MAINLAND SUPERWINCH CHALLENGE
Round 5, the final round of the 2017 Mainland Superwinch Challenge and we are in Dunedin. For those who have competed in all five rounds this has been a huge commitment. Not only is this the final round it is also the AGM which is always something to look forward to. Teams from Blenheim and Nelson all headed away Thursday, spending the night in Amberley. With the Kaikoura Road still closed the Lewis Pass takes a while to get through. All other teams ( Christchurch, Timaru, Balclutha, Queenstown and Dunedin) left home Friday. Scrutineering was between 2.00 and 5.00pm on site at the Dunedin Club’s property tucked into the folds of the hills north of the southern city. Entered were 24 teams, five in Clubman and 19 in Outlaw. A couple of invitational teams were also competing – a good way to see if they would be interested in entering a series/ rounds in the future. With the vehicle checks all done the AGM started at 6.00pm.
Night stages
With the AGM done and dusted for another year ( see sidebar story) the event itself kicked off some night stages which started at 8.00pm. The weather at the time was great, in fact the ground was a bit dry and probably could have done with a bit of water. Don’t ever wish for rain I say, you may just get it though. A couple of teams struggled a bit with the night stages and had to get repairs done. The last truck to come out of a stage was midnight. One stage had been canned for the Clubman class due to time frames. I am sure some teams were looking forward to their beds that night. Travelling and competing in one day certainly is tiring.
Saturday
Come Saturday and the marshals were on site fairly early. Drivers’ briefing was held at 8.30 am with start time 9.00am. Ten stages were set out with no jumping stages the order of the day unless there was big hold ups… I have been travelling to Dunedin events for about five years now so I think I know the area pretty well. A lot of the stages are the original tracks but it ’s great how they can add a new bit in or change direction of the old track. In other words, never think you know what to expect. They are lucky with their land as they have a bit of flat ground, bogs, hills and trees. Plus an awesome clubrooms to take shelter in should you ever need to, of course! It was good to see a lot of winching in this round. The weather has been fairly mild this winter so it has been hard for the event organisers to get a lot of winching in some events. As you know we are here for a winch challenge, not off- road racing if you get my drift.
Clubman Class
Brock and Nic in the Jeep Wrangler have had a great run so far this season winning all four previous rounds. So their goal at Dunedin was fairly obvious – make it five out of five! Next were Callum and Ben in the Suzuki and newbies from Nelson, Tom and Zinny. Their scores for the season were very close. At Dunedin Callum had a wee layover, but it wouldn’t have been a winch challenge if he hadn’t, would it Callum? Richard and son Will from Blenheim, and Tim and Callum, both teams in Land Rovers, were also very close in points.
Outlaw Class
Three of the 19 teams in Outlaw this year are pretty new to winch challenges. What
a class to start in! Some of the stages were pretty hard going, with a lot of winching for quite a few trucks, though to be fair, winching in amongst the trees is a lot easier than the ground anchoring in the grass paddocks or gorse. Whichever way you look at it the Outlaw teams certainly had mud flying out of the bogs. Even if you were on the sidelines you still got dirty. All good fun as they say and if one team stood out at Dunedin it was Adam and Josh in the red Hilux. They managed to finish all 14 stages, with only one DNF and this is their first season. The only other team to finish all 14 stages were locals Richard Robb and co- driver. In terms of spectacle t wo teams gained a bit of air in stage 14, with both Brent and Albie’s trucks showing off their bellies. Bothe came down hard, too, but still carried on. Others just drove over, no excitement in that, while Steve Bruerton had a wee layover and had to get recovered. Nathan and Michael in the Can Am UTV had a bit of fun in Stage 13. They kept getting t wo wheels off the ground, not the front or the back but the side. Still they finished.
Sting in the tail
The weather played a big part in the weekend’s end results. By 2.00pm we were getting lightning, thunder and then rain/ hail. And did it come down! To the point where the officials decided to make the call to can the event due to safety. Some competitors were running stages but got pulled from them, receiving a DNF for those stages, a real shame but you can’t control the weather and it was decided the scoring would run as it was at the time. This is where the awesome clubrooms come in as everyone ran for shelter. With the event over it gave most teams time to head back to their accommodation to shower, change and relax for a bit before dinner and prize giving. Prize giving was a bit late as it wasn’t just for the round, it was also the time to read out the 2017 Series results. To view more photos go to our Facebook page: mainland 4WD Winching. I hope you have enjoyed reading my stories on each round this year. Roll on 2018!