Truck Racing History
From Powersports Information Wiki Source
Truck Racing
Truck racing began in Melbourne, Australia in 1988 as a one off race using working vehicles and their regular drivers. Many companies were oblivious to the fact that the haulier's trailers, containing their precious goods, were being left at the side of racetracks while the drivers raced around the countryside like madmen. Rumours even suggest that the odd terrified driver's wife or two had woken up in the sleeper cab in the middle of a race.
Truck racing has come a long way since those early days and now the trucks have become purpose built racing machines with little in common with regular trucks apart from the cab. A regular series (A class), with rules and regulations, developed, taking the new sport all over Australia and in 1993 was renamed the Supertruck series.
The supertruck series uses purpose built trucks with 12 litre turbo-charged diesel engines, producing over 1000 horsepower. These machines are not only fast, able to accelerate as fast as any sports car, but heavy too with a minimum total weight of 5500kgs, they have to use special tyres and water cooled brakes to keep it all under control.
The lighter, nimbler Light Truck series developed alongside the Supertruck category as a cheaper alternative. These trucks are restricted to no more than 3 tons in weight with a maximum engine capacity of 7.5 litres.
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