It was time to take the trip to Brands Hatch to take part in their spectacular firework event which was headlined by the end of season finale of the British Truck Racing Championship. With the table being so close it was the final races which would decide who would get their hands on those coveted trophies. Friday consisted of two practice sessions which went very well, and the team entered the weekend feeling positive. Saturday and the weather started take a turn for the worse! A successful qualifying session started the day for the team with Stuart crossing that line in 2nd place and Michael not far behind in 4th which set the grid positions for the first race of the day. Race 1 and Stuart had a good start to the race but the same was not to be said for Michael. A clip with another truck sent for him into the tyre wall unfortunately and another crash involving some of the other teams led to the first red flag of this very wet race. Michael and his truck were luckily both ok to race again and he took his place back on the grid for the 12 minute restart race. This restart race didn’t last long as this wet track caused another truck to go into yet another tyre wall. Out came the red flag again and the race was brought to a stop. A break for the recovery operation and tyre wall rebuild and a 8 minute restart began. It was 3rd time luckily despite the heavy rain and trucks made it round for the remainder of the race. Stuart kept a strong position in second place throughout claiming that podium place and Michael held on for 6th. Still plenty of rain for the second race of the day obviously making the track very wet! Stuart started off front of the grid and Michael 4th row. It didn’t take long for the red flag to make an appearance again as these trucks fought against this slippery track. Recovery needed for the stranded truck and the remaining trucks were lined up back on the grid in the order they were positioned as the flag went up. Michael unfortunately had to retire from the race at this point. The 7 and half minute restart race began, and Stuart set off again sitting firmly in second place managing to defend off any challenges. He took his place on that podium again and collected that 2nd place trophy. Day two and the trucks were playing to a sold-out crowd despite the weather! Race 3’s grid positions where the top 8 from race 1 reversed. This meant Michael started off on row 2 and Stuart 4th. Due to the extremely wet weather there was a safety car start with 2 laps under the yellow flag in single file for the teams to adapt to the track conditions. The slippery track caused problems throughout with trucks spinning on several occasions. The worse being 2 minutes from the end of the race when a truck lost control taking some of the other trucks with it. Unfortunately, both Michael and Stuart were involved. This pile up caused the race to be red flagged. Thankfully all drivers were ok although slightly dizzy but no such luck for the trucks as the recovery team were needed in force for this clean up. No restart for this race as too close to the finish so results were awarded on the last full lap before the flag came out. Both trucks unfortunately were not classified in this race due to them both not moving at the time when the flag was raised. Race 4’s grid positions were reversed from Saturday’s 2nd race putting Stuart on the 4th row. Unfortunately, due to the incident in the last race the severity of the damage on Michael’s truck meant that he has had to retire from the rest of this weekend’s racing. The rain had stopped for this race although the track was still slippery, and the truck spinning did continue! Luckily for the first time this weekend we had a full race minus any flags, and it saw Stuart cross the line in 5th place. This meant that 2nd championship position would be decided in the last race! The sun finally came out for race 5 the final race of the season. Stuart had some work to do as for this race he started 5th row on the grid. The trucks lined up ready for those final championship places to be decided. Stuart wasted no time in pushing his way through from the back. A full race again with no flags which saw him eventually crossed that line in 4th place. The whole seasons points were added up and we are very pleased to say Stuart Oliver claimed 3rd place in the championship! Michael also did very well for his first season in division one and finished 11th in the table. Thank you for your ongoing support in this very exciting season and we now look forward to 2023!
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