Weather dependent
IT WAS A CASE OF ‘WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MONTH MAKES’ AT THE RESCHEDULED CUST ROUND OF THE 2017 MAINLAND SUPERWINCH CHALLENGE. VICKY NEWPORT HAS THE STORY.
After the original Cust round of this year’s Mainland Superwinch Challenge series was postponed due to bad weather and road closures we couldn’t have asked for better weather for the rescheduled event in August.
The event attracted 16 teams in the Outlaw class and five in Clubman. Scrutineering was between two and five pm on the Friday afternoon in Kaiapoi from where the teams headed to Cust for the three night stages which kicked off around 6.30pm.
Our teams arrived back at camp at about 9.30pm hungry so I had to open up ‘Vicky’s Diner’ for a quick fry-up a few beverages and a catch up. Luke and Steve had flown down from Auckland again to check out another round and were staying in the room next door…
Up bright and early we headed to Cust around 7.30am as Scotty and Craig were running a bit of an induction course on ‘Rules and Regs’ for the Marshalls and a few of the new co-driver.
This is a great idea as it gets everyone on the same page, and the feeling I got is that with a demonstration on how to handle a winch rope or a ground anchor, the dos and don’ts and a few safety rules the day for the marshals seemed to run smoothly. Marshalls are all volunteers so they don’t need any grief from the teams.
A good mix
Ten day stages were set out. A good mix deserving a huge thanks to Ashley and a handful of 4x4 Events members who spent a lot of hours, days and weekends sorting them out.
It was around 10.00am by the time teams and their trucks were sent to their first stage. Looking down over the site I could see Daimeon’s HiLux (aka the “Naked Lux”) still sitting on the edge of a night stage.
Unfortunately he was out for the day stages after completing two of the night ones but dnf-ing the third, the distinctive ‘Lux beyond repair for this round anyway.
The day turned out to be a short one for a few teams. Rick and Brian (Outlaw Class) finished all three night stages but had a dnf on their first day stage (Stage 10). They were recovered but didn’t come back for more.
Nor did Tim Lucas (Clubman) who also dnf-ed his first day stage (Stage 3) and
was out for the day. Stu McLellan (Outlaw) borrowed Joel Garrett (usually co-driver for his dad, Andrew) for this round. Their weekend started off well, too, the pair finishing all three night stages but the day stages did not go their way, dnf-ing all three.
Back for more
Brothers Mike and Steve Watts enjoyed a better run in the Outlaw class on their return to Mainland Superwinch competition. They started 10 stages, and dnf-ed only two of them.
Trucking along very nicely too were Brent and Aaron (Outlaw) who are new to the series this season but took first in nine of the 13 stages. Unfortunately dnf-ing two of the other stages put them back in the points.
Richard and Matt (Outlaw)started all 13 stages and had only one dnf. They had an impressive roll over in Stage 9 but landed on their wheels and carried on to finish the stage.
Scotty with co-driver James (Outlaw) just cruised through the stages however on their third to last one they had the pressure put on them to hurry and finish as another Jeep needed a power steering part out of Scotty’s Jeep.
They drove into their second to last stage (Stage 2) only to blow the front diff near the end. Despite the handicap the pair carried on and finished before heading for the pits where fixed the diff enough to finish their last stage for the day.
Busy man
Then there was Andy Reeves (Outlaw), one of the organisers who was competing and recovering. He did a great job, finishing all 13 stages with just the one dnf.
Others to finish the day were Mike/Don, Leigh/Leigh, Nathan/Michael, Steve/Matt and Adam/Josh.
Several former Open class competitors like Rowan and Chad in the their newly cut down Jeep Cherokee are now running in the Outlaw class. And they had a much better run this round. After waiting for another competitor to finish so that they could borrow a power steering part these guys started all 13 stages with just the one dnf.
Richard Robb with Chris as his co-driver also started all 13 stages and had just the one dnf, while Malcolm and Robert managed to complete all 13 stages.
To the Clubman class now and Tim Engel started all 13 stages and had just one dnf. The last three teams here were Brock and Nic. Loving their new Jeep Wrangler they completed all 13 stages, winning their class in six of them.
Callum and Ben completed all 13 stages and also won six of them. They even managed to have a wee lay down, but recovered and finished the stage.
New to winch challenges, meanwhile, is Tom and co-driver Lars. They’re loving it as well, completing all 13 stages and coming out with one win.
The day finished up around 4.30pm with Keri and Megan sorting the scoring before prize giving and a meal at a local restaurant in Belfast.
Once again Superwinch put up some awesome prizes with the Superwinch draw (for a brand new winch) won this time by Andy Reeves. Guess we will see him converting to a Superwinch now!