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.

Contents

[edit] 2007 Season

Pete Wilkinson at speed on the oval at Rockingham
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 Mondello 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
(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] Points System

1st 200 9th 160 17th 120 25th 80 33rd 40
2nd 195 10th 155 18th 115 26th 75
3rd 190 11th 150 19th 110 27th 70
4th 185 12th 145 20th 105 28th 65
5th 180 13th 140 21st 100 29th 60
6th 175 14th 135 22nd 95 30th 55
7th 170 15th 130 23rd 90 31st 50
8th 165 16th 125 24th 85 32nd 45

All other classified finishers will receive 20 points and all other starters will receive 10 points unless they were excluded

[edit] History

Tony Mumford leads the pack at Thruxton
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."[1]

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 sports.

[edit] Technical Specification

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

The technical specification of the Pickups are governed by the Pickup Truck Racing regulations[2], and are detailed below:

  • 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
Kelly-Jane Wells competing at Rockingham
Nic Grindrod at Rockingham
Nic Grindrod at Rockingham
Gavin Seager at Croft
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.

2007 Entry List

  • 2 Dave Briggs
  • 3 Julian Arnold
  • 4 Pete Stevens
  • 6 Rob Butterfield
  • 8 Andy Pyke
  • 9 Pete Wilkinson
  • 16 Steve Dance
  • 18 John Stant
  • 21 Kelly-Jayne Wells
  • 22 Nic Grindrod
  • 23 Richard Novell
  • 28 Paul Saunders
  • 28 Richard Grindrod
  • 29 Steve Pearce
  • 37 Neil Tressler
  • 39 Karl Turner
  • 54 Gavin Seager
  • 55 Tony Mumford
  • 63 Phil White
  • 65 Mark Willis
  • 66 Martin Heath
  • 69 Lee Rogers
  • 73 Steve Dobbs
  • 74 Paul Poulter
  • 93 Michael Smith
  • 98 Antony Hawkins

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.pickuptruckracing.com/index.php?id=7,113,0,0,1,0
  2. ^ http://www.pickuptruckracing.com/index.php?id=7,118,0,0,1,0

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/i/c/Pickup_Truck_Racing_7b96.html"