Britain’s Oliver retains Truck Racing crown

Team Castrol Vecton’s Stuart Oliver raced to the title in Season II of the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship at the rain-drenched Buddh International Circuit here on Sunday.

In the 16-lap final race, Oliver (31:58.0174) finished 1/0.698th seconds ahead of Team Allied Partners’ Steven Thomas (31:58.872) and Steven Powell of Team Tata Technologies (31:59.479).

It was only during the 10th lap that Oliver was given a threat by Thomas on his title defence. However, the British auto racing driver — who started second on the grid — came back strongly to put up a dominating show, much to the delight of the capacity weekend crowd.

Oliver’s effort also saw Team Castrol Vecton grab the team title.

“It was an amazing experience. I want to say a big huge thank you to all the fans coming out all this way, all the flags, all the caps, everything, it made such a difference this weekend. All of my fellow racers were phenomenal competitors. They did an amazing job today of keeping me on my toes, pushing me all the way up to the podium,” said Oliver.

“It means even more than the first one. I feel so blessed,” said the 51-year-old, who came out with an average speed of 75.07km/hr.

Earlier, Thomas finished ahead of Oliver and Simon Reid in the eight-lap Super Qualifiers, which witnessed 12-modified Tata Prima race trucks, driven by top British drivers.