MEET THE TRANSPORTERS OF AUSTRALIAN TRUCK RACING

Truck racing is rolling again Down Under. Here’s how the weaponry got to the season opener at Wakefield Park

After COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works of the 2020 Australian Super Trucks Championship, the Australian truck racing teams were back together for the 2021 season opener at Wakefield Park last weekend.

With a new high-profile sponsor in Hi-Tec Oils, a freshly-built Scania race truck entering the paddock and a ‘Major Event Ahead’ roadside sign a few hundred metres up the road from Wakefield Park, optimism was in the air walking through the paddock. Or that could’ve been the smell of burning oil.

Either way, plenty of people came to check it out too, with numerous classic trucks displayed around the circuit and crowded spectator areas all around the Tirrannaville venue.

And while it was hard to look away from the on-track action, we wanted to find out how the race trucks got there. So, we did some digging on Sunday afternoon to find out which rigs are hauling what for 2021.

SRZ Racing

It’s an all Kenworth arrangement for Ingleburn-based SRZ Racing. The dominant force of the past decade of Australian truck racing at the hands of six-time champion Steve Zammit, the team’s Kenworth T401 racer is hauled by a GRS Towing Kenworth K200 tow truck with the team’s spares up front.

Butwell Racing Team

Scania V8 fans, rejoice! It’s a ZED Wrecking Scandinavian prime mover at the front of the Butwell Racing Team transporter. The Scania ‘Gumboot’ truck and trailer configuration hauls the Melbourne-based Mack Superliner race truck of Barry Butwell. The V8 Scania engine sounds the part too!

FATE Racing

No surprises for any Frank Amoroso fans! The Australian truck racing legend has an all-Kenworth race transport arrangement for his iconic FATE Kenworth W900 race truck. The Kenworth W900 prime mover makes a lovely sound, too, which you can hear in this video.

MLC Truck Racing

The two-truck team runs a pair of race transporters for the Volvo and Isuzu race trucks of Robert Fern and Lachlan Fern respectively. The team runs two International Transtar prime movers; one hooked up to a trailer with an enclosed spare parts section and the Volvo race truck in behind, and the other hauls the Isuzu race truck of rising star, Lachlan Fern.

Hi-Tec Oils/Victorian Diesel Services

One transporter, three truck brands! It’s a classic Kenworth prime mover for the Hi-Tec Oils-backed outfit. This truck hauls the Mack Superliner of Marcus Prillwitz and Isuzu FSR of Mitchell Garton-Prillwitz. We also saw this Scania 113M parts truck running right behind the race truck transporter on the way back to Melbourne last Monday.

Super Semi Truck/Beenleigh Truck Parts

It’s an all-Scania setup for the brand-new team out of Queensland. This transporter hauls Mark Noonan’s Scania T113 race truck. The prime mover up front is an 8-speed Scania P380. That’s followed by the trailer for the iconic Scania race truck, which was initially raced by Mark’s late father, Brian. After lying in pieces for years, Mark tracked the critical bits down and rebuilt it to its current specification. And it’s something to behold!

Schutz Racing

Unmistakable American power hauls the Schutz Racing Isuzu SBR race truck from its Temorong base in the South Coast region of New South Wales. It’s a Western Star prime mover at the pointy end of the transporter, with a small enclosed section for all the equipment and spares.

Keen to check out these diesel beasts in person? Look out for the next round of the Australian Super Trucks at Winton Motor Raceway on July 10/11.

If you like what we’re doing, make sure you check us out on YouTube.