vital stats
Stuart Oliver’s
racing truck
The inside line on one of the biggest machines in racing
Standard Juratek-production 450mm brake discs that are water-cooled by a pressurised system spraying water onto the inside of the ventilated disc. Oliver’s truck uses a permanent spray to try and keep temperatures stable in the 300- to 400-degree range and avoid cracked discs. Suspension is standard steel leaf springs and is designed around maximising castor angles. Three-way adjustable Ohlins dampers are used.
CHASSIS
Regulations stipulate that a modern race truck must share two chassis rails with the production model and the engine must use original components. The cabin must have the silhouette of the road truck, but that’s where the similarities to the road version ends.
DATA BURST
Engine: 12,000cc, 1100bhp with 5000NM torque Weight: 5.5 tons (minimum allowed) Top speed: 100mph (governed) Gearbox: 16-speed manual
JONATHAN REEVES
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES
Stuart Oliver has been racing trucks since 1998. With a business in road transport and a desire to compete, truck racing seemed the ideal place to start. In 16 years he has won the European title (2004) and taken the MSA British title no less than 10 times. The Hexham-based racer tried his hand in the MSA British Touring Car Championship by tackling four race weekends in 2008 with a SEAT Toledo from BTC Racing. “I raced the touring car at Brands Hatch one weekend and the truck the following weekend and, in my opinion, the truck was more of a challenge,” he says. “When it goes wrong in a truck, it goes wrong in a big way!” Currently Oliver is racing a Scania P1150, which is a well-developed racing machine. “The modern race truck is a long way from standard. In 1998, we started with a modified road truck, but development has gone a long way since then,” he explains. “Getting the suspension damping right is probably the most critical thing to success. You’ve got such a mass of weight accelerating and braking. There’s a lot of kinetic energy from a five-and-a-half ton racer. They’re a real challenge to drive.”
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