Round 13, 14 & 15 - Donington

Gavin Seager wins Grand Final at Donington Park

Gavin Seager took the spoils in the Grand Final as the Pickup Truck Racing Championship hit Donington Park with a twist.The regular two races were replaced with two heats and a final, with all three rounds championship counting and a maximum 600 points on offer.

In Saturday afternoon’s first heat, pole man Nic Grindrod shot into the lead from the start ahead of the returning Chris Dawkins and Dave Briggs before Phil White moved in to join the party by moving up to second on lap two. Gavin Seager was moving through the field fast following his row five start and was into third place by lap three.

Greg Woods first visit to the Leicestershire circuit was not the best ending up in the gravel while Mark Jones was having his own issues with a blown engine caused by a damaged oil pump belt.

With Gavin taking the lead on lap five and Nic now second, Dave Briggs in a podium placing again before taking Nic’s second place spot. Michael Smith was next to join the party moving into second on lap eight, although it was not just the front runners tussling for positions with Damion Car, Phil White and Paul Saunders heading down the start finish straight three wide. Lee Rogers race came to an end on this lap as he retired to the pits with an engine problem.

In the closing stages Simon Carr closed in on Dave Briggs’ third place and just snuck through on the final lap behind Gavin Seager and Michael Smith.

In heat two on Sunday morning it was Dave Briggs’ turn to control the race from the pole ahead of Phil White and Nic Grindrod. It didn’t take long for Michael Smith to get back in on the action though having come through from row three ahead of Gavin Seager. Gavin was up to third by lap four then second while Dave stretched his lead out front.

Phil White slipped out of the podium spots as Simon Carr moved up through the field into third but there was to be no consecutive victory for Gavin as he retired on lap 10 with a gearbox problem.

Nic Grindrod then became the second driver to suffer an engine problem due to an alternator fault on lap 10 while Paul Saunders had a moment on the grass on the penultimate lap. But come the end of the race, Dave Briggs’s almost three second gap was enough for victory with Simon Carr and Michael Smith making their second visits of the weekend to the podium in second and third respectively.

Sunday afternoon’s Grand Final saw the grid decided upon by the points achieved in the two heats with the top ten results scorers flipping and the tenth placed driver, Martin Heath – back in a Pickup Truck for the first time in almost two years – on pole.

Martin set off into the lead with Antony Hawkins and Pete Stevens close behind but Gavin Seager, who had begun the race from the back after changing his gearbox, was on a massive charge and into third by lap six behind Steve Dance.

Thanks to Sarah Carnell for editorial, David Swan and Stan Loam for photographs