Smith Wins The Opening Truck Race To Seal The Title In Style

Coming into the season finale Ryan Smith only needed a single point to claim his second British Truck Racing Championship title in as many years.

- Piotr Magdziarz

Rival Stuart Oliver was mathematically in contention but his chances were extremely slim as he needed to win all four races, with Smith failing to score at all, to claim the title. Come race one Smith made it clear that he was not going to play it safe and, starting from second on the grid, he went around the outside of polesitter Shane Brereton as the pack stormed through Paddock Hill Bend and began to open up the gap in an effort to secure the title as early as possible. His strategy worked out perfectly and a win in the first of four races scheduled for the weekend allowed the Mansfield-based driver to celebrate the title on Saturday.

Despite being crowned champion, Smith’s take-no-prisoners’ attitude didn’t change on Sunday and the 36-year-old produced a stellar drive from the back of the grid to second with a late coming together with Mat Summerfield resulting in the latter burying his truck in the gravel on the outside of Druids, with race win going to Luke Taylor. Oliver claimed a win in race three of the weekend, with Smith claiming the last race of the meeting as well as of the BTRC season – the Grand Final featuring a grid comprised of trucks belonging to both divisions.