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The high-jumping trucks made their first appearance on Aussie soil in three years in Adelaide, however the return was far from straightforward.
It took just one practice session for doubts over the immediate future of the trucks at the event to emerge thanks to two spectacular crashes.
The first saw Shae Davies pitched into a violent roll after an awkward landing off a jump on the front straight.
The second involved Matt Mingay at the penultimate corner and was more concerning given the fuel cell parted ways with the car and was left burning on the side of the road.
Qualifying was cancelled as Motorsport Australia, event organisers and series organisers discussed whether or not to proceed with the remaining on-track sessions.
While track safety was one topic of discussion, the more serious issue was highlighted by the fuel cell in the Mingay crash.
During investigations it became apparent that the US-based cars were fitted with fuel cells that were out of date and while SST organisers claimed they had been re-certified, there was no paperwork to prove so.
It wasn’t until contact was made with the company that had completed the certification work in the US that the trucks were cleared to return to the track.
“Basically, a fuel cell has a five-year life, ” Motorsport Australia’s Division Manager Safety and Race Operations David Stuart explained to Speedcafe.
“You can have them re-certifiied, which they did and their certification runs through until August 2025. They just didn’t have the certificates with them on-hand.
“We spoke to the company that did the re-certification in the States, and they re-issued the certificates.”
There has been tension between Motorsport Australia in SST in the past, with the governing body banning the category back in 2018 when a stray wheel hit a spectator bridge at Wanneroo Raceway.
The trucks were allowed to return a year later with a number of safety-related changes in place, before interest in the category in Australia appeared to peter out several years ago.
That was until the SA Motorsport Board elected to bring the Robby Gordon-run series back this year.
Despite the drama in Adelaide, Stuart says Motorsport Australia is happy to discuss having the trucks back in Adelaide in 2025, if that’s what the SAMB wants to do.
“You couldn’t have scripted the start for Stadium Super Trucks [in Adelaide],” he said.
“The first incident wasn’t unusual for Stadium Super Trucks, but certainly the second one was unusual circumstances. It hit a barrier, spun, and then went backwards into the barrier and broke all of the bar work away from the back of the car, which supports the fuel tank.
“It focussed the lens on Stadium Super Trucks and how they go racing. After removing the jump from that area, it certainly reduced the instance of that happening again. And the rest of the weekend’s activity was reasonably benign. There was one more rollover in the final race, but that’s Stadium Super Trucks.
“I guess if the SA Motorsport Board has an appetite to run them again, that’s a conversation that Motorsport Australia will have with them for next year’s event.”
