The T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship is a popular motorsport event in India, organized annually by Tata Motors. First held in March 2014 at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, the T1 is also recognized by the Federation Internationale de l’ Automobile (FIA) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). This truck racing championship is participated in by race drivers from the British Truck Racing Championship and the European Truck Racing Championship with a dose of Indian racers battling for precious points for the podium.
Here in the Philippines, the closest thing that we are going to experience truck racing is by visiting the Tata Ph corporate offices in Marikina, where an actual Tata race truck is prominently parked in front of their building.
Like any other racing machine, this Tata Prima truck had its interior stripped of unnecessary equipment with only the steering untouched. The dashboards were removed, and an FIA certified steel roll cage are installed inside the cabin for safety and protection. The stock seats were also replaced by body hugging and light bucket racing seats. This T1 Prima race truck was unveiled early this year to kick off the Fourth Season of the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship.
This Prima race truck highlights Tata’s truck building experience and expertise. Developed to deliver immense power and acceleration of 0 to 160km/hr within 10 seconds and a torque of 3,500nm at 1600-2200 rpms, this Prima race truck has an all-new and powerful 1000 bhp engine. Based on a 12 liter ISGe Cummins turbo diesel engine, engineers mounted the heavy engine in the center of the chassis for equal weight distribution. It also has an advanced fuel delivery system and airflow that allows it to produce 1040 bhp at 2,600 rpms. The power output is managed by an all-new ZF 16-speed gearbox, making it fastest race truck developed by Tata Motors. With high performance rotating parts made of special materials, the engine is meant to withstand high temperature & pressure that a race truck is subject to on a race track. “It is by far, the fastest truck ever produced by Tata,” says Art Balmadrid, General Manager and Vice President of Pilipinas Taj. Tata says that the new 1000 bhp T1 Prima race truck is similar to the race trucks that compete under the FIA in the UK and Europe.
“After having hosted three successive T1 seasons, we at Tata Motors are happy to announce our next big innovation in the form of the 1000 bhp T1 PRIMA race truck. Built with specifications similar to that of trucks that race globally, the vehicle was developed in a record time 12 months – a demonstration of teamwork, speed and capability. With this new track based machine, we are truly ahead of contemporary; we are future ready and through T1 we’ve proved time and again to showcase a distinctive partnership between sporting and technological excellence for the Tata Motors brand,” states Ravindra Pisharody, Executive Director for Commercial Vehicles of Tata Motors.
About the Tata Prima:
The award-winning World Truck i.e. PRIMA is equipped with strong aggregates and a robust chassis frame and suspension. The Tata PRIMA range meets the highest operating standards under extreme conditions, thanks to outstanding material and build quality, comfort, driving dynamics, offering customers with of lowest cost of operations. The Tata PRIMA range has set up new benchmarks in the performance and design of a next-generation commercial vehicle, based on superior technology, optimum power, fuel efficiency and safety.
About Tata Motors:
Tata Motors Limited is India’s largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of INR 2,75,561 crores (USD 41.6 billion) in 2015-16. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands. It also has an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India. With over 9 million Tata vehicles plying in India, Tata Motors is the country’s market leader in commercial vehicles and among the top in passenger vehicles. Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS and Russia.