Bigfoot 17 Takes Maiden Win of European Pro Monster Truck Race Series

21 July 2003

The weekend of 18-20th July 2003 saw the inaugural race meeting of the European Pro Monster Truck Racing Series and the first ever head-to-head monster truck racing in the UK. The event, at the Showmasters Showground in Enfield, saw a full event of racing and freestyle with further entertainment provided by moto-cross freestyle displays.

Four trucks, sat atop the 66-inch regulation flotation tyres, made it to compete in the race which is run to the strict safety regulations of the Monster Truck Racing Association of Europe (MTRAE). Daventry-based L.A. Supertrux entered three trucks - it's first-born Wild Child, the newly rebuilt Swamp Thing, and the UK's flagship truck, Bigfoot 17. A fourth truck, the 11-seater ride-on giant, Slaine, recently rebuilt to ProMT specs by 4Xtreme also made it to the event. Both L.A. Supertrux and 4Xtreme will be aquiring new trucks for the series in the near future, so it should expand at pace over the next few months.

The track for this event was set out in two side-by-side U shaped runs. Each started with a deep 'bombhole', a two car jump, then a four-car jump. After the turn at the far end, the trucks faced the fast return section with a huge 6-car jump and a run to the finish line - plenty for the trucks to get their teeth into. The advice was given to get the most speed on the return run with the biggest shutdown area beyond it, and they were ready to roll.

The weekend kicked off with typical Monster Truck unpredictability, Wild Child taking a hard landing on the Saturday and doing considerable damage to the front steering. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the L.A. Supertrux crew, the truck was engineered back into shape overnight, with the rear steering components transferred to the front. Wild Thing was ready to run again in the main race event on Sunday, but at an immediate disadvantage now only having two wheel steer to the other trucks' four.

Starting the event, the four trucks roared out to the arena, lining up in good view of the fans before heading out one at a time for timed qualifying runs on the course. Undeterred by its damage, Wild Child was the first truck out setting the pace to start as fastest qualifier in the main event - the head-to-head races.

In the first heat, the fastest qualifier races the slowest, then second fastest against second slowest. This would continue with a larger grid until each truck had raced. Next the winners race, followed by the losers, sorting the trucks into ranked order after they have each raced everyone else. At this early stage in the championship, the exact running orders weren't important as the crowd simply wanted to see the action, and nobody was disappointed there. The sight of two 5 tonne trucks flat out on parallel runs is something very far out of the ordinary and the urgency with which they gather pace is simply astounding - keep in mind that each tyre weighs half a tonne.

The steering deficiency on Wild Child made itself clear, driver Drew Thornton needing to take a wide entry to the turn, slowing it considerably, but each return run was hammered out with apparent disregard for the previous days damage, giving the crowd some spectacular and often very close racing. Swamp Thing was also suffering, one of the tyres having collided with the fuel pump and causing a leak, but again, it was always ready for the next challenge. The star of the day, as expected, was Bigfoot 17, owner and driver, Nigel Morris being unbeatable in the racing and taking the maiden win of the new European series, and maximum 50 championship points, on each day of the event, the traditional laps of honour around the perimeter of the arena becoming a show in themselves.

Once the racing was over and the motocrossers had done their thing - airborne over Bigfoot, it was time for the Monster Truck Freestyle, or as Nigel put it, "A chance to show off". Each truck was given three minutes to entertain the crowd the best it could. Something a bit special, then.

4Xtreme's Slaine was first off and seemed to be taking things gently. The 23 year old truck weighs in at over 8 tonnes, putting it far over the minimum weights targetted by the new space-frame chassis trucks. It also rides on undamped suspension, with virtually all of the ride compliance coming from its huge tyres. Understandably then, Slaine was taking it slow, heading up and over the piles of now deeply flattened cars before lining up on the return run and giving one last burst at the six-car stack. A roar from the crowd echoed that of the engine as the massive Jeep bodied truck got some considerable height before boucing less than gracefully to a halt at the edge of the arena, all to the clear satisfaction of the crowd.

Much of the same was to follow from Wild Child and Swamp Thing, the former using both tracks to full effect so as not to require much steering action. Both were also well aware that running the jumps in the return direction provided a steeper ramp and more height to the jumps, the high-tech suspension containing things a lot better on landing than their forerunner.

The final run of the day was open to Bigfoot, and knowing the track was no longer needed, it showed no mercy, flattening hay bales, jumping cars from all angles and providing the stunning sight of a monster truck doughnut, or eight. Clearly having a lot of fun, Nigel was getting in more jumps and causing more mayhem than Bigfoot's siblings, but was it enough for the win? The scoring for the freestyle is based on the crowd's response to the displays and when prompted for their cheer, it initially seemed like it might go Bigfoot's way, but in the end, the Freestyle win had to go to Slaine for it's huge flight. Pleased enough with the race win, Nigel couldn't argue with losing out on a clean sweep of the whole weekend, saying that it was after all, very well deserved - "Fifteen foot of air in an eight and a half tonne truck - I wouldnt want to do it!".

A win apiece for LA Supertrux's Bigfoot 17 and 4Xtreme's Slaine in the summer sun provided a fitting end to a weekend dominated by Bigfoot. With the Friday and Saturday races totalled up, the ProMT leaderboard standas as follows.

Monster Truck	Race Points	Freestyle Points
BIGFOOT 17	150	140
Swamp Thing	120	115
Wild Child	60	90
Slaine	45	30

As promised, we'll be on hand to follow the rise of ProMT racing in the UK. Granada Men and Motors will also be showing all the action from the championship in a forthcoming Bigfoot and Friends series. Check back with MSport-UK.com and Monster4x4.co.uk for details of future races.

Related Story 14.07.2003 - Bigfoot Heads Up First Ever UK Monster Truck Racing

Event images available now.