The Waiouru round of the Club Truck Challenge (CTC) is run as a two-day event to take into account of the distance people  have to travel to get there. 

Stouty and Marty from the Desert Defenders Club supplied a beautiful campsite at the rally site and a good number of us enjoyed the scorching summer evening in our tents and campers. 

Mark, Brendan, Lee and Ross had pegged out the first set of seven hazards  on Saturday morning and we ran them in the afternoon. 

The first hazard turned out to be a bog even though most of the terrain is volcanic sand which drains well. 

An early run is the only chance of a good score in these conditions so Shona almost got through for a 20 and Ross was the only person to get right through for a zero. 

After that everyone needed to be recovered out of the mud, at the cost of two strops, one rope and two PTO winches, the sight of three Nissans roped together and blowing black smoke to extract Steve was like mechanical torture.

We had two ungraded hazards on Saturday and they require a lot more thinking and planning.  You had the option of leaving the course or running pegs over, at a penalty of 20 points per peg, but still needed to finish the course to get a score less than 100. 

Judith designed a hazard that got called "the teardrop", and people who got through generally needed to take two pegs.   Marty took one peg earlier than everyone else and manages to clear the hazard without further penalty. 

Marty had another different co-driver for this round and this brave man, who worked in drains for a living, was happy to strap himself in the Cruiser but was strangely afraid of spiders.

At the end of day one Marty was first, Ross was second, and  Brendan, Steve and Matthew were third equal. 

We pegged out another set of hazards for the next day before returning to camp. Desert Defenders showed us the other cap they wear, they provide catering for functions as another part of the fundraising they do for the Variety Club. 

The Saturday night dinner the club provided was excellent with the special ambiance of sitting on an old trailer in a Nissen hut.  Bruce declared that the broccoli and cashew nut salad was "superb".

On Sunday Dave Hintz was able to join us and co-drive with Judith.  He was having a good look at the event in preparation for running Round five on his farm in May. 

We ran another seven hazards on Sunday that included finishing with a bumpy speed section.  Brendan broke his Pajero on a hill climb near the end of the day, it sat at the top of the hill with a major amount of toe in on both front wheels.  Stouty didn't hesitate to pull a steering arm off his similar vehicle but Brendan needed a CV joint as well and called it a day.

Marty Green took another  overall win to put him in the prime position to win the series again this year.  Two rounds still remain to be run for this year's series and they are going to be at new sites so nobody will have a home advantage.  It will be a perfect time for a newcomer to join the series, see you there.

Ends

Top Five Results

Series information on WWW.CZCTC.org.nz or post a question on the NZFWDA internet forum.