A meeting filled with mechanical maladies and incidents concluded in a difficult weekend for Relssert Racing’s Neil Tressler.
As a drizzly qualifying got underway at Donington Park Tresslersoon put in some fast laps qualifying a solid sixth place in session one (putting Neil on pole for race one.) However as session two commenced a slippery track was made even worse when a thick layer of oil was laid down by the #63 truck of Phil White.
Confident of a solid finish in race one Tressler gridded up on pole alongside the #65 of Mark Willis. Gaining a fast start Tressler had the edge into the first corner at Redgate however this was soon short lived when a chain reaction of bumps between four following trucks – Smith, O’Regan, Weaver and Willis, ultimately ended with Tressler getting speared off track and beached in the gravel.
Race two commence in treacherous conditions as heavy downpours began lashing down on track. Electing to start from the back of the grid a lot of work was required, Tressler was soon working his way through the pack, starting in 15th and working his way up to 8th by lap 4. However this was soon put to a sudden halt when a crankshaft sensor issue force him into the pits.
The team got to work and it wasn’t long before Tressler was back out on track but more issues persisted when battery problems cause the truck to suddenly cut out. Managing to make it back to pit lane, Neil was then able to get it fired back up and got back out on track. Despite finishing the race Neil missed 4 laps which unfortunately meant he didn’t complete enough laps to classify.
“It was a very frustrating and disappointing weekend” say Tressler “the team did such a good job with the setup and I really felt confident with the truck but again mechanical issues out of our control and on track incidents evidently spoiled what could have been a great weekend.”
“We have had a string of bad luck this year but it happens sometimes, it’s just how racing works” Tressler continues “it just makes you more determined to try even harder.”
“I would just like to say a big thank you to safety car driver Stuart Bradburn for leading us his battery after ours kept discharging during free practice.”
The next round of the 2014 Pickup Truck Championship sees the trucks head East to Snetterton on the 13th and 14th September.
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