All was right with the world when the Club Truck Challenge (CTC) restarted for the 2021 season on November 01. Andrew Gee has the story.

With our last season curtailed after only two rounds back in March it left us without overall results for 2020 because there weren’t enough rounds run, the rules requiring at least three.

 We started the new competition east of Masterton with a great event put on by the Wairarapa 4WD Club, who made their judgement on how hard this set of hazards should be.  In the last year, all clubs that have been involved in the CTC have been excellent in modifying the design of hazards to cater for the new environmental concerns.

Thanks to Sue Butcher for the use of her farm in Hakakino Road and thanks to Kevin, Brent, Eugene, Bruce, Peter, Mark and Brendan of Wairarapa 4WD club who set the 15 hazards and two speed sections the day before.  

There was a lot of internecine competition between the Mason brothers, Chris and Greg supported by their kids and parents, father and son Brent and Mike Ward and the ever-present Watchorn brothers, Mark and Brendan.  Needless to say, the Craic was on and merciless all day.

There was a good variety of trucks ranging from modern Jeeps and Suzukis to the staple of Club Trucks, Nissan Patrols and Jeep Wranglers.  Event winner Brent Ward’s LS V8-powered Patrol was particularly potent. His foot-to-the-floor and just-send-it driving style saw the truck leaping into the air on two or four wheels, which worked pretty well on the first few hazards that had a surface that was hard and lined with ruts. 

In saying that the hard conditions led to a few running repairs and a busy run back to the pits for a few competitors.  Dave Smithson chose to press on with a broken CV and it was very telling how having no front drive really limited how far he could go.

The second Speed section was run as side-by-side drags in a there-and-back format, popular with both drivers and spectators alike.  You run both sides of the course as well as spinning around at the far end , it’s a good blowout to finish the day with.

Round 2 is set for 16 January 2021 in Taihape, it’s a great event, come and join us.