The competitors wanted a winch challenge with a bit of seat time. Well they certainly

got that at the second round of this year’s Mainland Superwinch Challenge on private farmland near Maruia in June.

Where's Maruia I hear many of you ask? Deep in the heart of the northern South Island High Country  is the best answer. Check it out on Google Maps because it is actually closer to the West Coast than Nelson or Blenheim from where the organising clubs are based.

The event was hosted by the Marlborough 4WD Club with help from the Nelson 4WD Club. And put simply the two clubs put on one hell of an event. The ring leader was Mike Holmes. He got together with a couple of landowners and they came up with a plan.

The land owners got right behind it and along with Nelson 4WD Club member Pat Pretty they spent weeks sorting tracks. .

When and who

The event was held over the June 16-17 weekend with 28 teams entering, six in Clubman Class and a record 22  in Outlaw. They came from all over, too, including Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Balclutha and Queenstown and from as far afield as Auckland and Wellington.

Stages were very challenging and the drivers had to be alert as a lot came down to their

driving skill.

There was a lot of winching for most and it wasn't all boggy or steep climbs. They were winching over or around rocks that mostly didn't move. Stage 9 was the boggy

one and that caught a few teams out. In the Outlaw line 20 teams started, six teams

DNFed it.

Once again a big thanks to our sponsor Superwinch for all the great prizes. This round our

Superwinch Tiger Shark 9,5000lb winch was won by marshal Gordon Jackett.

2017 MAINLAND SUPERWINCH CHALLENGE ROUND 2 MARUIA FRI-SAT JUNE 16-17

RESULTS:

OUTLAW CLASS

1. Brent/Aaron 1267 points Ackl

2. Scotty/James 1200 Nel

3. Richard/Matt 1144 Q/town

4. Rick/Brian 1119 ChCh

5. Malcolm /Robert 1114 Timaru

6. Stan /Chris 1033 Wgtn

7. Mike Mc/Tom 1021 Dun

8. Nathan/ 1015 ChCh

9. Mike H/Sheryl 879 Blen

10. Andrew/Joel 876 ChCh

CLUBMAN CLASS

1. Brock/Nick 1362 points ChCh

2. Tom/Zinny 1222 Nel

3. Tim/Callum 1209 ChCh

4. Miles/Ethan 1177 Nel

5. Richard/William 1165 Blen

6. Trev/Grant 1132 points Blen

To read every story in the August  2017 issue of NZ4WD go to Ziniocom (July 21) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.