The winds of change
The Polaris NZ 1000 gave a bit of a hint into the importance of the UTV classes to the sport.
There were more than 30 UTVs of all flavours at the ‘ 1000’ this year, and when the horrible weather closed in i t was always going to favour these small, agile, all- wheel- drive race cars.
In the end, the title was a fight between hard charging unlimited class racers and the top UTV teams. Ben Thomasen took pole, won both days and posted fastest lap on the Sunday. Not bad at all.
It would have been interesting to see what might have happened if Steven Stokes/ Troy Tufnell, Clim Lammers or Jacob Brownlee had been able to take the fight to Thomasen, Ruiterman and co. They all had turns running near the front over the t wo days.
Pretty exciting race
Sounds like it was a pretty exciting race and the weather certainly played its part.
Apparently there was a bit of grumbling about i t being a ‘ UTV course’ this year, but I wonder if the event could have gone ahead without the injection of cars and talent the U and S classes have provided.
Lots of new drivers, and some returning drivers we might not have attracted back into the sport have jumped at the chance to run UTVs, and I am sure part of the attraction is that it’ s much more’ off the shelf’ than some of the traditional classes where numbers are now looking fairly thin.
We have been to a fair few ‘ 1000’ events over the years, so I know it’ s all about being prepared for the worst possible weather. If you go there thinking it’ s going to be a day at the beach you’re lining up for hypothermia.
Even the very first race in 1992 got snowed on. Motorbikes ran that year before the cars got under way and there were guys arriving back at the start finish unable to unlock their hands from the grips or get their feet off the pegs in time to stop their bikes falling over!
The ‘ 1000’ wasn’t a ‘go’ for us this year; we have a strong points tally for the nationals and need to stay focussed on some work we are doing for the championship final in Nelson.
Leadfoot
But at a much more pleasant time of year, we will be doing something outside the ORANZ umbrella – putting the GT Radial Ford Falcon Turbo on show at Rod Millen’s Leadfoot sprints.
I’ve been a bit keen on a run up Rod’s driveway since he kicked off his event, and the invite popped into our inbox this month for the February event. Not certain but I think we’d be the first southern team to get the call- up.
So with some additional sponsor support bolted in, we’ll head north to help represent off- road racing and have a crack at the hill. The off- roaders always turn on a good show for the crowd at the Leadfoot.
It ’s good to get outside the sport and talk to general race fans every now and then. People ask lots of intelligent questions when we go to events like this, and I’m forever directing them to the closest off- road racing club.
The team has done a number of such events over the years, some local to Canterbury like the Ashley Forest Rallysprint and others with national significance like the Race to the Sky. Everywhere we go, people are asking about the sport and how to get involved.
The Leadfoot will be no exception, because i t draws a massive audience from all around New Zealand and has a growing global profile.