2023 Season

ROUND 8

It’s the last one, wow what a season, our first in Europe, it was a blast.

We started our journey in Italy and finish here at Spain.

The experience and first season has been immense, exceptional, excellent, and exciting for Mark and all the team. (And costly!! after the crash in Most !!!)

We’re sorry it’s over but look forward to a new 2024 season….

Thanks to all our fans, supporters , sponsors, fellow teams, officials and marshals and everyone else in the fantastic #onetruckfamily

Another very challenging weekend, an engine change before we started, doomed with mechanical issues on the Saturday. Mark managed P12 in FP1 . Session Two was a different story, a spring snapped after some bolts sheared causing a steering issue.

Sunday was better but we were cautious after so many issues. We completed the last two races.

Race One: Mark started from the pit lane, A red flag and re-start from the back. The truck again slowed and stopped after the same issue after a great start. finishing P14.

 Race Two: The team decided that they would not compete in Race Two until they got to the bottom of the issues with the truck, safety comes first for our driver.

 Race Three: Started the race with an air of caution. We remained in P15, a red flag on lap 8 halted racing and race was declared finished. Mark taking P11 and 4^th in the Promoters Cup.

 Race Four: Mark started from the back. He had a good start but found it difficult to make up places and settled with 13^th spot.

A well-earned Sunday night off for the Team at the Goodyear FIA ETRC Awards Ceremony, to celebrate the end of season with the other teams and officials. We picked up two awards, one for finishing fifth in the Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoters Cup Championship and another in recognition of our first season in the Championship. ” Nice One Team”

 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 14th (7th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – Did not compete.
• Race Three – 11th (4th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four –13th (6th – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments

“What a season, it’s been a rollercoaster of highs and lows throughout but has been fantastic. I have learnt a lot during it making new friends and fans along the way.”

“The issues since the crash in Most put us on a back foot of caution with the ongoing issues, we seemed to have sorted them out fully for this final round.”

“The team and I look forward to 2024 and move forwards with all the experience gained”.

We leave Jarama Circuit with the following end of season championship points in total:

GOODYEAR FIA EUROPEAN TRUCK RACING CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 FINAL STANDINGS

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 34 points (12^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup – 216 points (5^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 188 points (5^th)

Read Circuito del Jarama Race Report.

ROUND 7

Penultimate round of the series. What a venue it was fantastic to be racing at the world famous Le Mans Bugatti Circuit here in France. We faced another challenging weekend but to end the last race with a Promoters Cup podium couldn’t have ended any better for them. It was the icing on the cake for the team taking a well-earned second place and 6^th overall.

Since Zolder repairs and maintenance were carried out including a new back axle fitted and new steering column and gearbox issues rectified. We went well in both Free Practices sessions, followed by a very short qualifying session due to problems with the truck, an oil line on the turbo split and a new turbo needed to be fitted before the first race.

Race One: Mark had a great start and straight into P13, in a great move on Clemens Hecker. On the last lap Taylor moved into 12^th spot to take the flag and promoted into P11.

 Race Two: Mark had a battle with Jose Rodrigues and shortly after three into a corner don’t go! Taylor coming off worst and into the gravel after contact with Rodrigues. Taylors regained for a lap before retiring with a broken shock absorber from the coming together.

 Race Three: Settled for P12 in Q2, we lined up on the 6^th row of the grid, a red flag stopped the race after Andre Kursim became stranded on the pit straight. A restart straight away and Taylor avoided drama with two trucks in front, straight into P12 by lap 3. It was a race of swapping positions and settling for 11th place.

 Race Four: Last race of the weekend saw Taylor line up on row 6, a fantastic start and into P9 by the end of lap one and straight into P8. An eight-truck train followed, Taylor trying his hardest, by lap 5 he slid into P7, two laps later into 6^th remaining to take the chequered flag and a podium second place in the Promoters Cup.

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 11th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – DNF
• Race Three – 11th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 6th (2nd – Promoters Cup)

 Driver Comments

“Quelle course fantastique” “That’s the only French I know! – What a fantastic race.”  – “the last race couldn’t have gone any better, it was brilliant a good end to the weekend. It was a good battle, I enjoyed it and keeping up with Jamie and Sascha for a good few lap”.

“The weekend didn’t start so well for us, but the team pulled out the stops and got us back up in the points by the end of the weekend, a big thanks to them all and now look forward to Spain next weekend”.

We leave Le Mans Bugatti Circuit with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 34 points (11^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup – 201 points (4^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 167 points (5^th)

Read Le Mans Bugatti, France Race Report

ROUND 6

After extensive repairs and a re-build of our #81 we made it to compete at Zolder. 10 days to re-build the truck was a great effort by all involved “Thank you”.

The truck hadn’t been tested since re-build and expected the weekend to be a test as well to find out any issues we had on it. Our two Free Practice sessions could have been better, a faulty water hose in session one saw us only complete 6 laps and both sessions we finished 12^th fastest. In qualifying we encountered a power steering failure, Mark coped well, and we change the steering linkage.

Race One: Coping with temperatures of 34 degrees in the cockpit was not easy for Mark. 6^th on grid would be a challenge, a great start and into P10. By end of lap one under investigation for exceeding track limits. By lap 4 we were 9^th.  Lap 6 a drive through penalty for further over speeding put Taylor back into P13. A black flag for further over speeding, the third time and was ordered into the pit lane and disqualified for the infringements. New GPS tracker fitted due to original being faulty.

Race Two: Back of the pack on the grid, into P11 straight away and a lap later into 8^th place. Back to our usual form only to have a premature finish to the race on lap 9 due to a red flag after Steffan Faas hitting the tyre wall. Mark took a podium P3 trophy and 8^th overall. We also got the Team Championship trophy as well.

Race Three: Mark was 11^th on the grid. First few laps were like cat and mouse changing between P10 and P11. By lap 9 a full course yellow was declared after a fireball engulfed the truck of Luis Recuenco behind Mark and the race was red flagged shortly afterwards. Mark finished in 10^th spot and 4^th, missing a podium in the Promoters Cup by one place.

Race Four: Taylor lined up 5^th row for the final race of the weekend alongside John Newell, Mark battled again with a truck that had some problems from the start that saw him take the flag in 11^th spot. Mark did a good job keep the truck going for the duration of the race.

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – Disqualified – Over-speeding.
• Race Two – 8th (3rd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Three – 10th (4th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 11th (4th – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments

“It just wasn’t our weekend but knew that it wasn’t going to be great, the truck was in need of testing and that’s what we did and found some issues that will help out in the long run”.

The main thing is we got to Zolder to compete, more points in the championship, get another Promoters Cup trophy and another in the Team Championship with NWT Motorsport

We leave Zolder Circuit with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 29 points (11^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup – 174 points (4^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 146 points (5^th)

Read Circuit Zolder, Belgium Race Report

ROUND 5

Not a weekend we will forget for some time, we suffered a blow in a big crash during Race Two but Mark was OK. An exceptional start to the weekend with two great Free Practice sessions, Qualifying and into Super Pole and a Third-place podium in the Promoters Cup in Race One.

Race One: Mark was on the 5^th row of the grid, a great start retaining his 10^th place into the first lap. A slight tap from behind knocked Mark offline slightly but regained the position well.

At halfway distance, he was maintaining his 10^th slot, the tight twisty circuit taking its toll for overtaking.

On lap 7 the rear arch over the tyre had popped off and a lap later Steffen Faas was piling the pressure on Mark from behind, a gap of 00.540seconds between them. A battle commenced with Faas nose to tail on Taylor throughout the rest of the race, Mark held him off positioning his truck well to keep the German behind to take to chequered flag in 10^th place and a podium 3^rd spot in the Promoters Cup Championship.

Race Two: As the lights went out a major start line incident occurred in the middle of the field. It was a normal start until Andre Kursim made an opportunistic move trying to get between Mark and Faas, who had started in the row in front of Kursim. Not being able to make it work and three trucks wide, Kursim caught the rear of Faas, pushing the German into our truck beside him. Mark lost control of the #81, spinning to face the racing traffic and hitting the wall of the pit lane with a terrific impact.

The race was red flagged, #81 sustaining extensive damage, as rescue and medical crews attended, they forced the door open, and Mark was luckily OK and taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up and released OK but with some bruising.

Race Three: Did not compete due to damage to truck.

Race Four: Did not compete due to damage to truck.

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 10th (3rd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – DNF – Crash
• Race Three – Unable to race due to truck damage.
• Race Four – Unable to race due to truck damage.

Driver Comments

“Words cannot describe how the weekend felt for the myself and the team. We had a great Qualifying getting into Super Pole and a podium in Race One in the Promoters Cup.”

Race Two’s crash caused damage beyond repair for the rest of the weekend, but the main thing is I was OK, just a little battered and bruised, we will be back for the next round at Zolder, we can’t wait.”

“I would like to thank all the teams in the Paddock and all the fans for their offers of help and kind words. Also, to the Marshals, Safety and Medical Teams and FIA Officials for their support after the crash” 

We leave Autodrom Most with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 25 points (12^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup –149 points (4^th)
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 119 points (5^th)

Read Autodrom Most, Czech Republic Race Report

ROUND 4

A milestone in Mark’s race career, competing on the world famous Nürburgring race track over the weekend and a circuit that could hold up to 150,000 spectators a day.

Race One: Mark got a good start as the lights went out, he was straight into P9, followed by P8. on lap 5 we locked up a front left brake, did a bit of off-roading and in the gravel, rejoined in P13. By lap 8 he was back into 12^th spot remaining there to take the flag.
Race Two: P12 to start, waved yellow flags saw the first lap start under procession as rain fell on the circuit. Lap 2 saw the green flag out and we were racing. By lap 5 Mark was in P11 and a lap later back into P12, after a spin on standing water he was back into P14. Three laps later Taylor was back into P13, the race was red-flagged shortly afterwards, after a beached truck and the race was declared completed. The team settling for P13 but more points in the Promoters Cup.
Race Three: Another 5^th row of the grid, Mark’s pace was phenomenal, by lap 3 Mark had made up a place to P9, on lap 7 he was ran out of room on the final corner and down into 10^th spot. Remaining for the next 4 laps to settle with a 10^th place, but a well-earned 3^rd place podium in the Promoters Cup. After a steward’s enquiry at the end of the race, Mark was upgraded to a well-deserved 2^nd in the Promoters Cup and 9^th overall after the incident.
Race Four: We lined up 9^th on the grid. Pressure was put on Mark on the first lap pushing him back to P11, but two laps later he was back into P10. By lap 6 hE was lying in 9^th place and a place adrift for a Promoters podium. Pressure was on for mARK who couldn’t find room to get past Rodrigues to settle to be pipped at the post by him to take a 4^th in the Promoters Cup and 9^th overall.

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 12th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – 13th (6th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Three – 9th (2nd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 9th (4th – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments

“The weekend has been fantastic; we had some oil pressure issues resulting in some new turbos being fitted during the weekend that seemed to work. The team worked tirelessly all weekend to keep me going and in whole we have gained more points in the Championship. We leave Nürburgring third in the Promoters Cup which we are pleased with and another trophy for the cabinet from Race 3”.

We leave Nurburgring with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 24 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup –137 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 106 points

Read Full Nurburgring, Germany Race Report

ROUND 3

The weekend couldn’t have gone any better and celebrations were high in camp all weekend, that saw us finish the weekend with four top ten places and four podiums in the Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup.

Race One: We lined up on row 6 in 11^th spot, By lap 3 Taylor was up to 10^th spot, he remained there in a faultless 11 lap race to see him home and dry and take a third-place podium in the Promoter’s Cup category.

Race Two: We lined up in 10^th spot, row 5 of the grid for race two, at turn one there were a few trucks off, Taylor took advantage of the situation and was into 6^th place, a lap later he lost a lap back into P7 to see the chequered flag and a 2^nd place and podium in the Promoter’s Cup challenge.

Race Three: 10^th on the grid, a great start to see a red flag appear. The race was neutralised and a restart in the original start order. Straight into P9 on the restart, it was a great race, after 11 laps he had to settle for P10. After some time, penalties were issued to other drivers Taylor was upgraded in the final positions to 8^th spot and runner up for the second time over the weekend in the Promoter’s Cup.

Race Four: A reverse grid and we started on pole position, front of the pack of 15. Our first pole of the season and with nerves of steel. A great start, at turn one Mark was tried to be squeezed out of his commanding position but Mark gained control. By turn five contact was made with the left rear of Taylor who took a trip over the grass to regain but further contact at turn 6 and it fell apart for him. Taylor was back in 5^th place then into P6.

Mark battled on with some damage and settled with a 6^th place finish and another second-step spot on the podium in the Promoters Cup.

Round 3 Tor Poznan, Poland

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 10th (3rd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – 7th (2nd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Three – 8th (2nd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 6th (2nd – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments:

“We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in relation to podiums in the Promoter’s Cup and getting top 10 finishes in all the races. The truck behaved well, it was fast, and the team did a great job as usual in blistering conditions, onward and upwards, we can’t wait to get to Nürburgring. I’m well pleased with getting a Promoters Cup trophy from the weekend, we made a good start in race 3 despite a red flag and restart, we then got knocked off track to re-joined and got a P7 after the Stewards enquiry”.

We leave Poznan Citrcuit with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 20 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup –102 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 86 points

Read Full Tor Poznan, Poland Race Report

ROUND 2

A mixture of sunshine and torrential rain welcomed the team.

Race One: started under yellow flags due to rain and horrendous conditions. We remained cautious throughout the race starting at the back of the grid and remained there gaining great experience throughout.

Race Two: was a total contrast, very hot and humid conditions both on and off track, heavy rain halfway through the session saw the yellow flagged waved and no overtaking and race stopped. That saw Mark finish in P12.

Race Three: P12 start we had a good start and has made up several places on the first lap to see it red-flagged due to a beached truck in the gravel at turn one and the trucks having to re-start.

We were pushed off track by another driver, Mark managed to recover and carry on in the race to finish 9^th spot. Following a meeting with the Race Director and Stewards, two drivers were pushed back, leaving Mark in P7, and a podium 2nd place in the promoters’ cup – first trophy of the season.

Race Four: A reverse grid saw Mark start in P2 and held 3rd place in the Promoter’s Cup until the last bend where he overcooked it and fell back to 4th and P11 overall.

Round 2 Slovakiaring, Slovakia

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – 12th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Two – 12th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Three – 7th (2nd – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 11th (4th – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments:

“The weekend has again been great, as a team we are learning all the time but at the same time becoming more confident on and off track, with the new truck that’s faster, new set ups to drive to and learning completely new race circuits”.

We leave Slovakiaring with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 7 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup – 57 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 52 points

Read Full Slovakia Ring Race report

ROUND 1

A great first weekend and debut to the Championship. It went well with two top ten finishes.

We travelled from the UK the week before with the new paddock set up already for action that saw Mark out on the 2.525 mile and 16 corners of the Italian tarmac early on Saturday morning for two free practice sessions. He finished the first session in P12, 7^th spot later in session 2. The qualifying session followed, we were flying and saw Mark finish in 7^th spot and take a place in the Super Pole.

Race One: We lined up in 8th on the grid, a wet race lie ahead, a start under yellow waved flags due to bad weather conditions saw the #81 draw to a halt, just after passing the first lap marker, one of the steering components failed and Mark managing to control the truck and get it to a safe point on track.

Race Two: Horrendous conditions faced the drivers, the team started at the back of the grid due to not finishing race one, Mark battled his way through the traffic in a terrific race to see him take the chequered flag in P9.

Race Three: We lined up on the grid in 11^th spot and as the pace truck peeled off, by lap 3 Mark was in P10, the race saw him making places and dropping a few but he showed his ability to keep up with the leading pack and finished same as where he started in P11.

Race Four: Last race of the weekend saw Mark line up in 11^th place, by the end of lap one he was in P10 and by lap three was in 8^th spot. Mark remained there until a mistake on lap seven saw space for Sascha Lenz to get ahead and a lap later Clemens Hecker to slip past and had settle for a 10^th spot across the line.

Round 1 Misano World Circuit, Italy

Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Our weekend looked like this:

• Race One – DNF
• Race Two – 9th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Three – 11th (5th – Promoters Cup)
• Race Four – 10th (5th – Promoters Cup)

Driver Comments

“The weekend has been fantastic for me and the team. I found it a learning curve getting used to a new truck, new racing, and new circuits but by the ending of the last race was getting better and faster. We are thoroughly looking forward now to the next round in Slovakia, we have come away from Misano with some points and hope to carry on where we left off”.

We leave Italy with the following championship points in total:

• Goodyear FIA ETRC Drivers – 3 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup – 21 points
• Goodyear FIA ETRC Teams – NEWELL & TAYLOR – 28 points

Read full Misano World Circuit race Report

Round 6 Zolder, Belgium