The pairing of Neville Mather and Richard Verner are shaping up as a title prospect after winning the fourth round of the Lucas Oil NZ 4×4 Trials at Te Puke.
They were followed by Sam Thomsen and Mitchell Caldow, putting them in serious contention for top honours this season.
Storm dodgers: like the opening round of the New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship, the Bay of Plenty round of the trials series managed to dodge Cyclone Gabrielle by a matter of hours.
The BOP 4WD Club hosted the fourth round of the Lucas Oil NZ 4×4 Trials Series with money raised for the Waipuna Hospice, attracting 48 entries.
The event needed some track changes as the weather closed in. With the course surfaces becoming rougher, the “luck of the draw” starting order played a role in deciding the outcome of each section.
Brinn Fogden/Sean Bydeley struggled in the wet conditions and almost rolled in the timed section, then broke their rear diff.
Nathan Fogden and Mike Gibbons won C Class and finished sixth overall.
Former C Class champ John Hawken and Blair Harrison finished second in C Class and 21st overall, ahead of Shayne Towers and Tony Hadland who led at midday but smashed their rear diff early in the afternoon.
In what was another close battle between Mather/Verner and Thomsen/Caldow, the two were only separated by 41 points at the end of the day.
Behind them were Dan Cowper and Luke Donald, third outright.
Aaron Guest/Garry Preston led until midday in the latest Nitro Custom but fell back to fourth.
They are fourth outright leading into the last two rounds.
Ash Tonkin/Aaron Beattie were fifth, enjoying a good string of results that put them in the top 10 outright.
Chris Tomalin/Fleche Crawford gave “The Ninja” its first Top 10 finish since its 2022 debut.
Multiple K Class champs Brent and Michael Ward rounded out the top 10.
Cody Fogden/Karl Burgener in E Class also broke a rear diff on the day but won their class.
Andrew and Janet Graham were the sole entry in K Class, finishing just behind the C and D class vehicles and ahead of Brinn and Cody Fogden.
