4×4Store.com.au Tough Tracks Challenge Rd2 2006
Posted on July 22nd, 2006 Author: Link
“I don’t want anyone to finish” muttered course designer Shane Gerrish prior to the first stage, and he almost got his wish. With obstacles far bigger than in previous challenges, the 43 entries in 2 classes were faced with the difficult task of driving the tracks without winching or recovery. Three attempts at an obstacle and you’re out.
This set the stage for some spectacular action, and it was delivered, with the spectators at Landcruiser Mountain Park in QLD lapping it up.
Trophy class competitors tackled 3 difficult stages featuring boulders, steep banks and climbs, all without the aid of diff locks. The going proved tough with fewer than 4 vehicles completing each course.
Darryn Bradshaw and Brenden Visher of Team Wet Racing entered this round with a point to prove, after just being pipped at the post in the first. Consistent driving with a second and first place in the last 2 stages gave the Jeep boys the overall round win. Second place for the weekend was taken out by Mathew White and Ben Lawley of Matthew White Racing, and third by Robert Anderson and Graham Wright in Team Blue Bundy. Overall winners of the first round, Bundy Cruising, ran into some trouble on the first stage, but proved their worth with a win and a 3rd in the last two stages to claim 5th overall.
3 tracks, much of it based on rock crawling event stages from only a few short years ago, met the competitors in Challenge class. Not content however to simply punish the full bodied vehicles over this terrain, the organisers added some spice by reversing tracks and forcing the competitors to take on bigger obstacles.
With many struggling to complete the first stage, Brad Bernard of Team Tyre Works put on an awesome display destroying the ring gear in the International Scout halfway through the course, and still managing to complete all but the last obstacle with the foot flat on the loud pedal. Jeff Parrot in Little Red didn’t have the same luck with a slow flop on one of the off camber drops.
Half the field completed stage 2 which was the most technical of the weekend, with competitors having to pick their way through countless rocks. Getting off the ideal line was fatal on this track and doing so often meant getting hung up.
Stage 3 proved the hardest of the weekend with only 7 vehicles completing the course. It also provided the large crowd with some of the best action seen over the weekend.
A large rock clump brought many to grief, with foot down and wheels up driving the chosen tactic of many. White Wizard put on a show for the crowd in the white GU Ute here, coming ever so close to rolling but somehow managing to keep it from going over.
Those who made it past found themselves presented with an off camber climb, which leant the vehicles in towards a large tree that claimed more than its fair share of panels. Then a near vertical climb up a rock ledge was the last obstacle to be overcome before the finish gate. Terry Neller of Team 4×4Store.com.au in his SWB Patrol drew huge cheers from the crowd on his final attempt at ledge. At full noise the vehicle launched up the ledge and all but onto its side, only to drive through back up onto its wheels to complete the stage.
Linc Clifford and Ian Jackson of Team Big GQ took out overall Challenge Class honours for the weekend in their Nissan Patrol with some very smooth clean driving. Scott Henry and Buddy from Team Bootie Fab took out second place. Third place was a tie between the ever consistent Brett Thorpe and Karl Chaney in Advanti Racing, and Jeff White and Will Neilson in Team Trackabout.
The 3rd and final round of the Tough Tracks Challenge for 2006 is being held at Emu Creek Extreme Retreat in northern NSW on the 2nd and 3rd of September. Here competitors will be vying for overall Series honours in what promises to be an exciting finale to the season. If you’re considering coming along to the next round as either a spectator or a competitor, visit the Tough Track web site www.toughtracks.com.au for further information.
Entry Filed under: Competitions & Events
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