Lucas series wraps up at Putaruru

Defending champion Scott Biggs and Jamie Taylor had no real opportunity to contest the title this year thanks to Covid lockdown. They did however win the final round in their latest Nitro Customs build, taking out the Battery Town National 4X4 Trial.
The one-day final was held in Putaruru and hosted by the South Waikato 4WD Club. A series of gullies with sections set back-to-back made the most of the hillsides available.
With the title already wrapped up by Sam Thomsen and Mitchell Caldow the fight was on to decide NZ2 and NZ3 as well as the last few spots left in the Top 10 that guarantee entry to the exclusive Suzuki Extreme 4X4 Challenge.
Biggs/Taylor won the day ahead of Neal Turner/Wade Alexander, the margin on the day just eight points. It was the Turner/Alexander pairing’s best result to date in their Cowper-built truck and the points took them to 10th overall for the season.
Kevin Hermansen/Nick Hamilton finished a strong third, clinching NZ2 for the season in front of Stuart and Liam Earle.
A Class had its first entrant since 2019 with the Zook-Sport Suzuki SJ413 that dominated the scene in the mid 2000’s. With Nathan Fogden having wrapped up C Class and securing a top 10 finish with son Brinn at the last round, the two swapped seats in “Grandad Zook”. The duo were slowed by a broken driveshaft in the morning and a nasty roll in the afternoon but finished the day as first Zook Sport home.
With Nathan Fogden out of the C-Class Zook Sport entry, co-driver Mike Gibbons stepped into the driver’s seat with former NZ1 navigator Paul Barnes alongside. For Gibbons it was baptism by fire having only driven the Cowper truck at club level once before, and it was Barnes’ first stint in a C Class truck in 10 years. The pairing kept it tidy throughout the day to finish first in C Class and ninth overall.
Newly crowned champs Sam Thomsen and Mitchell Caldow swapped seats by taking Caldow’s buggy for a run, leading their class in the morning and sixth outright before falling down the order in the afternoon to finish second in class. The only diesel-powered truck in the competition, driven by Daniel Morris and James de Cleene had a strong day to finish third in class, enough to clinch second in C Class for the season.
Cody Fogden and Jacob Muir wrapped up a successful season in E Class by bringing the third Zook Sport entry home in first to make a clean sweep for the Zook Sport 4WD Rally Team. The duo kept their Suzuki SJ413 in one piece ahead of Archie Griffin/Bradley Laird who suffered a spectacular suspension failure on their final hazard of the day. The front suspension arms on their Mitsubishi Pajero Jr gave way as they headed towards the finish box on the timed section.
Brent and Michael Ward led the way once again in modified classes of J and K, coming home a strong 28th overall for the day in their LS powered homebuilt in front of Sean Cushing/Geoff Butcher in their Evo-powered homebuilt.