Huthwaite-based Taylors Truck Racing team has confirmed it will be competing in the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship for a second season, reports Paul Horton.

Driver Mark Taylor was a contender for Sports Personality of the Year at the 2023 Mansfield Sports Recognition Award after a successful first season.

Now the team has plenty of work to do before the season starts in May, where they will challenge eight rounds of the race series, which starts at the end of May at Misano Circuit, Italy.

They will also compete at circuits that have hosted many FIA Formula One races, such as Nürburgring in Germany and Zolder in Belgium. At the end September the team will travel to Le Mans in France, home of the famous Le Mans 24 hours.

Mark’s office for race weekends, his highly-modified M.A.N TGX race truck, is in the workshop being prepared for the season and before that there will be testing in the UK and practise weekends in Europe.

Weighing in at around 5.5 tonnes, with 1,100bhp and a top speed of 160 km/h, the truck is a beast. The six-cylinder 12,000cc race-tuned engine delivers power through a 16-speed manual gearbox, with a locked rear differential, special race-tuned tyres and water-cooled brakes.

Taylor is no stranger to the truck racing scene, having raced for five years in the British Truck Racing Championship before last season’s European Championship debut.

He finished the season 12th in the FIA ETRC Championship, was fifth in the FIA ETRC Promoters Cup for newcomers, and the team finished fifth place in the FIA ETRC Teams Championship — not bad for a first season’s racing!

The campaign had its drama though. Midway at Most in the Czech Republic, Mark was involved in a 100mph start line crash, sustaining a few bruises as the truck was almost written off.

The team, with others helping under the series banner of #onetruckfamily, pulled together and 10 days later a rebuilt truck was ready to complete the last three rounds of the championship.

Mark said: “I’m thoroughly looking forward to our second season in the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship.

“Last season was a rollercoaster of highs and lows throughout, but was fantastic. I learnt a lot, making new friends and fans along the way.”