Tata T1 Prima Truck Racing season 4: We two ours four

It’s been a long day of travel as I’m sitting in the conference room of my hotel waiting for Tata to make an announcement about its latest season of T1 Prima Truck racing. It is late and I’m a bit groggy as Suresh Rangarajan, Tata’s head of corporate communication, delves into the details of the weekend that lies ahead of us. Unable to muster the strength to listen to him completely, I zoned out only to sit up when  one word catches my attention- 1040bhp! I look up from smartphone and realise that he is referring to the new Prima Racing truck that they plan to showcase on day 1 of the racing weekend. From that moment on, I was rapt with attention and to be honest quite excited for what lay ahead.

Now before we get started with the race weekend, let me put things into perspective with all the facts. This is India’s first and only truck racing series and now into its fourth season which is one more than Formula 1 could muster in terms of visiting India.

The series is officially recognised by the FMSCI and FIA. It is incredibly entertaining (elephants on steroids doing track events-forgive me Tata for this hilarious comparison) but with slightly deeper purpose which is to bring dignity and aspiration to a profession often seen as a last resort for those who can’t find a life/career path. 

To make something like this aspirational a top down approach works and in this case it was to bring established truck racers from Europe and get them behind the steering wheel.  After two seasons of this, Tata felt that it was time for Indians to step in and formulated a rigorous training programme to teach and train our Truckwales the art of going fast through a corner while sitting two storeys up. My colleague Omkar attended this training session in Chennai earlier this year and you can read about his adventures here.

As was the case in the previous editions, the professionals participated across six teams (two trucks each) while the Indians were divided into the champion class (returning racers from 2016) and super Class (new racers from 2017). Qualifying on Saturday and two races on Sunday- standard race stuff. At the heart of this series is a retuned 9.0-litre straight-six diesel mill producing close to 400bhp and 1150Nm. Its rear-wheel drive with a nine-speed transmission and has been fitted with a full racing spec truck cab.

It was a balmy morning as we entered the Buddh International Circuit for a day of heavy-duty racing. To kick things off, we got taxi rides in the racing trucks and what a crazy experience it was! Having driven here before, I was aware of the braking points and the lines. However, it was obvious that the pilot was well beyond my capacity as she was going much faster through the corners than I would normally do.

A particularly vivid moment was her braking hard from 140kmph at the end of the back straight. That might not seem like a large number but you have to realise that this is a five tonne racing truck and you are sitting well let’s just say a lot higher than seems comfortable.

Taxi ride done, we settled down for an afternoon of free practices and qualifying sessions. The racing was quite a lot of fun to watch. Firstly because it was good competitive stuff (Indian and Foreign) and also because no matter how many videos you watch or pictures you look at, it’s only when you see them race do you realise their capability.

The qualifying also showed us that the times set by the Indian drivers as compared to the times set by the professionals were not all that far apart indicating progress for the local heroes.

While the slightly slower pace of day made it a bit relaxed there was no denying that day 2 was going to be action packed and Tata decided to kick things off bybringing out the big gun a.k.a the 1040bhp Prima Racing Truck. Painted in a shade of shiny red this Diesel gulping monster is powered a Cummins 12-litre straight six which produces 1040bhp and a mammoth 3500Nm of torque with power going to the rear wheels via 16-speed ZF. It made all the right kind of sounds and moves while attempting to set a lap record which it managed to do making it the fastest truck to lap the BIC.

As the sun got brighter, we marched our way to a vantage point near the final chicane to witness a physics lesson in action. As you can see in our many photos the action was quite captivating especially among the foreign drivers who took the term ‘competition’ quite seriously.

At the end of the day it was David Vrsecky of very yellow Dealer Daredevils team that dominated the proceedings throughout the day and ultimately took home top honours. Among the Indian drivers, it was Nagarjunaa A taking the top step in the champion class while Pithambar, a first time entry into the sport was able to clinch the top prize in the newly formed Super Class category.

It had been a crazy weekend and everything that I had expected in terms of racing action was on point! What I’m hoping for is Tata will open up a new category next year and bring the 1040bhp truck into the fray.