The British Truck Racing Championship makes a triumphant return to mainland Europe this weekend (September 28/29) as the Le Mans circuit in France gets set to stage the penultimate event of the 2024 season.
Making its first trip to foreign shores in more than five years, the UK’s biggest motor racing series is poised to deliver unmissable entertainment as it shares the billing with the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.
Boasting a bumper entry list, the championship is set to run under a slightly different format for the coming weekend with both Saturday and Sunday consisting of a single qualifying session and two races.
Despite one less race being run than usual, edge-of-the-seat entertainment is all-but guaranteed as the series finale at Brands Hatch in November looms ever-closer.
Now or never in race for Division 1 crown
The addition of Le Mans to this year’s calendar provides somewhat of a level playing field that could potentially be crucial when it comes to deciding the destiny of the prestigious Division 1 title this year.
With the exception of potentially a few drivers that have driven the legendary French circuit before, the flowing layout of the Bugatti course is undoubtedly set to serve up a unique challenge for those competing this weekend.
In the race for one of the biggest prizes in UK motorsport, defending champion Ryan Smith remains the driver to beat, despite the fact that he saw his advantage at the top of the standings reduced after two non-scores at Snetterton.
The Daimler Freightliner driver managed to bounce back from engine failure to win twice in Norfolk however he’ll be hoping for a smoother run of things on foreign soil as he bids to put himself within touching distance of a ninth consecutive title.
Holding the most realistic chance of overhauling Smith is the duo of Steven Powell and David Jenkins. Both drivers have multiple wins to their names this year and they’ll be fired up to make further in-roads to the standings summit.
Michael Oliver and John Bowler will be well worth keeping an eye on too after they impressed many at Snetterton. Oliver was twice a winner while Bowler enjoyed his strongest showing to-date with a number of hard-fought podium finishes.
Further down the order, the other Oliver – Michael’s Dad and ten-time champion Stuart – goes to France in high spirits after putting his recent run of bad luck behind him by scoring his first win of the season.
David Smith is another that will be riding a wave of momentum after he claimed a breakthrough podium at Snetterton while Tom O’Rourke has been progressively improving in his International Navistar. Also joining the Division 1 ranks is the familiar Flying Dutchman Volvo of Willem Breedijk.
Powell and Cole set for head-to-head duel
It’s a testament to how competitive the British Truck Racing Championship has been this year that the top two in Division 2 – John Powell and Simon Cole – find themselves separated by just one point at the summit of the standings.
After five events and 25 races, Powell heads to France holding a slender advantage over Cole and the DAF driver is riding a wave of momentum after powering his way to a clean sweep of race wins last time out at Snetterton.
Remarkably, Cole is yet to stand on the top step of the podium however he’s been no stranger to collecting trophies, with countless second and third-place finishes for the Iveco driver being the backbone of his charge.
Both Powell and Cole will have the same target going into the weekend; to outscore the other. And the prospect of being able to focus on each other has been bolstered by the unfortunate absence of reigning champion Paul Rivett.
The NAPA Racing UK driver endured a torrid outing at Snetterton where he suffered a catastrophic engine failure that meant he scored zero points. The damage to his MAN motor has also meant that there isn’t enough time to make the necessary repairs ahead of Le Mans.
While Rivett won’t be a threat to the top two, former champion Adam Bint is expected to return to the grid after starring at Donington Park and he could play a pivotal role in the title battle – especially if he’s taking points away from Powell and Cole.
Rounding out the Division 2 contenders is the ever-improving Archie Handy, who has made significant strides since debuting earlier this year and is coming off the back of five podium finishes on the bounce.
Le Mans: Timetable, Live Stream & Tickets
Saturday 28th September
Practice – 08:20 / Qualifying 1 – 10:20 / Race 1 – 13:55 / Race 2 – 16:40
Sunday 29th September
Warm Up – 07:00 / Qualifying 2 – 08:05 / Race 3 – 12:05 / Race 4 – 14:50
*All session times are GMT+1
All races will be streamed online via the official FIA European Truck Racing Championship YouTube channel for free across both days.
Ticket and visitor information for the event can be found by visiting the FIA European Truck Racing Championship website.