The Marlborough 4WD Club hosted the opening round of this year’s Mainland Superwinch Challenge at Maruia over Queen’s Birthday weekend. Story and photo by Vicky Newport.
And so, the 2018 Mainland Superwinch Challenge Series has finally started. This was the second year that the opening round of our series was hosted by the Marlborough 4WD Club at Maruia. Competitors had to be on site between 3.00 and 5.00pm on the Friday for the vehicle checks with most camping on site.
The weekend was to be run over two nights and two days. So each team/truck had two stages Friday night, four stages Saturday, two stages Saturday night then four stages Sunday, with prize giving and dinner at the local hall Sunday night.
Outlaw class
The Outlaw class had 13 entries with a couple of changes since our preview in the July issue. Mike Holmes for instance has a new co-driver, Sheryl deciding to take the season off and Andrew Dempsey taking over navi/winch-person duties. Also Tim Lucas was entered into the Open Class but decided on a move to Outlaw so he could use his fiddle brakes.
Open class
Open Class had 10 entries with nine having signed on for the whole Series and an extra entry just for this round. Included in the 10 were Brock and Nathan both with new trucks and both new to Open Class. Brock had won the Clubman Class for two years running so it was a nice step up for him and co-driver Nic.
Nathan, meanwhile, entered Outlaw last year in a Can-Am UTV but this year is in a new build (a Jeep) and new class. He’s also got a new co-driver (Daniel Tray Swift). As you may have read in the last issue of the NZ4WD Magazine the rest of the Open teams were all entered in Outlaw last year so it great to see them all change back to Open. The new ruling certainly changed who went in what class this season.
Clubman class
Clubman Class was a bit low in numbers with just two entries, Blenheim father/son team, Richard and William Gifford and from Nelson in a pretty standard Surf was Tony and Russell. We hope to see more teams enter Clubman over the next four rounds.
Friday night stages started around 6.00pm. In total four stages had been set up, with Outlaw Class heading away to do two, Open/Clubman the other pair. Saturday night they swapped around. So in all four night stages completed over two nights. It worked well, too, the first of the teams/trucks arriving back at the pits by about 7:45pm on Friday night.
That said the night stages caused a bit of grief for a couple of trucks. Rowan/Chad managed to damage their transfer case so spent a couple of hours Friday night replacing their’s with a spare Scotty had with him.
Brent had made a few last minute changes on his truck and was unable to test it out properly so that caused a bit of a headache with the steering on their first night stage. They still managed to finish the stage mainly using their fiddle brakes though, then went on to finish their second stage in good time.
Hey, hey it’s Saturday
Saturday’s day stages started with marshals heading out around 9.00am. Then with the drivers brief out of the way the competitors headed out a bit later than planned but with only four stages stages to complete it sounded really easy.
You know, get these stages out of the way and relax before the night stages. Yeah right!
As it turned out the day didn’t pan out that easy for some. It was announced at drivers’ briefing, for instance, that if most trucks had completed stages early and the marshals were waiting on trucks the stage may be closed early. Although there was only four stages to complete they were hard and long with each requiring some serious winching . One stage was 3.5km long with at least one winch. And all four had a 40 minute DNF.
Once again Clubman/Open went in one direction to do their four stages and Outlaw went in the other direction to complete their four.
I only got to watch the Clubman/Open teams in action on the Saturday. The long stage took two DNFs early in the day. This was Tom and Lars’ first day stage. Just over the half way point they radioed in. They were out with a seized motor due to putting a hole in the sump. Hopefully they get a new motor put in the Jeep and we see them at Rnd 2.
In Open Brock/Nic, Nathan/Daniel, Adam/Josh, Rowan/Chad and Rick/Brian completed all stages. Clubman pairings Richard/William and Tony/Russell also completed all stages for the day.
Tough going
While I was watching the Clubman/Open Classes the radio was very active with updates on the Outlaw Class. Right from the start of the day I could hear that a fair bit of carnage was happening at the other end of the farm.
On the first stage of the day, for instance, Wellington team Robin/Paul were in the pits fixing their Buggy. Richard & Michael then blew a diff lock and a few other bits on just their second stage (though Richard, keen as, headed towards Christchurch to get the replacement parts he needed and was back and fixed in time to do night stages)!
Next I heard that Brent/Arron had gone over backwards end for end but landed on their wheels, and with no major damage done the pair carried on and finished the stage.
They had a good run on the next stage too, but then on their third they popped a front tyre off the bead twice and had no choice but to carry on and finish the stage. Lucky they have fiddle brakes.
The Goodmans (Lance and Stan) had a great run as did Scotty and new co-driver James. A few dents and a winch with a mind of its own in one stage added some spice to their day but they still completed all four stages with no major hassles.
Mike/Andrew had a few issues and spent a bit of time in the pits, the rebuilt Hilux still having a few old parts on it which will probably be getting replaced before the next round.
And so, Scotty/James, Andrew/Joel, Daimeon/Kerry, Andy/Aaron, Stan/Chris, Lance/Danny and Craig/Tony all started and finished the four stage. However the organisers’ ruling to close stages if marshals were waiting meant a few teams were unable to complete their allotted four as stages five, six, seven and eight closed early.
Saturday’s night stages started pretty much on time at 6.00pm and like on Friday night teams were finished by around 8.00pm, meaning plenty of time for a wee bit more socializing around the fires.
Sunday, fun day
Sunday we had a bit of a sleep in after which I followed the Outlaw trucks and followed the Clubman/Open classes via radio – not that there was much chatter. Both Clubman trucks completed all four stages while in Open Rick/Brian, Rowan/Chad, Adam/Josh, Nathan/Daniel and Brock/Nic all completed all four stages with no DNFs.
What struck me pretty much straight away is that those in the Outlaw Class are a different breed. In fact, the whole vibe around watching Outlaw was different from the day before watching Open/Clubman. They seem more competitive, serious and in a hurry. I think most of these teams have been in Clubman and Open at some stage. Most have built their own trucks or buggies and push their trucks just that bit more.
The winches are getting faster, as are the trucks. Reports coming back on the longest stage was that they loved it, it having ‘a bit of everything.’ That said, three trucks DNFed this stage on the Sunday, Richard/Michael and Daimeon/Kerry within 10 minutes of each other.
The bog should have been undrivable after having 11 trucks through it the day before and then a few more that morning.
A few drove it earlier in the day on Saturday but most winched and then Sunday most were winching. Scotty as usual looking for a different line to take. This paid off for him. The Jeep just seemed to float over the top of it. From then most drove it.
It’s a wrap!
The day was over about 4.00pm with all teams in. Megan Newport had driven down from Nelson to do the scoring. Now the pressure was on her to get it done and correct and on time. After ironing out a couple of issues the scores were done and we all headed off to the local hall for dinner and prizegiving.
Maruia is a great event site and all in all I think most enjoyed the stages. It was a Winch Challenge, technical driving and plenty of seat time. Thanks to marshals, farm owners, organisers, scorers and our sponsor Superwinch.
RESULTS
Outlaw Class:
1. Scotty Newport/James Keys 1061pts
2. Brent Holden/Aaron Blomfield 957pts
3. Andy Reeves/Arron Eades 956pts
Open Class:
1. Brock Welsh/Nic Scales 1098pts
2. Rowan Coutts/Chad Mitchener 1052pts
3. Rick Crosbie/Brian Dowdle 1042pts
Clubman Class:
1. Richard and William Gifford 1165pts
2. Tony O’Donnell/Russel Lodder 1135pts
SUPERWINCH draw: Paul Kelly co-driver from Wellington
NZ4WD Magazine subscription winners:
Tony ODonnell and Russell Lodder.
Be in to win, two magazine subscriptions to give away each round. Check out our Facebook page to see how. Anyone can enter.
For full results check out our Facebook page: "Superwinch Mainland Challenge"
To read the full story in the August 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (July 13) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
