12 race-prepped Tata Prima trucks are set to go head to head at the Buddh International Circuit tomorrow for the inaugural Tata Motors T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship. With six teams running two trucks each, the drivers will compete in a qualifier race followed by the main race featuring a rolling start.
The six participating teams are Castrol Vecton, Cummins, Tata Technologies Motorsports, Allied Partners, Dealer Daredevils and Dealer Warriors.
A newly created 2.1-km ‘short loop’ at Buddh Circuit will be used for the races, with the average lap time expected to be in the region of 2:00 minutes, with a top whack of around 110 kmph.
Several safety features mandated for motorsport use have been incorporated on the Prima racing trucks, most significant being a smaller, 90-litre fuel tank mounted on the chassis behind the driver’s cabin to lower the centre of gravity. Brakes have been equipped with water cooling to dissipate heat while JK Tyres has supplied racing-spec tubeless tyres. Other standard safety equipment includes a roll cage, fire extinguisher and race-spec seats and harnesses amongst others.
The driver pool consists of international truck racing drivers with experience in British and European circuits with reigning British Truck Racing champion, Matt Summerfield driving for the Cummins team. A race-prepped version of the Prima 4038.S model with 370 bhp on tap will be used for the races.
Tata Motors Prima T1 Championship driver lineup
Team Driver 1 Driver 2
Tata Technologies Motor Sports David Jenkins Brian Burt
Castrol Vecton Stuart Oliver Dave Ball
Cummins Matt Summerfield Simon Reid
Allied Partners Steve Rothery Paul Mc Cumisky
Dealer Daredevils Steve Thomas Graham Powell
Dealer Warriors Ben Horne Steven Powell