The Wairarapa 4WD Club hosted the Final round of the 2017/18 season at the RivenRock Mountain Bike Park at Mt Holdsworth on Saturday April 07.
Story and photos by Gail Smith
As this was the final round we opted for an early start and things to run on time so we could enjoy a BBQ at the completion of the event and get a chance to get to know everybody better.
So the day started at 7.30am - a bit of a stretch for some – with drivers’ briefing at 8.30am the competitors were led off up through the Mountain Bike Park by Daryl to where we had an area set aside.
A field of 20 meant two groups and they were randomly pulled from a hat (actually a plastic container) and we attempted to keep the same person scoring on the same hazards to try to get a fairer marking, was a bit tricky as we needed people(markers) to spot and they changed.
The first set was in a basin and had some tight corners that meant high markings. Mark Smith or “Handlebars” as Andrew had named him, managed to use a bit of force to make the tight turn and ram the rotten log pile to edge into the 60. Then along comes the “Silver Fox” Dave McGinnity who was determined not to let Mark beat him.
Consequently he attacked the obstacles with relish, ensuring the Marshal/Marker left the scene in a hurry and getting the same points anyway. Brendan Watchorn & Bruce Tustin also managed the 60 but then along came Dave Hintz and Ross Gregory both with zeros.
Rotten luck!
The rest of the obstacles in the bowl were tight and had some rotten trees - well almost rotten - that caught some out and if you were watching you chose to stand well out of the way as it was a sidling round a tree on a hill with a tight cross over and the pedal power for some was peaked on full – but still nobody cleared it!
Up on the top section were three sections that looked easy as they were just over some bumps but this caught many out getting cast at the start or not having a tight enough turning circle. Hard enough that only four scrapped through with zeros.
The last one in the section was a very short climb off the track up the bank with lots of pegs to reward you – the best score was 20 and the best action came from Brendan as he committed everything to it and had some airtime.
Time-wise
Then came the timed section – this was going to be different as it was a track that went down through the trees with some sharp turns that needed to be backed up on and would take about 2 ½ minutes. Everybody had a chance to drive round slowly to see the lines needed then it was all on.
Mark Smith had the best time of 1.40 followed closely by Kevin Galbraith with 1.46 and Joseph Stevens 1.49. As we all listened to the run you could hear some high revs, what sounded like some close calls with trees and some painstaking gear changes or misses. Hmm. Of course no one admitted to anything of course!
We took half an hour out for lunch and then it was back into the swamp where many were distrusting when told that the bog had a stony bottom….attacking the section with a feverishness which caught many unawares when they found that the truth had been told and the water was creating full bow waves which slowed them down on the exit, most getting zero and only two struck out, not clearing.
Axle-twister
An axle-twister seemed easy but you had to take into account the leaning and your mirror so some were close to being pinged but Ross beat them all by not paying attention and driving out before going through the blues!
The next two bogs caught many unaware and this was Mark Smith’s downfall. First up on the long bog he only get through about three metres however that gave him an 80. Most in the first group didn’t quite make it to that and had to be towed back- many thanks to those that did the towing with in the groups, as it was hard work here.
The second group with Dave McGinnity leading ploughed through it, though, then Dave Hintz and Marty Green scored zeros as well with a supreme driving effort.
As the afternoon was coming to a close with just an axle twisted and a timed section to go the heavens opened up and things changed slightly. So now you had to pay more attention as the grass was long and slippery now, and the timer had to be aware of everybody and where they were standing for safety reasons.
Mark Smith was on form for these sections and tried to claw back some points with the fastest time of 26.5, with Dave Hintz at 27.5.
Finishing at 3.45 we had some issues getting vehicles out of the car park, but a team effort saw it completed and then it was back to the Smith’s in Carterton for a BBQ and some awesome time chatting with friends who were also opponents- what a lot of fun.
Judith Hintz was on good form although for her standard truck the obstacles were a little on the hard side. Some new members of the Wairarapa 4WD Club also took the opportunity to have a go and thoroughly enjoyed the experience so will hopefully join the Series next year.
Shona our other female driver also found some of the stages a little daunting at times BUT she was out there enjoying every bit of the experience so well done.
This is a great event and we look forward to more in the next season and the competition. It'd be great if we could set up a Northern Zone event and it would then be getting close to what 4WD competitions used to be before the big money came into the Trials.
Vehicles competing were all registered and warranted Toyota Hilux, Jeep Wranglers, Toyota Land cruisers, Pajeros, Nissans, Land Rover and Suzuki.
Selected Results
Overall
Position Name Class Score Club
1st Marty Green 4 306 Capital Cruisers
2nd Dave McGinnity 2 353.9 Windy city
3rd Kevin Galbraith 3 394 Wairarapa
4th Mark Smith 2 406.9 Wairarapa
5th Dave Hintz 3 424.6 Wanganui
6th Neil Blackie 3 476.2 CCVC
To read every story in the June 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (May 18) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
