Round 1, Turakina organised by Manawatu 4WD Club, September 24.
The arrival of Daylight Saving caused me a lot of angst; how do I make do with a day that only has 23 hours in it now?
A very different problem faced Phil and Ella from Manawatu 4WD club on the Saturday when they couldn’t move on the prospective site of the Club Truck Challenge (CTC) on Philip’s farm in Ratana.
Luckily for them the club has access to another property close by, and they did a last minute venue change, thanks to both Philip and Nathan, the two different land owners. Thanks to Brendan, Mark, Lee, Nathan, Bruce, Bryce, Phil and Ella for marking out the hazards on Saturday afternoon. They made good use of the natural basin and creek to peg out some tough hazards, including a few deceptively wide hill climbs that were only conquered by a few.
As it was the first round of the new series we had the first look at each other’s wagons after the off season. The sum total of modifications and maintenance for my Jeep was the addition of LED taillights. However Bruce and Ross turned up with new big ugly tyres and Marty moved up to Class 4 with the addition of “fiddle” (individual wheel) brakes. Ben had done some beautiful work to Kelsey’s Suzuki to add a roll bar and fitted NOS bottles. I suspect that Kelsey has been watching Fast and Furious movies over the break.
Three generations of Hintzs turned up in a very cool rig, a truck carrying their two Club Truck entries. Dave continues to navigate for his mum but now that he has entered himself, his daughter Grace chooses the line and the amount of jandal to be applied.
We had almost 30 competitors, our usual mix of boys and girls, fathers and sons, brothers, Trials competitors, husbands and wives and keen club members. Working in two groups we did five hazards in the morning and another six in the afternoon. The afternoon session started after a prize-giving to catch up for the last six years of competition, Mark and Brendan designed a small trophy for each class which you got to keep. A nice keepsake, even if it looks a bit like a Mitsubishi.
We plugged on with hazards and tried to stay out of the really soft spots to protect Nathan’s paddocks but Ross drove down a bog and gave the old Jeep a hiding that only stopped when a radiator hose blew off, leaving him in a cloud of steam. Marty Green cut his afternoon short when he broke a rear pinion but Nathan Thomsen soldiered on without front drive after something broke on a hill climb. He had been clearing climbs well past the finishing pegs all day until then.
We finished around 3pm to let people head home at a reasonable time. The results show four of the top five drivers driving Jeeps, which doesn’t show the number of people entered in Nissan Patrols. Six Wranglers versus six GQ Patrols versus four Pajeros and Toyotas and Land Rovers, debate still rages over what is the best vehicle.
Over Labour Weekend we head to the home of the original lady driver, the Taranaki for round 2 followed closely by a Wellington round in November. Entry info on www.czctc.org.nz
