The British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC) is said to have provided entertainment at Pembrey Circuit on May 20th & 21st, as the motorsport series headlined Convoy Cymru.
Speeding into South Wales for the second meeting of the 2023 season, the truck racers put on a show, as they took centre stage for five races.
Division 1 saw Ryan Smith, Jock Borthwick and Michael Oliver charge to victory, whilst the spoils in Division 2 were shared between Adam Bint, Paul Rivett and John Powell.
Of course, the BTRC was just one of a number of attractions at Convoy Cymru as the crowd soaked up everything from live music and show trucks, to a freestyle motocross stunt show and truck drifting.
Smith scores hat-trick whilst Borthwick and Oliver also triumph
Saturday at the Welsh track, saw reigning seven-time champion Ryan Smith produce a performance that strengthened his position on the standings.
Guiding his Daimler Freightliner to the top of the times in qualifying, the Mansfield-racer is claimed to have withstood pressure from fellow multiple title-winner Stuart Oliver in the opening contest to take victory, whilst Steven Powell bagged his first podium of the year in third.
Race two would see a carbon-copy result, however not after Smith pulled off a move in the early exchanges, to snatch the lead away from pole sitter Oliver. Whilst the top two pulled clear, Powell once again came third.
Smith continued his form during the first of Sunday’s three races, as his overtaking drove him to victory.
Starting eighth, virtue of the reverse grid, the defending champion was said to be relentless, and hit the front in latter stages to lead home the duo of Simon Reid and David Jenkins.
That was to be as good as it got for Smith though as he found himself in strife in the remaining two races – with contact scuppering him in race four before a mechanical issue blighted his hopes in the finale.
Race four instead went the way of a first-time winner in Division 1, Jock Borthwick. In just his second meeting in the premier class, the Scotsman held off Craig Reid and Oliver, to win by less than half a second.
The weekend’s fifth and final contest then saw Michael Oliver produce a drive to the summit of the podium. Starting from pole, Oliver Jnr reportedly showed the chasing pack a clean set of heels, to triumph ahead of Bradley Smith and Jenkins by almost two seconds.
Bint, Rivett and Powell share Division 2 spoils
Heading into the weekend, the battle for supremacy in Division 2 saw Adam Bint, Paul Rivett and John Powell all power their way to the top.
Entering the weekend as the points leader, Bint underlined his credentials as a serious title contender with his performance on Saturday, behind the wheel of his Volvo White Aerodyne.
After blasting to pole position in qualifying, the former champion pulled clear in races one and two to claim victories. Behind, Rivett bagged a pair of second place finishes whilst there were also podiums for Powell and Craig Evans.
Powell was able to strike back in the weekend’s third bout, and claimed his third win of the season; with Rivett and Bint in tow.
Having stood on the second step of the rostrum in the previous three bouts, races four and five arguably belonged to the NAPA Racing UK MAN of Rivett, who took two victories.
Behind Rivett, Powell, Bint and Evans all added to their silverware hauls, however none of them could stop the former four-time Renault UK Clio Cup title winner from prevailing.
The BTRC is next in action on July 8/9 at the fastest circuit in the UK, Thruxton, for Convoy on the Plain.
