CLUB TRUCK CHALLENGE
The Central Zone Club Truck Challenge goes from strength to strength with 34 entries at the fourth round in the Wairarapa in April.
The Central Zone Club Truck Challenge goes from strength to strength with 34 entries at the fourth round in the Wairarapa in April.
This round saw our best turnout so far this year, with 34 people entered. A good number of them were from the host club and they were exactly the kind of people and vehicles the series is aimed at, touring and family-t ype machines. A lot were mounted in Pajero, Prado and Patrol SWBs and I had the impression that all the drivers were having a go in another club event rather than wanting to especially compete in a fun trial. Our new friends from Desert Defenders Off Road Club were back for their second event, Kandy and Craig even dragging Robert down south in his new Bighorn. With the larger number of competitors the day was split into three groups to start at different hazards and run simultaneously; this worked so well that most people had finished the original 14 hazards by lunchtime. A couple of the groups took a lunch break while members of their groups had to fix their wagons, Brendan being one of them. We sportingly let him put his Pajero back together after it spat out a driveshaft.
Classic spaghetti twist
There were lots of mechanical problems in our group: Warwick went out early on with a classic spaghetti t wist in the front driveshaft of his V8 FJ 40 and Reece blew a CV in his Surf on a bumpy hill. That said, we had a new club member in our group who was using his standard 80
series Cruiser. While
considered a large machine, Shaun was able to complete a good number of the hazards while learning a lot about the capabilities of his truck. I would think that he gained more from competing in the day than those of us that have done a lot of these events. Emphasising what I said initially about club members giving everything a go I saw a lot of people enjoying a day out four wheel driving irrespective of what the event was. This property we were using had wide open spaces which allowed room for four different speed sections including one which was run as a side-by-side drag race. Bruce and I lined up our Wranglers for a dog- leg drag down to a donut, around a peg and back. Bruce wisely kept his distance from my wildly out of control drifting thanks to the low t yre pressures; thankfully bead locks kept the rubber on the rims.
Water hazard
The handy river was used for a number of hazards, most of them having difficult climbs back out of the water. Other areas were perfectly sized to give tricky cross axle sections and cleverly pegged to make sure that you had cleared the obstacle. After finishing the prepared hazards each group pegged out another hazard to give us another set of hazards to finish the day. Camping was arranged for the previous night at club member Hamish Wilson’s nearby property, and he kindly entertained everybody in his lounge. Hamish also entered the event in a classic Range Rover but had the misfortune to blow its rear diff. That was no problem for Hamish, however, who went home, fit ted a replacement and returned to carry on for the rest of the day. Hamish has been around forever and his name appears in early NZFWDA history and minutes. Thanks to Wairarapa 4x4 Club for a great event and hope to see all of our new competitors at our final round for 2015 to be held in Wanganui.