WOMAN'S )UCH
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Kim Rolfe made Truckfest history weekend by beating 500 or so men ake the top award for the Commercial or Best Kept Working Truck. wner-driver Kim is KT Transport of ricay, Essex. Truckfest was the first nt of its type that she had entered, she does not owe her success to inner's luck. Her white, black and Eq. Mercedes-Benz 2028 6x2 tractive is literally immaculate; tasteful, resled and clean as a new pin. The side dow is suitably engraved Pride and Kim hauls containers mostly and has ered 250,000km in the A-registered 8.
: was a very close contest: the judges .e forced to return and reappraise the it-runners when they could not agree first time round. Just edged into and place was an incredible sevenr-old Volvo F7 6x2 block carrier from C at Market Deeping. It was entered Barry Jackson who has been its regudriver since new, a million kilometres ),000 miles) ago.
aside, the F7's cab is as good as the it came off the line. Eight years ago C started its own in-company best t truck competition; Barry Jackson has a it every year.
indrew Corbyn of D A Garnham of s was second in the Best Kept rking Truck class last year with his nia 142M. Although it frequently has lin off road — Garnham is a round ber haulier — the two-year-old Scania a 205,000km on the clock was still d enough to merit third place this year.
The huge entry for this class had been narrowed down to 25 finalists after the first day. Of these, eight were Scanias, four were Volvos and three were Mercedes-Benz. A handful of Leyland/Scammell Roadtrain 20.32 6x2 units and Fodens headed the British challenge. Among the finalists were two Scarnrnells from Middleton Transport, Nottingham, Middleton driver Tony Lowe pointed out that bolt-on customising items are not as easily obtainable for British trucks as they are for Volvo and Scania units.
Simon Sargent of Sargents Trucking Services, Atherstone also reached the finals with his Y-registered yellow Leyland 16.28 Roadtrain. Aside from its obvious beautiful condition (it is still in the original paintwork) its only features are aluminium wheels and tank, but, said its proud owner: "When I take it to France, the French go crazy over it."
There was the highest-ever entry field for the Bandag Best Kept Fleet award. J A. Weatherley & Son had made the trip up to Peterborough from Orpington in Kent, bringing a Volvo F7 6x4 tipper and a Scania 82 two-axle tipper. This small fleet (there is only one vehicle) won first prize because the judges took account of the fact that the vehicles are shifting topsoil, hardcore and even doing muck-away jobs and yet still sparkle.
The unusually-named fleet of Mr Peckham from Brandon near Thetford included three Scanias and two Volvo units. All were excellent and Mr Peckham deservedly reached the final six in the Best Kept Fleet. One of the Scania 142 units also came second in the Best Custom Truck class, helped by a superb engraving on the cab's side window. In the Shell International Supertruck Challenge class, reserved for the best of Europe, Svempa Bergandahl just failed to repeat last year's success despite bringing yet another remarkable customised Scalia. His Black Widow 142H wrecker was narrowly beaten by Henrik Guildager's Volvo F12 unit, Sweet Candy II from Aalborg, Denmark. This sported metal flake paint finish on the mud wings, murals on the doors, engraved glass, a white chassis and a white leather and velvet interior.