Rain, crashes and red flags; none of these could stop Stuart Oliver, racing for team Castrol Vecton, from winning the T1 Prima truck racing championship 2015 in style.
Starting from second on the grid, the 51-year-old ten times British Truck racing champion maintained his composure beating Steve Thomas, of team Allied Partners, who had qualified on pole position.
The T1 Prima race is a one make truck standalone event held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. The trucks raced around a truncated track for 16 laps in wet conditions, which made the track extremely slippery with some trucks using the tarmac run off areas to make it around corners safely.
This did not stop Steve Thomas and Stuart Oliver from having a go at each other for the laurels. Even lower down the order, wheel to wheel racing carried on as Paul McCumisky's race came to an early end. He was forced off the track and into the wall, on lap 10, after contact with another truck. This kept the 45,000 spectators, who had come to the race track anxious anticipating as to who would win.
"It was an amazing experience. I think one thing I want to say is a big thank you to all the fans coming out all this way, all the flags, all the caps, everything, it made such a difference this weekend. I really appreciate it," said Stuart after the race.
The drivers were racing for six different teams, who were racing 12 modified Tata PRIMA race trucks, powered by a Cummins 8.9-litre diesel engine, developing 375PS of power and a colossal 1550Nm of torque.
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"The Tata Prima race trucks were fantastic. It's been an amazing championship, with so much improvement to the truck. All this shows the capability of the vehicle and how the sport can be scaled up, with more power and speed," added Stuart.
Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, said it was a tremendous day for truck racing with a really pumped-up atmosphere.
"We have been delighted by the response received today. The Tata PRIMA race trucks proved their racing prowess and build quality in this high intensity race," he added.
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