Everyone agreed that it had been a highly satisfactory weekend for Luke Taylor and the Rooster Truck Racing team.
And everyone agreed that it was almost so much better.
Little damage
“It’s been a good weekend,” said an upbeat David Taylor, Rooster Team Manager, under the clear blue skies of Pembrey in South Wales. “There’s little damage to the truck, and Luke showed again that he could be competitive. It won’t be long before he’s picking up silverware.”
If there was an element of disappointment in there, David wasn’t showing it.
Ill-judged
But the fact is, Luke had been well on course for his first win of the season in only the team and truck’s second outing, before an ill-judged manoeuvre by an over-ambitious opponent at the Brooklands hairpin spun the Rooster Renault and left Luke battling to hold on for seventh place.
That was in the first race of three on a sunny, breezy Sunday. Saturday’s two races had seen Luke powering home for creditable third and eighth place finishes.
There was a sense that Luke was building momentum on a track he likes, and beginning to push the Renault to its limits.
In front
Sunday dawned bright and dry and Luke used the Renault’s power to push to the front almost from the start of race 3, where he stayed for the best part of nine laps. A mix of skilful cornering and raw power was successfully blocking out the most experienced drivers in British truck sport.
Luke looked comfortable, his opponents frustrated. When that frustration made one of them push for a gap that wasn’t there, it ended both their hopes of a winning finish.
“I was comfortable till he hit me,” said Luke. “It was a gap that wasn’t there. But it was one of those things.”
Angry Rooster
Luke is a friendly, placid character but even he admitted: “I was angry at the time mind.”
The fourth race finished with Luke coming in seventh, after some ill-judged tinkering with the truck’s suspension. “You have to try things but it didn’t work,” Luke admitted.
In the final race Luke remained in the lead throughout and was first for a period, finally finishing in sixth.
Despite the disappointments, Pembrey proved another positive meeting for Rooster. In the steep learning curve of Class A truck racing, team and driver are on the fast track.
Get all the latest news from G-Truck Racing and Rooster by visiting www.gtruck.co.uk/racing and following us on Twitter (@GTruckRacing) and Facebook.
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