The British Automobile Racing Club took centre stage at Pembrey Circuit this past weekend (May 18/19) for an unforgettable two days of blockbuster track action, all of which acted as the headline acts for Convoy Cymru.
On what proved to be a weekend to remember in South Wales, a bumper crowd flocked to the popular venue for a festival of all things trucking – which included an eye-catching show truck display, live music, monster truck rides, electric motocross and much more.
Whilst there was plenty to see and do off-track, edge-of-the-seat entertainment was the order of business on it as a number of categories continued their 2024 campaigns in superlative style.
Topping the bill were five heavyweight contests from the British Truck Racing Championship, which – just like Brands Hatch for the season-opener – delivered an abundance of drama across both Division’s 1 and 2.
As expected, reigning Division 1 champion Ryan Smith was a force to be reckoned as he romped to a brace of wins however the Daimler Freightliner driver didn’t have things his own way. Fellow former champion David Jenkins would tally a double of his own while Steven Powell also stood on the top step of the podium.
In Division 2, with defending champion Paul Rivett forced to watch on from the sideline due to sustaining a broken ankle, John Powell set about closing the gap to the early points leader by sharing the spoils with Rivett’s NAPA Racing UK replacement, BTCC star Sam Osborne.
Powell laid down his marker with pole position and a lights-to-flag victory in the opening contest however mechanical issues prevented him from starting races two and four, which provided Osborne with the opportunity triumph. Powell would however win the remaining races in his DAF.
Westbourne Motorsport’s Harry Hickton maintained his lead in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy standings following three frenetic races of the popular tin top series in the Welsh countryside.
Hickton tallied a podium and a fourth place finish in races one and two before then coming to the fore in the finale, as he powered his way from third on the grid to claim a hard-fought victory – his third of the season so far.
Prior to Hickton reigning supreme, Jamie Keates splashed his way to the top of the rostrum in a wet’n wild opener before Alex Solley opened his account for the new campaign with a commanding win in race two.
Former BTCC race winner Matt Simpson enjoyed a near-perfect weekend in the Pickup Truck Racing Championship as he strengthened his early stranglehold on proceedings at the summit of the leaderboard.
Simpson was arguably untouchable out front for a majority of the event as he blasted his way to pole position in qualifying before then converting it into a brace of superlative wins in races one and two.
Dale Gent ultimately prevented Simpson from claiming what would have been a memorable hat-trick in the weekend’s finale as he underlined his credentials as a contender for the crown with a masterful defensive drive to hold off his rival and Mark Willis.
Like Simpson, Josh Selvadorai was another driver that narrowly missed out on clinching a clean sweep of wins as he laid down his marker as one to watch in the ever-exciting Junior Saloon Car Championship.
Series leader Harry Smith narrowly pipped Selvadorai to outright honours in a damp race one but from that point on the meeting belonged to the Citroen Saxo of Selvadorai as he piloted his way to a dominant double.
Behind him, Smith continued his fine start to the year by adding two more podium finishes to his tally while there was also silverware for Jonathan Moore and Kieran Roberts.
Paul Roddison was another driver that enjoyed a weekend to remember at Pembrey as he, like many others already mentioned, produced a double-winning performance – this time in the fledgling Track Action.
Roddison – who is a previous winner of the coveted BARC President’s Cup – guided his Volkswagen Scirocco to the chequered flag in races one and two before Dan Earl triumphed in his Vauxhall Astra VXR in the finale.
Rounding out the weekend’s track action were a pair of races from the Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship on Sunday, both of which were won by Deri Davies in his Darrian T90 and Damien Longotano in his Westfield SE.
To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Pembrey, CLICK HERE.
You can also re-watch all of the action from Saturday and Sunday by heading to the British Automobile Racing Club YouTube channel HERE.
