Details from some of Antony's meetings in 2008.

Brands Hatch 31st August
(Added 02 September 2008)
The Pickup Truck Racing Championship headed to their biggest ever weekend on August 29-31 as part of the DTM (German Touring Car) package at Brands Hatch in Kent as 38,000 race fans turned up to see some spectacular racing over the weekend.
Team Rockingham were once again present for a thrilling weekend, which started a day earlier than normal with qualifying taking place on Friday afternoon. As the DTM championship is run in a similar fashion to Formula One all vehicles had to be on site and set up by 8am ready for the early spectators.
Driver of the #98 Truck, Antony Hawkins, was not able to take part in the Friday afternoon qualifying due to work commitments, but he was able to race after Series Director Sonny Howard put together a commanding case of Antony’s abilities to Race Control with results from the championship’s previous visits to the Kent circuit, although missing qualifying would mean starting from the back of the grid. It was man of the season so far, #54 Gavin Seager, who topped the timesheets in qualifying with a best lap of 52.718 showing his intentions for the two races.
Once team and driver were all in place it was time to get the Truck to scrutineering before the first race of the weekend on the Saturday afternoon, which went out live on DTM.com. Antony had a long way to go if he was to vie for top places with his row nine start but within two laps he’d made up two places and was up to 16th and on the back of #10 Chris Dawkins.
Lap four saw Hawkins chasing Neil Tressler in the #37 Truck and he made his move to pass the Warwickshire-based driver on the start-finish line going into lap five. With Michael Smith taking the lead for his first time this season Hawkins was chasing the Carr brothers Simon and Damien. Championship leader Gavin Seager received a drive-through penalty which he took on lap 12, which Antony was able to take advantage of as he moved up to 13th by lap 10 with Seager heading to the pits and Richard Novell and Lee Rogers races over. Up front Steve Dance finally got the better of Smith and went through to take first place, which he held on for the remaining six laps. Pete Wilkinson also just got past Smith, but the Hartlepool driver and a veteran of Pickups got his first podium for several years in third.
Hawkins didn’t manage to get the better of the Carr brothers but did finish in an impressive 11th and take 150 points in the process.
The packed programme meant the 20 Pickup Truck teams had over 24 hours until their second race as they were last on the bill on Sunday afternoon.
So after the main event of the weekend, the DTM race, the Pickup Trucks finally got back on track at 5pm on Sunday. With Lee Rogers, Nic Grindrod, Richard Novell and Phil White all breaking seals Hawkins was up to the third row for the start.
Heading into lap two Hawkins was in fourth and running with #7 Tony Mumford and #10 Chris Dawkins. Dawkins was in the lead by lap four with Hawkins now chasing Simon Carr, just as he had been in the latter stages of race one. Antony lost Mumford on lap five as the Cheshire-based driver received a drive-through penalty for an incident that saw him and Kelly-Jayne Wells go off track at Graham Hill Bend.
And the \98 Truck was also in a spot of bother on lap six as Pete Stevens caught the back of the Team Rockingham Truck, sending Hawkins spinning. He managed to get going again, but not before losing 14 places. But the Truck was running well and Hawkins was determined to bag some vital points at this big occasion and soon began peeling off places again, including Richard Novell, Julian Arnold and Neil Tressler to go from last to 13th during the next 10 laps. This was where he was to remain as the next target in the form of the \21 Truck of Wells was too far ahead.
Gavin Seager extended his lead in the championship by taking victory in the second race ahead of Chris Dawkins and Pete Stevens.

Rockingham 19/20th April
(Added 22 April 2008)
Team Rockingham headed to the Northamptonshire circuit for the first round of the oval championship and ready get competitive.
This was rounds three and four of the overall competition and the teams were greeted by some fairly wintery weather with rain and winds not the ideal conditions for doing 100mph plus round the oval.
Qualifying on Saturday went without any problems with driver Antony Hawkins managing to finish ninth with his best time recorded at 41.259 as he completed 21 laps.
The rain started early on Sunday morning and was just heavy enough to make everything really wet, including the track.
The first race was declared wet and so Team Rockingham chose to go with a full set of wet tyres.
There was a late change to the team with spotter Anna unwell. Fortunately playing spectator for the day was 2004 Rockingham champion Mark Willis and with him was his highly experienced spotter, Jeff Parker, who stepped in to help out.
Antony started from row three, with front runners Steve Dance and Nic Grindrod having unusual front row starts following their DNF’s at Brands Hatch.
With the track really wet, and the spotters unable to see the Trucks at the back of the circuit due to the spray and mist it was time to keep your fingers crossed.
With Nic Grindrod taking the lead Hawkins had settled in to eighth and was running with Simond Carr in the 15 Truck. With Carr passing him Antony then settled into a battle with Pete Stevens, which formed most of his race.
Then in to the mix came Pete Wilkinson and Dave Briggs, but with the #9 Truck of Wilkinson was fading and Antony was able to pass him for seventh on lap 12.
A quick trip to the pits for Cartoon Network driver Steve Dance meant Antony could pick up a place for sixth on lap 23. But Dance was back on the charge when he came back on track and grabbed back his place.
The wet conditions meant there were quite a few slower drivers overtaken during the race and only eight Trucks finished their 35 laps with Antony pleased to be one of those as he finished seventh.
Brands Hatch double winner won the race ahead of brothers Nic and Richard Grindrod in second and third respectively.
The rain came down again between the two races but once it stopped the drying track gave series director Sonny Howard the headache of deciding whether to declare a wet race or not. In the end it was a wet race, and once again Antony and the crew opted for a full set of wet tyres.
Following the fantastic seventh and strong performance in race one, the Team Rockingham Truck started race two from the middle of the grid, due to the reverse grid.
Antony found himself in the mid-field mele, but with things settling down by lap three, he was in eighth and ready to charge. Still surrounded by several Trucks, there was lots of place swapping before Antony settled in 10th and was chasing the #93 of Michael Smith.
By lap eight, ninth place belonged to Team Rockingham and spotter Jeff was pushing Antony on to chase down Pete Wilkinson which he did by lap 11.
Next on the list was another Pete, this time Stevens, and he was passed on lap 14 coming round turn four in to the stadium area to take seventh. It had looked as if the #98 Truck would gain on Steve Dance, but with the track drying and the #16 on slicks, his tyres came in to play and he soon increased the gap again.
But a fading Simon Carr was within Antony’s sites and the Sutton Coldfield-based driver gladly took a well deserved seventh and with it moved into ninth place in the championship standings.
Once again Gavin Seager took the double with Nic Grindrod recording his second runner-up spot of the day. But the biggest celebrations come from 2007 Mondello Park winner Dave Briggs who, normally more of a circuit man, put himself on to the podium to take a fantastic third.
The Pickup Truck Racing Championship will be next on track again at Rockingham on May 24-26, lining up on the bill alongside the British GTs.

Brands Hatch 23/24th March
(Added 26 March 2008)
The 2008 Pickup Truck Racing season started off in a flurry at Brands Hatch on Easter Sunday but the heavy snow storms never seemed to threaten the action at the Kent Circuit.
Team Rockingham headed down to Brands Hatch on Saturday to set up ready for action to begin on Easter Sunday.
Sunday morning was not too stressful with sign on not until 12.45pm there was plenty of time for the team of Antony Hawkins, crew chief John Kerry, and mechanics Keith Hawkins and Andrew Jennings to get the Truck out of the wagon and ready for scrutineering.
At just before 2pm the drivers were asked to get ready to go on track for the 20 minute practice session. The Sutton Coldfield driver completed 13 laps, recording a best time of 58.960secs on lap 10. This was enough to qualify for the races and just enough not to ruin the wet tyres on a rapidly drying track.
It was a relief for the #98 Truck to finish the session after Hawkins spectacularly rolled through the gravel trap at Clearways on the Pickup Truck Racing Championship’s last visit to Brands Hatch last November.
On Easter Monday morning it was an early start as we had to attend to drivers’ briefing before being allowed to race. It looked more like time to be building snowmen than heading out on track for 18 laps of ice skating, but fortunately the snow stopped just as the 20 Trucks went on to the circuit. Antony took to the track in his brand new Team Rockingham Truck and competed well in the middle of the field after starting the first race from the third row of the grid. The 42-year-old managed to keep a grip in the slippery conditions and still dice with some of the regular front runners like Dave Briggs and Pete Stevens to claim 12th.
An on the charge Dave Briggs was Antony’s main rival and the pair swapped places on several occasions throughout the opening half of the race.
With Briggs having passed number nine Pete Wilkinson, Hawkins then set about taking on the Salford racer with the #98 making the pass on the final lap to secure 12th place.
Gavin Seager took the win in the #54 Truck with Simon Carr second and 2007 Champion Steve Dance third.
In race two conditions were dry, although a delay of more than an hour as safety barriers were being repaired from a BTRA Truck incident meant the temperatures continued to fall.
With a reduced 12 lap race following the delay, the race was on for the chequered flag.
Another third row start saw Antony in a good position to take advantage of the conditions, but all the fast guys were on a mission and the Team Rockingham Truck was back to the more settled middle of the field.
Number 69, Lee Rogers, was putting the pressure on Antony, but he managed to hold him off for a few laps before Rogers passed. But Hawkins’ Truck was strong and the race was then on to take #3 Julian ‘Arnie’ Arnold so that he could once again race Rogers.
With front runners Steve Dance, Kelly-Jayne Wells and Nic Grindrod all retiring life is no different this season in Pickup Truck Racing and a finish is the most important thing.
Hawkins continued to dice with Lee Rogers and new comer Chris Dawkins with the Team Rockingham racer claiming 13th at the end of the second race.
Ipswich's Gavin Seager recorded the double win to gain a maximum 400 points from the opening two rounds with the Pete duo of Wilkinson and Stevens taking second and third respectively
After the first two rounds Hawkins said: "It's gone well today, it's just nice to be back out racing on track - even if we did have to compete with the snow too!"