Stone’s Dave Jenkins battled some atrocious conditions in the British Truck Racing Championships last weekend to take this year’s championship to the final race of the season.
Saturday and Sunday saw the championship move to Pembrey in South Wales, the penultimate leg of this year’s championship. And after a hectic weekend of racing, Dave sits in second place, with everything to play for at Brands Hatch on 2nd and 3rd November.
The Jenkins Motorsport Team, racing in the all-black livery of their principal sponsor, Digraph Transport Supplies, got off to a flyer on Saturday, battling through a torrential downpour to finish second behind current championship leader Mat Summerfield.
The “MAN” in Black went one better in the next race with Dave Jenkins bringing his truck home in a fine first place after another enthralling race with Summerfield.
Sunday saw the return of the rain and return of the type of incidents that make the difference between winning and losing.
The “MAN” in Black was in terrific form, fastest in the morning warm-up and leading in the first race of the day when a component in the rear suspension broke. Despite that handicap, Dave Jenkins managed to finish third.
Repairs completed, the Jenkins team saw the all black truck again duelling with Summerfield only for them to be hit by another mechanical misfortune, this time a broken disc brake which caused the truck to crash. Despite that, Dave managed to rejoin the race and finished in a terrific fourth place.
The rain had gone for the last race of the weekend and it developed into another duel between Dave Jenkins and Mat Summerfield. Due to the new rules introduced this season they both started from the rear of the grid, behind the B class drivers. This meant when Jenkins and Summerfield caught up with them they found themselves in the middle of some real battles.
Dave Jenkins forced his way through the field to hold the lead until his tyres started to lose some grip and that allowed Summerfield to get past to take the race.
Summing up his weekend, Dave said: “The truck again performed very well. All the improvements we’ve made through the season are giving us the consistency we’ve been looking for. I’m really looking forward to the final series of races at Brands Hatch. It’s a fast track and the “MAN” in Black has the speed to give us a terrific end to the Championship.”
James Rawson, Managing Director of Digraph Transport Supplies, added: “Dave and the team deserve a lot of credit for the Pembrey performance in really challenging conditions. We set out to have a real go at catching the Championship leader, and we did that. The stage is now set for a grandstand finish to the season on 2nd and 3rd November.”
