Revhead Ramblings: Truck Racing Deserves More Attention

HGVs are a necessary evil on our roads, they’re the driving force behind our country’s economy and without them our infrastructure would collapse. However, this doesn’t stop me from screaming with rage when I find myself stuck behind one.

They’re huge, slow and extremely unpredictable. But do they have to be? The FIA European Truck Racing Championship that started in 2006 gives a pretty convincing display that under the right circumstances they can be entertaining racers instead!

It’s surprising though that this type of racing is only really seen in Europe and India, our cousins across the pond have an affinitive obsession with big engines and big vehicles yet they’re more interested in driving in circles.

The Vehicles

Obviously, these aren’t the bog-standard diesel workhorses you see pulling a trailer full of Greggs pasties up the M25, instead they’re 1000bhp monsters with a tarmac-churning 3700lb ft. of torque! Thanks to their huge proportions and absence of flimsy aero features, morality surrounding racing etiquette is firmly out of the window. The racing is split between two days, a qualifying session on each and two subsequent 45km races.

Despite their racing credentials, they’re by no means stripped out lightweights. Each vehicle must weigh a minimum of 5300kg, add to this the capability of achieving speeds of 100mph and you’ve got a very entertaining race. We’ve all had that fear before when a HGV swerves slightly too close to your lane, now imagine seeing one arrow its nose in your direction at 90mph!

Modifications

Obviously, these trucks aren’t standard, to put up with the abuse on track they use prototypes based on the road going models. The chassis is stiff like a race car, the driving position is also much closer to the windscreen than you’d expect. Due to the extreme weight of these monsters, their top speed has to be limited to 100mph, in order to stop these behemoth, water cooled brakes have to be fitted.

The use of air brakes means you get zero feedback from the pedal, with a conventional system you’d feel it in your foot when you start to lock the wheels, with these big rigs however you don’t realise until your steering has gone and you’re in the gravel!

Unlike Anything Else

One of the most enjoyable aspects for fans is the amount of time these vehicles are on the track for, with four races over the two days plus free practise sessions, you’re never sat waiting for the action. This racing series isn’t like anything else, with the F1 at Monaco, you’re lucky to see more than a handful of overtakes, here however, there’s contact and place changes all of the time; the driver standings are very close and that makes it all the more fun when you come to watch.

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