Indian drivers raced against each other for the first time at the T1 Prima racing series with Nagarjuna and Jagat Singh emerging as the winners of each of the batches of the Indian class. Graham Powell led the international class by finishing on the podium in each of the three races. T1 Prima truck racing is into its third season with the introduction of Indian drivers into the sport for the first time ever in the country.
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, 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 one will be Malkeet Singh and Rabinder Yadav. Batch 2 pole position was taken by Bhag Chand from Rajasthan (1:51:897) followed by Nagarjuna and Anand.
Talking about his experience, Nagarjuna, the winner of the second batch of Indian drivers said that he had never ever imagined to race. He thanked Tata Motors and his employer Shekar Logostics for giving him this life changing opportunity. He also said that truck racing will inspire more Indian drivers to choose trucking as a respectable profession.
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 to be 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 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.
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.
