a bunch of trucks racing from point to point picking up boxes. seem to recall some wassock from You've Been Framed thinking it was a good idea to drive against the traffic...

Yes. I spent the weekend in the hospitality suite with the guest drivers. I remember Jeremy Beadle, Peter Duncan, Anneka Rice and about 5 others. Beadle was a legend, handing out boxes and boxes of Yorkie bars to me and my brother. I was about 7 years old and must have eaten my weight in free chocolate bars that weekend. Happy days...!

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3059hp said:

Hi Roop,
Yes I knew him well, both through truck racing and in day to day work (I was in Leyland Trucks Marketing). What was his TVR connection? At one point we sold an ex demo Cruiser tractor unit to TVR (in theory to tow a race trailer) at a ludicrously knocked down "promotional" price, and Pete was the guy who brought someone from TVR (I think it might have been Peter Wheeler??)to Leyland to agree the deal. Not sure if it was ever used as intended, or just for general TVR trucking.....
That first truck GP was an amazing event, and I remember that everyone involved was really surprised just how big it was.

Small world...! It would certainly have been Wheeler that agreed the deal on the tractor unit, but Peter Chambers' link to TVR was my dad (his brother-in-law) who was the 'works' driver. Yes, the tractor unit was used extensively to tow the cars round, I remember it well. There's a press cutting of it somewhere.