Spectacular offroad race action in Chch: Mainland Challenge

17 June 2012

Spectacular offroad race action in Christchurch
Mainland Challenge Heats up the Championship

• Championship wide open as second round heads for Christchurch
• Two full days of spectacular competition for top race teams
• Seven Kiwitrucks race for championship points in youth category

The southern advantage is up for grabs when the 2012 offroad racing national championship, rolls into Christchurch this weekend.

Nelson’s Ashley Kelly may have won the opening South Island round of the national championship but he stands to forfeit his lead this weekend as the top teams contest round two, the Mainland Challenge, near Christchurch.

Driving his Nissan turbo-powered unlimited class single-seater, Kelly won his home round on the eve of a move to Australia to work – and though his car remains in New Zealand, he had not entered the Mainland Challenge when the ‘normal’ entry deadline closed.

That opens the way for Christchurch racer Wayne Moriarty to sweep into the point lead in the 2012 Mickey Thompson New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship.

Moriarty, a previous Mainland Challenge winner and regular championship front-runner, finished second behind Kelly at Nelson in his Euroblast Cougar Toyota.
The margin between the two was just one second.

In wheel-to-wheel stadium-style racing at West Melton on Saturday, Moriarty must defeat all comers in Leader Products class three for Super 1600 race cars. With eight entries to date, plus a late entry from young Hayden Andreassend, the grid will be the most competitive of the weekend.

Andreassend is a promising racer who has contested previous championships in a class five 1.3-litre single-seater. He has bought the Australian-built Southern Cross Toyota campaigned in the North Island by Ernie Hogg of Wilco Racing.

Vicent Harvey is a leading competitor in Whakatane Commercial Spares class one – the sport’s unlimited class. He will drive the single-seater race car formerly raced in the North Island by Shayne Huxtable. The car is powered by a turbocharged Nissan V6. If Ashley Kelly doesn’t enter, Harvey will race against seasoned campaigner Geoff Densem and Otago’s Joshua Lee.

Auckland driver Darryn Bell will make his second southern foray for the year, bringing his TVR-powered Range Rover south to run against Neville Taylor in a Chevrolet-powered Mitsubishi Pajero and the current class leader, Southland driver Roger McKay in a V8 Nissan Safari.

Nelson’s Darrin Thomason crashed out of the first round on the opening lap in his six-cylinder Nissan Navara. He is looking to get points on the board this weekend and will go up against Dave Ballentyne.

The West Melton race track is a firm favourite wiith spectators, offering exciting race action on a purpose-built course. On the second day of competition racers head out to Ohoka for a 170 km endurance race, with the weekend’s results requiring top race finishes in both short course and enduro racing.

Members of the public get their first chance to view the cars at scrutineering from 5pm – 7.30pm on Friday at Advantage Tyres, 179 Main South Road, Sockburn. The first day of spectacular race action happens at the club’s track, Weedons Ross Road, West Melton from 11 am on Saturday. The endurance race is on the following day, Sunday June 24, No.10 Road, Ohoka, race action starts with qualifying sprints at 8.30am to 10.00am.

The enduro will start at noon.

2012 Mainland Challenge
Entry list as at Tuesday June 12
Whakatane Commercial Spares class one
184 Joshua Lee
177 Geoff Densem
125 Vince Harvey
Class one cars are the sport’s fastest and most powerful; featuring turbocharged, supercharged, four cylinder or V6 and V8 engines, they are capable of speeds up to 220 km/h over rough terrain. Class one cars are the focus of much engineering innovation with new designs emerging in Auckland and Christchurch and many new V8-engined cars threatening a long domination of four cylinder designs.

Class two (production trucks)
231 Ian Simcox
Class two race trucks are a great way to get into offroad racing. Performance modifications are limited and there is strong emphasis on safety. These are the four wheel drives seen every day on New Zealand roads with safety modifications including roll cages, race seats and safety harnesses.

Leader Products class three super 1600
339 Bruce Rolls
341 Carl Gardiner
372 John Van Dyk
312 Wayne Moriarty
346 JP Griffiths
399 Lance Cargill
301 Nigel Sutherland
Class three cars are almost as tough and fast as class one, but are limited in engine capacity. The most popular engine in the class is Toyota’s1.6-litre 4AGE twincam, though racers are also using Honda and Suzuki power units. Capable of outright wins

Class four - -sport trucks
444 Darrin Thomason
428 Matt Adams
427 Dave Ballentyne
Class four is the ‘sports-modified’ category among the truck classes. These race trucks are allowed greater freedoms in engine and transmission development, and have more suspension travel than class two. These trucks have engines of up to 4.3 litres and can be four or two wheel drive.

Class five super 1300
577 Clint Densem
Class five cars have engines up to 1.3 litres. Agile and fast, especially in low-grip wet races.

Class six challenge trucks
666 Roger McKay
622 Darryn Bell
664 Neville Taylor
This class was created to cater for drivers active in winch challenge events who sought the challenge of faster competition. The trucks can feature V8 engines but must be street legal with a current engineering certificate. Engine capacity is unlimited and a wider range of suspension modifications are allowed, making these trucks almost as fast as the ‘unlimited’ class eight trucks.

Class eight thundertrucks
847 Bryan Chang
800 Donald Preston
Guaranteed crowd pleasers, the class 8 trucks are the truck-class equivalent of the class one cars. Turbocharging and supercharging are both allowed, brakes and suspension are unrestricted, and the class allows wide range of modifications and innovations in their chassis design and construction. Most class 8 trucks are V8-powered.

Class nine prototypes and saloons
927 Neil Falkingham
Formerly a class catering to Baja-style race cars with VW Beetle bodywork, Class nine has been revised to enable racers to contest the championship and stand-alone events in vehicles that do not currently meet standards for other classes.

Challenger VW
C45 Andrew Johnston
C46 Adam Reid
C15 Andrew Knight
C52 Barry Phillips
C82 Rob Palmer
C41 Simon Craig
Offroad racing’s equivalent of a one-make class, all Challengers must use a flat four VW engine of no greater capacity than 1.6 litres. Engine internal modifications are allowed, but all cars must run the same carburettor, meaning there are limits to how much performance benefit can be gained from the internal modifications. This delivers fast, close, exciting racing.

Class 10 ‘Odyssey’
1019 Damien Halliday
1081 Mark Morris
1008 Murdoch Halliday
1070 Hamish Lawlor
1018 Mike Wilson
Motorcycle engined offroad vehicles – engines can be air or water cooled and run up to 1.5-litres, though supercharging and turbocharging are banned.

Kiwitruck
J class
J39 Brooke Storer
J31 Jorja Storer
J03 Dyson Delahunty
Kiwitrucks are the sport’s new youth category. Racers aged between 10 and 15 are able to race against others of similar ages at selected rounds of the Mickey Thompson New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship. In addition to the two new Christchurch-based trucks, up to five North Island truck racers including Tauranga’s Dyson Delahunty will race at the Mainland Challenge in their own endurance-style event within the main race programme.

ENDS

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