Words and Images by Ashley Lucas
Sam and Caitlyn Thomsen survived an early rollover to win the 2024 Suzuki Extreme 4X4 Challenge, the toughest, most entertaining and largest 4WD event in NZ.
Ashley Tonkin and Mitch Caldow also rolled early, along with wildcard entry Neal Turner. In total, six of the 12 competitors rolled on the first course.
The top 10 competitors of the 2023-2024 national trials series contested the event.
Event organiser Dan Cowper had increased the number of course challenges from 12 to 15 including a new one: who could drive the furthest on two wheels.
Each course features 10 ‘gates’ worth 100 points each (maximum 1000 per course). Competitors must not touch the course boundary tape and can stop and reverse, but had to complete the course within a 60 second time limit.
The morning was cool but warmed up into a fine day.
A lot of the time there is some big air under these specially built, LS V8 powered vehicles as they jump up vertical banks or speed along the sides of steep banks defying gravity.
When it came to the “Send it Like a Boss” course there were some dramatic moments with the first being Scott Dickson in “Rock’n Horse” who got huge air time, like never seen before only to land hard nose first on his front left wheel, snapping the axle housing. It was quickly repaired and he was back for the rest of the day. Neal Turner managed to get over but fell off one side, backwards on the return attempt. Always one to entertain the crowd, the father, son team of Brent Ward and Michael Ward in “Fooken Buggy” got massive air on the first bank climb and rolled spectacularly. Wild card Shaun Nicholson and Michael Ferguson in “Barry” had a good run and came away with 800 points proving they were worthy of the wild card entry.
Unfortunately for Ash Tonkin, he was out early on when “Redback” failed to start again after course four making it the second year in a row he has retired early.
At this point Scott Biggs and Tom Baeriswyl with a slender lead over Sam and Caitlyn Thomson in “Nitro 1” with Mitch Caldow and Jamie Elms in “Mad Wolf” third.
On the new course named “Flight Path” teams were required to drive on two wheels with as many attempts as possible in the 60 second time period. Some would struggle, others would go too far and fall over, but Mitch Caldow had one attempt and nailed 1000 points. He was one of two competitors who chose to drive on the left wheels, the others opted for driver’s side down on the right wheels. Scott Biggs struggled, only collecting 300 points relegating him to third while Sam Thomsen managed 800 points to take the lead before rolling.
Again the “race to the sky” course provided plenty of air time as the competitors jumped uphill over a track with fastest time collecting the points. By now Sam Thomsen had a slim lead on 9150 with Scott Biggs and Mitch Caldow tied on 9050 each so it was coming down to the last couple of courses where it could easily be won and lost.
Fortunately for Sam and Caitlyn Thomsen they managed to hold their slender lead on the final course and take a well-deserved win over Scott Biggs and Tom Baeriswyl with Mitch Caldow and Jamie Elms third.
Once again, the Suzuki Extreme 4x4 Challenge 2024 certainly lived up to its reputation as the toughest and most entertaining 4x4 event in New Zealand with the battle going right down to the last course.
The full event will be screened on TV3 Motorsport beginning in July with five one-hour shows over the following weeks.
Results
1. Sam Thomsen/Caitlyn Thomsen 11850 pts
2. Scott Biggs/Tom Baeriswyl 11650
3. Mitch Caldow/Jamie Elms 11250
4. Russell Hall/Glenn Hall 10600
5. Neal Turner/Wade Alexander 10150
6. Chris Gifford/Shaun Joblin 9900
7. Shaun Nicholson/Michael Ferguson 9300
8. Scott Dickson/Michael Thomsen 8900
9. Craig Potter/Mike Hill 8700
10. Brent Ward/Michael Ward 8150
11 Phil Cameron/Todd Charman 6900
12 Ash Tonkin/Dyon Tonkin 2900 pts
Hard Luck award: Ash Tonkin
Best presented: Chris Gifford
Roll of the day: Russell Hall
Crowd pleaser: Brent Ward
