(^80) July 2019 Truck & Driver
TRUCK RACING
Prone to dropping
valves, and also rather
smoky at the best of
times, the engine was never
designed to run with a ZF ’box
either, plus Luke was having
issues with clutches, dropping
three in close succession at a
cost of £1000 a time.
But, towards the end of the
season, a thought occurred to
Luke. He’d shoved the smashed
truck in the corner of the yard
and left it there. It was painful to
look at, apart from anything else.
The Volvo-derived D13 engine
was thought to have been ruined
in the accident, having had the
oil filters ripped off. But Luke got
round to doing some
investigating and thought, “I
wonder...”, which led him to give
it a proper once-over, just to see
if it might run. It did!
Stupid o’clock
He had 11 days until the next
race meeting at Pembrey, and a
scramble was on to swap the old
Cummins engine for the Volvo
one. “I was in the workshop until
stupid o’clock every night
working on the engine, gearbox
and wiring loom, but it was done
just in time for Pembrey, which
was one big shakedown run.
“Basically, I was in first place
in every race but never finished
any of them,” he explains.
The potential was clearly
there, even if it wasn’t yet
matched by reliability. “It was a
learning process. The Volvo
engine needed an air cooler for
the compressor, as it got too hot
and melted brake pipes,” he says.
Luke rounded off the season
with a sense of excitement
though; the truck had always
been good on cornering and
braking and now it looked set to
have the performance to match.
Luke is very hands-on with
his truck, having learned his way
round a race truck over many
years ‘on the job’ with his dad.
“I don’t actually hold any
official mechanic’s qualifications,”
he says, “but I know every nut
and bolt on the race truck.”
With a full pre-season behind
him to fine-tune the truck, it was
time for Luke to have a real go at
the Championship.
“We knew we were onto
something good, and at the
opening rounds at Brands Hatch
it all came together; the truck ran
perfectly. It was a long time
coming.” Luke stormed the 2018
season and scooped the Division
2 Championship in some style,
less than two years after he
thought he might have to give up
racing altogether.
We met Luke at his Somerset
HQ a few weeks before the start
of the 2019 season. The truck
was housed in temporary
accommodation at that point,
where there was hardly room to
work on a car, never mind a truck.
That didn’t stop Luke stripping
and rebuilding the truck though.
“I like to do a lot of the work
myself, for peace of mind. The oil
and filters are changed every
three rounds but after every
meeting I’ll strip the wheels and
brakes, check the water cooling
jets are okay and deal with any
other jobs that need doing.”
Truck racing is a big team and
family effort. Luke’s mother Sue,
his partner Lisa, her mother
Dawn and Luke’s four children
Freya, Ellis, Alfie and Ava attend
each event. Two trucks haul all
the kit, Luke driving one and
Shay (who also drives for Ross
Garrett Transport) driving the
other. Right-hand man on race
days is his friend Graham; the
pair have known each other
since they were three years old.
Graham deals with countless
small but very important jobs,
from checking tyre pressures to
adjusting mirrors on the grid,
making sure all the switchgear is
in the correct position and
ensuring the racer’s windscreen
is always clean.
Time for a TM
Team manager James deals with
the admin and the race day
set-up and organises the
sponsors for social media. James
is also the transport manager for
Ross Garrett Transport. Luke
decided to employ a TM last year
to give him time to focus on other
aspects of the business,
although he’s still responsible for
invoicing, pricing, dealing with
punctures and breakdowns!
Matthew and Dave Moore,
Luke’s cousin and uncle
respectively, are tasked with the
job of repairing panelwork and
spraying, which is an
occupational requirement if
you’re throwing vehicles weighing
six tonnes round a race track.
“It’s a huge team effort and
I’m so thankful to everyone who
helps and supports me. I couldn’t
do it without them,” says Luke.
Luke kicked off the 2019
season at Brands Hatch in some
style, notching up a total of 61
points and leading the
Championship into the second
round at Pembrey. For all the
latest truck racing updates and
information, check out our updates
on truckanddriver.co.uk
Luke built up his MAN-cabbed, Volvo-powered truck from a rolling chassis
“...we were onto something
good; the truck ran perfectly”
Transport manager James (right) deals
with admin, sponsors and race day set-up
nandana
(Nandana)
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