Relssert Racing’s Neil Tressler achieved a best sixth place result to round off a positive weekend at Hampshire’s ultra-high speed Thruxton circuit, which played host to Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2013 Pickup Truck Racing Championship (1-2 June).
Tressler and his Pickup Truck Racing counterparts once again featured on the support-race bill for the heavyweights of motorsport in the British Truck Racing Championship, which attracted a sizeable crowd.
The Warwickshire-based racer was keen to make amends for a relatively troubled beginning to his 2013 campaign as he headed south to the dauntingly quick Thruxton circuit.
An ill-handing truck meant the disappointed Tressler lacked outright pace in qualifying. However, any issues were rectified by minor set-up tweaks in the build-up to Sunday’s races and there was a significant improvement in lap time.
Tressler ran well inside the top ten in the early stages of Round 5 but was finally relegated to ninth as a result of a particularly physical on-track battle.
Undeterred, Tressler surged from tenth on the grid to sixth place at the start of Round 6 and stubbornly held position, soaking up unrelenting pressure from behind on the run to the flag while nursing a debilitating gearbox issue.
“It was a pretty good weekend for the Relssert Racing team,” said Tressler. “I was shocked and surprised to find that we were seven tenths off the pace in qualifying, as it didn’t appear to be that much on the road.
“A few set-up tweaks to the suspension and tracking helped to narrow the gap and we were well and truly on the pace during Sunday’s races. In addition, we’re honing in on a decent general set-up for our Isuzu truck that would only need the finest of adjustments to suit individual tracks, so I think it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
The Pickup Truck Racing Championship returns to the world-famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent for Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2013 season (8-9 June). It will run as part of the highly-anticipated American Speedfest - powered by Chevrolet event, which will be headlined by the Euro Racecar NASCAR Touring Series.
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