Round 8,9 & 10 - Mallory Park

Michael Smith extended his lead at the top of the championship table following hard fought double podiums at Mallory Park on Sunday for rounds eight, nine and ten of the LINE-X Pickup Racing Championship.

Pickups returned to the Leicestershire circuit following a five-year absence, but even for those who had been before they could not rely on previous knowledge, as for the first time in the championship’s history Shaw’s Hairpin was used giving the drivers an extra challenge.

The format of the one-day meeting was the same as the previous outing at Rockingham with qualifying, two heats and a grand final which several drivers found an exhausting but exhilarating day on track.

Antony Hawkins took the first pole position for Heat One having finished tenth in the first part of qualifying and shot into the lead ahead of Carl Boardley’s #41 truck with the 20kg ballasted Damien Carr slotting into third.

On lap two the younger of the Carr brothers got the better of Boardley to move into second place. There were plenty of challenges going on through the field, with the top seven glued together by less than two seconds.

On lap five Boardley was putting the pressure on Damien Carr to try and reclaim second and a lap later Steve Dance was past #93 Michael Smith coming off Shaw’s Hairpin to take sixth. Fourth placed driver Dave Longhurst was also looking to move up through the order and made his move on Carl Boardley exiting the hairpin to move into third on lap seven. But the multiple Hot Rod champion was not going to make it easy for Longhurst with the two making contact as they battled for places.

Defending champion Pete Stevens suffered a big scare on lap nine spinning out of seventh place on the run into Edwina’s, hitting the Armco, fortunately he avoided too much damage and was immediately back in the race. But the drama was no to end there as leader Antony Hawkins, who had been holding off a now determined second-placed Dave Longhurst, lost second gear and with it four places which meant Worthing-based Longhurst was now out in front.

Former champion Nic Grindrod charged through the field, having started from pit lane following a gear box change meaning he did not have enough time to make the grid. But the extra stress of carrying an additional 60kg in success ballast did little to deter to Selly Oak driver as he came through to finish in an impressive sixth place.

But it was Dave Longhurst who held on to take his maiden victory of the season and his first since returning to the championship at the beginning of the season following an eight year hiatus. Michael Smith managed to sneak past Damien Carr coming off the Cooper Esses on the 16th and final lap to record his fourth podium of the season in second place while Damien Carr pushed aside the fact he’d never been to Mallory Park before to hang on for third.

Race two came after lunch and the combination of the increasing temperature and demanding circuit, the drivers were calling on all their experiences to put on another scintillating race.

Heat One podium man Damien Carr lined up on pole for the second heat and took the initial lead, but it was Carl Boardley who’d made a blinding start from row two shot into the lead going into the second lap while Antony Hawkins’ Team Rockingham truck was third.

Damien Carr’s race was to be short-lived though as his spotter had to give the devastating news that his truck was on fire meaning a hasty park-up and exit from the driver’s seat at Gerard’s Bend and deployment of the Safety Car. Steve Dance had now moved up to third place behind Hawkins and was making life very difficult for the Sutton Coldfield driver when green flag racing resumed on lap six. Dance was level with Hawkins at Devil’s Elbow before making his move going into lap seven.

Some drivers had forgotten this was no longer an oval round and went into Rockingham mode going three wide at Devil’s Elbow. First to raise the heart rates were Dave Longhurst, Michael Smith and Nic Grindrod with the three of them finishing in that order from sixth to ninth places at the end of a few corners of gladiatorial-style racing.

On lap 11 Dave Longhurst was back in the thick of it again, seemingly unaffected by his extra 30kg, taking fifth from Paul Saunders and was quickly followed by Michael Smith going in to Shaw’s Hairpin.

Up front Carl Boardley was just holding off Steve Dance’s Ben 10 truck with 1.2 seconds covering the top four, but Longhurst was closing in fast and was down to 0.4 seconds behind fourth-placed Simon Carr by lap 16. Carr was not flustered by this though as he had his thoughts on taking third from Antony Hawkins. But his challenges were to be for nought come the end of the race as Hawkins held on for his second podium of 2010 in third place. Boardley had also managed to hold off Steve Dance to take a well-deserved first victory of his Pickup Truck Racing career.

The Grand Final came at the end of the day and was to be extremely challenging with the race extended to 20 laps. The grid was decided upon the points scored in the heats, with the top ten then reversed to put Dave Briggs on pole alongside Simon Carr, who had been frustrated by his lack of passing opportunities so far in the day.

Once again oval-style racing played a huge part with Dave Briggs and Simon Carr and Carl Boardley and Pete Stevens running much of lap one side by side. It was Briggs who got the better of a 20kg heavier Carr at Shaw’s Hairpin while Nic Grindrod, whose day so far had been plagued by gear box problems, slotted into third.

LINE-X liveried Simon Carr got the better of Briggs on lap two at the hairpin while the #2 driver was to lose a further place on Stebbe Straight to Grindrod a lap later. Michael Smith moved into fourth ahead of Carl Boardley going to the start/finish line for lap four as Nic Grindrod took up the lead and immediately gave himself a little breathing space from Simon Carr. There were plenty of battles further down the field too with Antony Hawkins and Dave Longhurst battling for seventh with Phil White joining in on lap five.

Once past Hawkins, Longhurst began to exert his pressure again, taking places off Carl Boardley and Dave Briggs before beginning to tackle Pete Stevens’ fourth place on lap ten. Hawkins also saw this as his own opportunity to move through the order and passed both Boardley and Briggs to sit in sixth.

Back up front, there was just half a second splitting leader Nic Grindrod and Simon Carr moving into the second half of the race. The pace was having its effect on Dave Briggs though as he slipped further down the field behind Steve Dance and Carl Boardley by lap 16. At this point Grindrod was putting the earlier gremlins to bed and was able to pull out a 1.2 second lead from Carr as he could see the opportunity to take his third win of the season.

Michael Smith was not happy enough in third though and pushed #15 of Simon Carr all the way to the chequered flag with the Sheffield-based driver just getting the better of Smith at the line. Grindrod had secured the victory 1.8 seconds ahead and with it take the fastest lap of the day whilst also moving himself up two places to seventh in the title race.

The LINE-X Pickup Racing Championship will be back in action at Thruxton on August 7 and 8.

Thanks to Sarah Carnell for editorial, David Swan and Graham Holbon for photographs