The 2024 British Truck Racing Championship is set for an unmissable title showdown after a action-packed penultimate event of the season at Le Mans this past weekend (September 28/29) ensured that the battle for supremacy in Division 1 and Division 2 will go down to the wire.

Marking the series’ first trip to mainland Europe in more than five years, the outing in France proved to be memorable as the heavyweight behemoths shared the bill with the FIA European Truck Racing Championship – producing four blockbusters contests in the process.

Ryan Smith ensured he now has at least one hand on the coveted Division 1 title after delivering a wheel-perfect performance during the series’ maiden visit to France and the world-famous Le Mans circuit.

Arriving at the Bugatti course with a commanding advantage at the top of the standings, Smith wasted no time in laying laid down a marker to the rest of the field as he blasted his way to pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session.

With a front-row start guaranteed for race one, the Daimler Freightliner driver quickly pulled clear of the chasing pack and went on to claim a comfortable lights-to-flag victory ahead of David Jenkins and Stuart Oliver.

Starting from the rear of the grid for race two, the Mansfield racer utilised every possible overtaking opportunity to charge up the order before wrestling the lead, and ultimately the race win, away from Michael Oliver in the closing stages while John Bowler finished third.

Dominating Sunday’s qualifying session as the sun rose over the iconic venue, Smith was unrelenting out front in race three as he dominated proceedings to win by almost 20 seconds ahead of the Team Oliver Racing duo of Stuart and Michael.

He then arguably left his best performance until the very end as he carved his way from the rear of the field before going head-to-head with Steven Powell. The latter delivered a mesmerising defensive drive for a number of laps before Smith finally found a way past with a few tours to go.

That victory, his fourth in as many races in northern France, ensured that he now heads to Brands Hatch within striking distance of the crown while the likes of Powell and Jenkins will need to dig deep if they’re to overhaul the current eight-time championship holder.

Arriving at Le Mans, just one point separated John Powell and Simon Cole at the head of the Division 2 standings however that gap has now widened after Powell romped to a hat-trick of race wins over the weekend.

With NAPA Racing UK’s Paul Rivett unable to compete, the battle for this year’s title is poised to boil down to between Powell and Cole – and every point therefore is crucial from now until the final chequered flag falling at Brands Hatch.

Like the aforementioned Smith, Powell enjoyed an unbeaten Saturday in his DAF as he claimed pole position around the 2.600-mile layout and then followed it up with an impressive brace of race wins.

Behind him, former champion Adam Bint and main protagonist Cole completed the podium in race one before Cole and Willem Breedijk – who made a welcome return to the series in his Volvo – claimed second and third in race two.

Bint would be the driver to break Powell’s winning streak on Sunday as he triumphed in race three ahead of Powell however crucially Breedijk occupied the final spot on the rostrum, costing fourth placed Cole a handful of points.

Powell returned to winning ways in the final contest albeit it was the most difficult of the lot as he withstood race-long pressure from Bint to triumph by a little under one second. As he had done earlier in the day, Breedijk got the better of Cole to snatch third while Archie Handy was fifth.

To view the full classification of results from all British Truck Racing Championship sessions at Le Mans, CLICK HERE.


All four races from the penultimate event of the season are available to view on the British Truck Racing Championship YouTube channel HERE.


The British Truck Racing Championship will bring the curtain down on its 2024 season at Brands Hatch on November 2/3.