Pickup Truck Racing

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Pickup Truck Racing Is a motor racing series which competes between April/May and November at oval and road course circuits across the UK.

1 2007 Season
2 2006 Season
3 Series Champions
4 History
5 Technical Specification
6 Drivers
7 External links

[edit] 2007 Season

Pete Wilkinson at speed on the oval at Rockingham

The dates for the 2007 season are currently scheduled as:

Date	Venue	Race 1 winner	Race 2 winner
29/04	Rockingham Oval	TBD	TBD
20/05	Croft Circuit	TBD	TBD
10/06	Mallory Park	TBD	TBD
20/06	Rockingham Oval	TBD	TBD
22/07	Rockingham Oval	TBD	TBD
04/08	Oulton Park	TBD	TBD
19/08	Rockingham Oval	TBD	TBD
02/09	Brands Hatch Indy	TBD	TBD
16/09	Rockingham Oval	TBD	TBD
21/10	Pembrey	TBD	TBD
04/11	Brands Hatch Indy	TBD	TBD

[edit] 2006 Season

(L to R) Steve Dance, Nic Grindrod and Mark Willis

The dates for the 2006 season were:

Date	Venue	Race 1 winner	Race 2 winner
07/05	Rockingham Oval	Steve Dance	Nic Grindrod
04/06	Croft Circuit	Gavin Seager	Steve Dance
25/06	Rockingham Oval	Mark Willis	Steve Dance
09/07	Rockingham Oval	Kelly-Jayne Wells	Mark Willis
13/08	Rockingham Oval	Nic Grindrod	Kelly-Jayne Wells
20/08	Brands Hatch Indy	Gavin Seager	Gavin seager
09-10/09	Rockingham Oval	Gavin Seager	Steve Dance
25/09	Snetterton	Gavin Seager	Nic Grindrod
08/10	Rockingham Oval	Paul Poulter	Paul Poulter
04-05/11	Brands Hatch Indy	Mark Willis	Mark Willis

[edit] Series Champions

Year	#	Driver	Points
2006	22	Nic Grindrod	3210
2005	22	Nic Grindrod	3760
2004	54	Gavin Seager	3400
2003	16	Steve Dance	3160
2002	54	Gavin Seager	2985
2001	38	Lee Caroline	2815
2000	38	Lee Caroline	4475
1999	4	Kevin Clarke	4640
1998	3	Jeff Simpson	3865
1997	3	Jeff Simpson	10 wins

[edit] History

Tony Mumford leads the pack at Thruxton

Back in 1994 Sonny Howard first had the idea of proper racing Pickups but it was so radical at the time that nobody would have done it. Sonny knew however that he could build a proper racing machine that people would be queuing up for. "We wanted to take a piece of America and transport it back to England, but we created something that could also work in Europe."

Launched in 1997, the Pickup series is for purpose built 230bhp racing specials. A tubular spaceframe chassis follows well-proven SHP Motorsport principles and the racers are pushed along by a 2 litre multi-valve twin-cam engine. Weighing in at just 900kg, these dramatic machines place the emphasis firmly on driver ability.

In 2001 the Pickup series became the main support for the Rockingham-based oval SCSA (then called ASCAR) racing series. At this time the Pickups were right hand drive in configuration and as such not permitted to race on the anti-clockwise 1.5 mile speedway. A 'roval' course was created to allow the drivers to compete.

For the 2003 season the Pickups were converted to left hand drive and finally unleashed onto the oval track proper and in doing so created some of the closest racing in UK motor sport.

[edit] Technical Specification

Steve Pearce's truck following an incident at Rockingham. This clearly shows the spaceframe chassis and front suspension configuration

Pete Wilkinson's truck following an incident at Rockingham. This clearly shows the spaceframe chassis and fibreglass body panel construction, and Vauxhall C20XE Engine

Chassis: Specially designed spaceframe chassis supplied by SHP Motorsport, left hand drive configuration
Body: Kevlar or Fibreglass body panels supplied by SHP Motorsport. No kevlar permitted in the front wings, front bumper, rear corners or rear panel
Rear Spoiler: Single blade oval type spoiler mounted on the rear panel, at an angle of 120 degrees from the horizontal
Windscreen: Laminated glass or Lexan
Engine: Three engine types are permitted:
- Vauxhall C20XE 2.0 16v 87.53mm bore, 86mm stroke
- Ford NGA/NGB 2.0 16v 86.5mm bore, 88mm stroke
- Ford EDDA/EDDC 2.0 16v 86.5mm bore, 88mm stroke
Sump: Engine may be wet or dry sump
Induction: Two side draft carburettors up to 48 DCOE. maximum choke: 38mm
Ignition: MBE ignition system, rev limited to 7500rpm
Suspension:
- Front: Double wishbone system fitted with quick adjustable antidive facility, lower mounted shock absorbers, GM Truck stock uprights and hubs. Fixed rated anti roll bars. Adjustable coil over shock absorbers fitted with 2.25 x 900 lbs springs
- Rear: Four Link rear axle location, chassis mounted Watt's linkage with adjustable rear anti roll bar. High mounted adjustable coil cover, shock absorbers fitted with 2.25 x 225 lbs springs
Rear Axle: Heavy duty tubed 7.5 Salisbury Ford Truck differential case fitted with 3.75 to 1 crown wheel and pinion with ZF plate drive limited slip unit. Specially designed full floating six stud hubs and heavy-duty shafts
Brakes:
- Front: 4 pot USA produced Wilwood aluminum calipers using a 310mm x 21mm straight veined vent disc
- Rear: Twin pot Wilwood aluminum calipers with 243mmx 11mm solid lightweight disc with de-glazing grooves
- Pads: American Oval Racing material specification to suit the Pickup Racing Trucks
- Pedal Box: Chassis mounted pedal box fitted with .70 and .75 master cylinders, adjustable bias from driving seat position
Gearbox: Controlled 4 speed dog type selection with 2.04 - 1.54 - 1.21 - 1.1 ratios. Aluminum bellhousing, 7.25 multi piece clutch, single one-piece propshaft
Wheels: Compomotive 8.5 x 15 aluminium competition controlled wheel
Tyres:
- Wet: Cooper Avon Pickup Sport 8.5/23.5x15 part no 7321N
- Slick - road: Cooper Avon Pickup Sport 8.5/23.5x15 part no 8880S
- Slick - oval: Cooper Avon Pickup Sport 8.5/23.5x15 part no 11677
Dimensions:
- Front track 1750 mm
- Rear track 1750 mm
- Wheel base 2720 mm
- Ride height clearance 85mm
Kerb Weight: 865kg

[edit] Drivers

Kelly-Jane Wells competing at Rockingham

Nic Grindrod at Rockingham

Gavin Seager at Croft

The spectacle is not just about the racing Trucks. Aboard the Trucks are some of the real characters of British Motorsport. Fiercely competitive on the track, they are friendly and approachable off the track. These are the guys who will sign autographs and pose with the young race fans for photos. They are the characters from which folk heroes are made and are always the real stars of the show.

2006 Entry List