Aaron Thompson got the better of Allen Cooper in the second Pickup Truck Racing Championship contest of the weekend at Pembrey to score his fifth win of the 2026 season.
Starting from pole position for a second successive race in South Wales, the Essex driver made no mistake as the lights went out and held off the chasing pack as they filtered through the opening sequence of corners.
Getting his head down in the early laps, Thompson quickly began to build up a comfortable lead however that was quickly eroded when the safety car was called to recover the car of Melvin Collins.
On the restart, Thompson again attempted to pull clear however it was Cooper that proved to be the driver to watch as he quickly dispatched reigning champion Ryan Hadfield before then closing onto the rear bumper of the race leader.
Filling the mirrors of Thompson in the subsequent laps, Cooper didn’t need to be asked twice to leap into the lead when Thompson ran deep into Hatchets Hairpin. But despite having clear air ahead of him, there was no let up for Cooper.
The following lap saw Thompson hit the front once again as Cooper got out of shape exiting the Crossing; and he would stay there until the chequered flag flew to close the gap in the race for championship honours.
Race one winner Dale Gent battled back from an opening lap skirmish to finish in third place ahead of Hadfield, Mark Willis, Michael Smith and Chris Brockhurst – who had ran as high as fourth at one stage before skipping across the grass down the main straight.
Completing the top ten was Jonathan Hadfield, Tom Hutchins and James Goldstraw.
Collins was the only non-finisher after the suffered a mechanical issue early on, whilst Mark Chalmers failed to start.
