Circuito del Jarama, Spain

Start date: 5 October 2024 - End date: 6 October 2024

Location: Spain

www.jarama.org

2024 Season

ROUND 7

The end of the season could have been better for Huthwaite based Taylors Trucksport Racing Team as they finished their second season in the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship.

The team travelled to Jarama Circuit in Spain for Round 7, the final round of the championship and their driver 37-year-old Mark Taylor took first class honours, he become top placed Brit and walked away with Vice Champion (Runner Up) in class in the prestigious championship. The team took hold of 8 trophies from Spain as well.

With the championship already in the hands of José Eduardo Rodrigues, Taylor battled Germany’s Steffen Faas to the wire for second place. Taylor delivered, securing two class wins and two overall podiums, to take that brilliant second-place in class for the season!

The weather was red hot as well as the racing during the weekend with 17 contenders, Saturday’s two Free Practice sessions saw Taylor get to grips on the 2.392-mile tarmac, finishing 9^th in session one and P12 in the second session.

Qualifying 1 & 2: Was up next, session one of 15 minutes saw Taylor pit with 6 minutes on the clock, remain there taking P8, second fastest in Chrome and into Session Two’s 10 minutes with the top 12 finishers, for a place in the shootout. He finished it in 9^th, 3^rd in Chrome and in front of Faas for race one.

Race One: Saw a great start with Mark on the inside of Recuenco at turn one and into P8 (P2 Chrome) by the end of lap one. Two laps later Mark was pulling away from Faas, by lap 8 there was a 3 second gap between the two and as Mark` crossed the line, he was 6 seconds ahead, remaining P8 overall and a podium 2^nd in class. More points in the bag and a pole position for Race Two’s reverse grid.

Race Two: Mark and Stephanie Halm side by side going into Fangio corner, Halm getting the better line into the Complex and although Halm had extended her lead by 00573s, Mark was having none of it and trying his upmost. Kursim was putting pressure on Mark from the rear, but Mark was defending his P2, holding back the rest including the Titan champions.

By end of lap 5 a battle behind saw the 6 times European Champion Norbert Kiss, putting pressure on Mark. By lap 8, Taylor’s defensive driving was exceptional leaving the spectators on the edge of their seats. Mark was holding his own, giving Kiss and Hahn behind a good fight. The last lap saw Taylor and Kiss virtually side by side, Taylor taking the line one hundredth of a second over Kiss for second overall and P1 in Chrome.

Warm Up: The 15 minutes on track was good bedding the #81 in for a day we hoped would be so special for us, it saw us take 7th fastest overall. Mark was flying.

Qualifying 4 & 5: Sunday’s two Qualifying sessions saw a respectable time, with 5 minutes remaining in session one in P7 (P1 Chrome) and Mark remain in the pits and into the second instalment. He finished this off in P8, 2^nd in Chrome class.

Race Three: Mark was 4^throw on the grid. He was straight into P7 and Eight laps into the 12-lap race he remained in P7, four laps later as the flag appeared remaining same, P2 Chrome but more importantly taking 269 points to Faas’s 258, an 11 point gap saw Mark become the Vice Champion in Chrome Class, signed sealed and delivered.

Race Four: Was another front row for Taylor, with Spaniard Albacete along side in pole. Mark had nothing too loose. Albacete took the inside line advantage for Taylor to settle for second by end of lap one. Remaining in second would suit Mark as Albacete pushed ahead to his home fans delight and the gap behind Mark was enough without pressure. Remaining in the same spot, he was clam, cool and collected as he sailed the #81 over the line to take second overall and P1 again in Chrome class.

What a way to end the season!

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

Race One – 8th (2^nd Chrome Category)
Race Two – 2nd (1^st Chrome Category)
Race Three – 7th (2^nd Chrome Category)
Race Four – 2nd (1^st Chrome Category)

Driver Comments

“Wow, what a weekend, well what a season, I can’t believe such a great second season in Europe we have had. The team have got stronger as the season has progressed. We knew that the weekend would be a tough one going into it with a four-point lead, but we sealed it in race three

I would like to thank everyone for their much support throughout the season, to the team you did great and to all family, friends and our fans, over and out and role on 2025”

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

GOODYEAR FIA EUROPEAN TRUCK RACING CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 FINAL STANDINGS