Round 3 & 4 - Brands Hatch

Celebrations for Damien and Lee at Brands Hatch

There was plenty to celebrate over the weekend at a hot and sunny Brands Hatch with a dominant maiden victory for Damien Carr and a gutsy first podium for Lee Rogers in rounds three and four of the LINE-X Pickup Racing Championship.

Simon Carr had already earned himself 40 points from Saturday’s qualifying session as the fastest driver, but it was younger brother, Damien, who would start his first race of the season on pole position.

Damien headed from the start line towards the tight Druids hairpin level with Nic Grindrod but managed to get the better line on the exit to shoot into the lead.  By the end of lap three the #14 driver, sporting a new LINE-X livery, already had a lead of almost two seconds ahead of Nic and third placed Steve Dance.

Simon Carr had also gained a place to move up to seventh past Dave Briggs and would gain another place on the following lap as he got the better of Martin Heath. Lap seven also saw 2009 champion Pete Stevens take third spot from Steve in the #16 Ben 10 truck, who was not only carrying 40kg of success ballast but also a rib injury which was hampering his driving. On lap eight leader Damien pulled more than six seconds ahead of Nic, whose truck was starting to give him a few problems with a loss of gears. A lap later Nic’s problems worsened as he lost second place to an eager Pete Stevens while third place then went to Michael Smith on lap ten.

The problems just kept mounting for Nic, on lap 14 an ominous sound from his truck resulted in engine problems and sent him back down the places. From now his only thought was to finish the race and get some points. This now left Simon Carr, Martin Heath and Antony Hawkins chasing the top three, although Damien was now 6.2 seconds ahead of Pete Stevens.

The last four laps saw third placed Michael Smith mount a challenge on Pete while Antony’s pressure on Martin Heath saw him gain a place on lap 16 to move him to sixth.

At the end of 18 laps the celebrations could begin in earnest for 28-year-old Damien as he cruised to victory ahead of Pete by 6.4 seconds and with it taking the fastest lap. Michael Smith in the #93 truck just missed out on second place, but earned himself the final podium spot at the same track where he was victorious just 12 months earlier.

Sunday afternoon’s second race saw pole man Lee Rogers take the lead from Dave Briggs on the exit of Druids. It was not such a great run into the tight hairpin for some though with Simon Carr and Martin Heath both finishing up in the gravel trap to bring out the safety car.

With green flag racing back underway on lap six and both Simon and Martin back on track, although a couple of laps down on the main pack, Lee Rogers was holding his own at the front and previous winner Dave Briggs’ attempts to take the lead were not going to plan. Paul Saunders, who is racing as #90 this season to celebrate the 90th anniversary of sponsors Snap On Tools, had slotted himself nicely into third.

Lee, who was having the drive of his life, was continually being pressurised by Dave and on lap ten got the better of the #69 driver at Surtees to take the lead. The injured Steve Dance had also plotted his move from fourth on Paul to take third place and now had Lee in his sights. But Exeter driver Lee was doing everything he could to defend for the chance of a first podium in his sixth season in Pickup Tuck Racing.

Steve Dance finally got the better of Lee on Brabham Straight on lap 17 and now it was down to the 38-year-old to hang on for a first podium.

On lap 19 Dave Longhurst had his own off-track excursion and was forced to retire while Simon Carr’s earlier problems at Druids meant he was struggling to keep his LINE-X truck on track and was simply clinging on and hoping to have enough laps under his belt come the chequered flag to gain some points. Lap 19 also saw Pete Stevens win his battle with Michael Smith for fifth place, both carrying extra weight for their race one podiums. Damien Carr was also getting used to his extra 30kg of ballast and was now moving through the field from eighth to sixth.

In the final two laps Dave Briggs’ one second lead was down to half that amount. But the Bournemouth-based driver had done enough to hang on for victory with Steve Dance finishing second, which moves him to the head of the leader board in the championship standings. The chequered flag also signalled a start to the celebrations for an emotional Rogers Racing Team with heir first podium in third place.

Rounds three and four will be shown on Motors TV in the forthcoming weeks. Keep an eye out in the News section of www.pickuptruckracing.com for an announcement of the dates and times the programme will be aired.

Thanks to Sarah Carnell and David Swan for content.

Note: Phil White deducted 5 points for contravening regulation 3.2.2