Indian drivers show their mettle
Indian drivers proved that they are second to none in the fourth season of Tata Prima T1 Truck Racing Championship
Indian drivers proved that they are second to none in the fourth season of Tata Prima T1 Truck Racing Championship.
The qualifying session on March 18 saw the 10 ‘Super Class’ drivers (Gurujant Singh, Pitambar, Mahendar Pratap and Shivnihal Singh from Uttar Pradesh; Mohabat Singh and Mubarik from Rajasthan; Vikramjit Singh and Dharminder Singh from Punjab; Harish from Haryana, and Himanshu Kumar from Bihar) demonstrate their desire to excel. Around the trimmed version of the track that had a span of 3100 m, the ten drivers fought tooth and nail. They had demonstrated their abilities during their training at Chennai, but on this track, they were moving as if it were a familiar territory. With 400 hp available at the tip of the right pedal, it was a matter of judgement and luck to end up at the front. With the trucks capable of reaching higher speeds this season than those during the last season, average speeds of over 97kmph were regularly clocked. Less than four seconds separated the top ten Super Class drivers. Across straights, the drivers regularly achieved speeds of over 130kmph. Under the first provisional set of laps of free practice, it was Mubarik who clocked the fastest lap time of 1.50.386 seconds, marking a clear lead of 1.8 seconds over Pitambar who registered his personal best time of 1.52.125 seconds. Dharminder Singh came third with a lap time of 1.52.744 seconds, 2.538 seconds behind the winning driver. Gurujant Singh came fourth, clocking a time of 1.52.819 seconds, 2.433
seconds behind Mubarik.
The qualifying race saw the action get fierce and exciting. The roar of the machines, and the smell of burnt rubber added a new meaning to the effort. It made for a noisy environment, but the kind that was as exciting as it would get. What added to the excitement most was perhaps the thought of having those very men behind the wheel of the race Primas, which at other times, drive trucks on Indian roads for their livelihood. It was to be their day of reckoning. The quest to win began reflecting from earlier on as the race started. Speeds began rising. Grabbing the lead position at the very first corner of the race, Mubarik started coming under pressure from the second placed Pitambar. In an attempt to retain his lead, Mubarik started pushing harder. This was going to be one exciting race even though it felt like these drivers were careful. Were cautious about their trucks. A tough proposition for certain!
At the corner before the long straight, Mubarik ran wide. Sensing an opportunity, Pitambar promptly pulled past. Mubarik slipped to second position. Mubarik’s best lap time was 1.50.386 seconds, 0.7 seconds slower than his best time during free practice. Pitambar recorded a lap time of 1.50.422 seconds to clinch the pole position in the Super Class qualifier. Dharminder Singh, who came third in the practice session could not retain his position. He slipped to eighth position by the time the race ended. Gurujant Singh, who finished fourth in the practice race, turned out to be quicker than Dharminder Singh. Sticking to the race lines he was able to clock quicker times. He came third with a lap time of 1.51.426 seconds, a little over a second slower than the race winner, Pitambar. The second position was promptly retained by Mubarik, clocking a lap time of 1.51.114 seconds, 0.692 seconds behind Pitambar. Mohabat Singh came fourth, clocking a lap time of 1.51.421 seconds, 1.099 seconds behind Pitambar. Vikramjit Singh came fifth, and Shivnihal Singh came sixth.
Super Class final
Pitambar was first on the grid with Mubarik and Gurujant Singh on his tail as the race began at 2.30 pm on March 19. Trucks charged into the first right-hander with Pitambar maintaining the lead. It was behind Pitambar that excitement started building up between Mubarik and Gurujant Singh. On one of the turns, the Primas of Harish and Vikramjit made contact. Harish lost his left side rear view mirror. Undaunted he carried on, reflecting once again the winning spirit of this series. By the end of first lap, Pitambar extended his lead
by two seconds over Mubarik. Starting sixth from the grid, Shivnihal Singh took advantage from the low air resistance of Vikramjit’s and Mohabat Singh’s Primas, and on turn four, just after the straight, took an inside line to overtake Mohabat Singh. It did not take long for Shivnihal Singh to get close to Harish who was placed fourth. The fight for the fourth place became fierce. Under pressure from Shivnihal Singh, Harish ran wide on turn three in third lap. Shivnihal slipped through to get into the fourth position. The fight moved a notch higher as Shivnihal Singh started exerting pressure on Vikramjit, placed third.
Not to give up, Harish kept exerting pressure on Shivnihal. In lap five Harish overtook Shivnihal between turn four and five to get back into the fourth position. Harish could not maintain the lead for long. Shivnihal once again grabbed the lead at the start of lap six. Clocking the fastest lap time of 1.50.677 seconds in lap six, Mubarik, in lap seven, on turn three, went out. He lost his track position and fell down to the ninth position. By the end of lap seven, Pitambar had extended his lead by over 25 seconds. Vikramjit and Shivnihal Singh were less than two seconds apart. None of the two were willing to cede ground. They were both eyeing the second place. On lap eight, Harish, in at attempt to take the inside line over Vikramjit and Shivnihal Singh, went off the track on turn one. While this was happening, Gurujant Singh moved past Mohabat Singh to gain fourth position. Vikramjit, in a serious attempt to save his second position went out on turn three. Shivnihal Singh and Gurujant Singh promptly moved ahead. When the chequered flag came down at the end of lap ten, Pitambar was in a firm lead. He was a good 33.266 seconds ahead of the second placed Shivnihal Singh, who clocked the fastest lap time of 1.51.715 seconds in lap eight. Gurujant Singh came third with the fastest lap time of 1.52.912 seconds in last lap. Harish came fourth, and Hisamshu kumar Ray came fifth.
The Champion Class
The Champion Class saw the 10 Indian drivers of the last season fight fierce battle. They would also reflect upon the next level of training imparted to them under the TRP2.0 program on technical aspects of racing safely. The 10 Champion Class drivers included defending champion Nagarjunaa from Andhra Pradesh; Mohd. Parvez and Rabinder Yadav from Bihar; Bikash Mahato and Shankar Singh from Jharkhand; Bhag Chand and Raju Lal Gurjar from Rajasthan; Malkeet Singh from Uttar Pradesh; Jagat Singh from Haryana, and Gobind Singh from Punjab.
In the qualifying race Nagarjunaa took the lead to show that he still had it in him.
He registered the fatest lap time of 1.50.294 seconds in the qualifying race. Malkeet Singh gave him a tough fight, but could not snatch the lead. He clocked a fastest lap time of 1.51.706 seconds in lap 9, 0.412 second behind Nagarjunaa. From Nagarjunaa’s driving style, it was aptly clear, right from the start, that he had a good understanding of the track. He kept a tight line through the turns even as he pushed hard to maintain the lead. A new entry, Shankar Kumar Singh proved his mettle by clinching the third spot during the qualifying race. Last year’s winner from the first race of Indian drivers, Jagat singh completed the second row with Shankar. Where Shankar managed to clock 1.51.778 seconds lap time, Jagat managed to clock a lap time of 1.52.010 seconds.
The final race for Champion Class started at five in the evening. Nagarjunaa remained focused from the very start of the race. At the very first corner in the first lap, in an attempt to gain track position, Shankar Kumar Singh spun out into the gravel and lost his track position. He fell to the seventh position. Second placed qualifier, Malkeet Singh gave a strong fight to Nagarjunaa. Nagarjunaa kept his cards close to his chest, and put up a well calculated fight, extending the gap between him and Malkeet Singh by a shade under two seconds in the very first lap of the race. He clocked the fastest lap of the race in the process, further extending his lead over others. Despite falling back, Shankar Singh fought back to regain positions. In the second lap he overtook Jagat Singh to move into the sixth place. In the very next lap, he grabbed the fifth place from Rabinder Yadav.
In their attempt to out do each other, Rabinder Yadav and Jagat Singh moved out of the track while negotiating a turn, and presented Bikas Mahato an opportunity to move up. Nagarjuna continued to be in firm lead of the race with Malkeet, Bhag Chand and Gobind Singh in hot pursuit. On lap five, Malkeet Singh clocked the fastest lap of the race. In the very next lap Nagarjunaa responded by clocking his personal and fastest lap of the race at 1.50.562 seconds. The anxiety to win was palpable as the Champion Class drivers fought a fierce battle. Even at the back of the grid, Raju Lal Gurjar fought a hard battle with Rabinder Yadav to gain eighth position in lap seven. Even till the end of race, Malkeet Singh fought hard and stayed within overtaking range of Nagarjunaa. When the chequered flag came down at the end of lap 10, Malkeet was a little over three seconds behind race winner Nagarjunaa, and ahead of third placed Bhag Chand by over 12 seconds.