British win at the 'ring
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IN British competitors dominated the first truck Grand Prix to be held at the famous Nurburgring motor racing circuit in Germany in front of a 100,000 capacity crowd last weekend.
British drivers won three of the four major prizes, and of the 52 trucks competing no less than 23 were from the UK.
Class I — trucks up to 224kW (300hp) — was won by Rod Chapman in a Ford Cargo, with Mel Lindsey second in a Leyland and Chris Tucker third in an ERF. Of the first 10 places, eight were taken by British racers.
In the 225kW-268kW (301360hp) Class II race, Willie Green took first place with his ERF, followed by Slim Burgudd in a White and Richard Walker in the T45 Leyland Roadtrain.
Continental drivers took their revenge in the 269kW336kW (361450hp) Class III race which was won by Swede Ralph Bjork with the Italian driver Guadenzio Mantova in second place. Both were driving Scanias.
However, in the Grand Final, which was made up from the 24 fastest trucks, Richard Walker powered through in his Roadtrain to take the top spot, despite originally starting back in 17th place on the grid. He was followed by Bjork in second place. with Thord Sjorgren in third place.
Walker, Bjork and many of the other entrants at Nurburgling will meet again at Silverstone on August 16 and 17 at the Multipart British Truck Grand Prix.
Above: Walker's T45 on its way to winning the Grand Final challenge.