The second half of the season kicked off near Feilding in mid-March with the Manawatu 4WD Club hosting the hardest and most challenging round this season yet!
The course was spread out down within a valley, providing easy viewing of most of the courses from above.
Scott Biggs and Sam Thomsen took out top honours on the day with their D-Class Nitro Custom buggy, after surviving a brutal roll during the morning.
Jarred Biggs and Fleche Crawford followed up their strong form this season finishing second in their Nitro buggy and leading the title chase, ahead of locals Stuart Earle and Liam Earle in third with their Cowper Truck.
C-CLASS CLOSE
In C-Class Nathan Fogden and Mike Gibbons came 1st and 11th overall, taking a two-point lead in the hunt for C-Class honours over Shayne Towers and Tony Hadland, who finished second.
Michael Thomsen and late call up Caleb Adlam endured cooling issues for the afternoon but were able to finish 3rd in class. Caleb Adlam now has the unique result of never finishing off the podium in A, E and C Class.
E-Class once again saw Daniel Howat and Jarrod Moss endure a battle amongst themselves and the course. The previous round saw them average 50 out of a possible 100 penalty points per course, compared to 70 this round.
Their finish now guarantees them E-Class and Central Zone honours for the season with no other competition.
Stephen Andrell and Chalmaine Hart enjoyed an entertaining day in their G-Class Isuzu Bighorn. After repairing a broken steering rod in the morning leaving their truck pigeon footed, they found themselves in a peculiar angle when their truck dug its nose into the ground, leaving them stuck in the air for several minutes.
Long time between drinks
Having gone on to finish the day and with current rules, Andrell and Hart have successfully classified as a finisher of G-Class for the season, the first since 2007 when Ray Hill and Garry Renall won G Class in their rear-locker spec’d Mitsubishi Pajero.
In J-Class, Hayden McGill and Barry Williams suffered from a major roll in the morning putting an end to their day. This gifted the win to Sean Cushing and Blair Leitch, who suffered a similar fate at the previous round in the ‘Naki.
