Round 3 2009
The rolling green hills of Landcruiser Mountain Park once again hosted the Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge with the third and final round of the 2009 season held under clear blue skies and a fiercely powerful Sun.
Craig and his dedicated team of helpers had come up with some more track changes and new ideas to keep the competition both challenging and fun.
Saturday Heats:
One of the first new obstacle ideas was a line drawn a metre or so up a tree which the Outlaw class had to touch with a tyre as part of their first track.
Stewart Parks in the orange buggy had no trouble with the tree climb but the extreme line over the rocks had him looking at the world from a different point of view … upside down !!
Daniell Kable in the white Hilux buggy also had a little lie down at the same obstacle.
Another new obstacle was an angled log on a side slope which saw many a right rear wheel high in the air until the left front lifted on the log and brought things back to level.
Those who maintained momentum made it look simple but those who stopped as the front right lifted on the log put on quite a show for the spectators as the right rear soared skywards.
Dwayne Chapple broke a CV and with only drive to 1 axle in the rear he decided momentum was the key and launched over the log pile a little too hard ended up face planting the silver MQ which then landed on its roof ripping the motor off its mounts and ending his weekend.
Luckily the compulsory rollcage did its job and he was not hurt, the same thing could not be the said about the MQ though.
Another of the new obstacles put in place was the Log Bridge with 1 log on 1 wheel track and 3 logs on the other wheel track and deep gaps on either side and in between, those who missed the logs had a hard time dragging themselves back to level ground.
One of the fun challenges was to stop half way around one of the tracks and quickly fire three shots from a paintball gun at three targets on a nearby tree before continuing the drive to the end of the track … lets just say that as shooters, they all make good drivers!
Up at the top end of the gorge Ken Bain slid off the side of the huge rock when he bottomed out going slowly over the top, every time he eased back the truck slid even more sideways … he had to accelerate back off the top to get it straightened before it slid over the side, not an easy thing to do in that situation.
His next attempt with a bit more momentum was successful and he dragged the chassis up and over the top.
Rhett Bryant had the Suzuki buggy doing some huge wheelstands as he tried to climb
The jump up with the log across the top and had to get the momentum just right to make it.
Sunday Finals:
The Log Bridge was used in the uphill direction to make it more difficult and a few vehicles slipped off line, some managed to continue but Rhett Bryant was one who had to reverse back off the logs and try again.
The Outlaw vehicles also had another tree climb to do but this time it was over a steep drop so most drove up and then turned left dropping the wheel off the tree in one movement to avoid rolling over.
The angled log run had the vehicles bouncing high in the air as the drivers threw their vehicles over each set of logs with Lynda O’Reilly picking a nice momentum to give the Pink Patrol a smooth looking run.
Lynda’s run up the Rock Garden was a lot more spectacular as she launched the Barbie Patrol over the largest rock at the top throwing a wheel high in the air.
Brendab Lohse, Keith Bignell and Stewart Parkes won their prospective Modified , Super Modified and Outlaw classes for the weekend with Ken Bain taking out the Modified class for the year, Keith Bignell grabbing the honours for Super Modified and Roger Edols picking up the Outlaw class.
King of the Mountain:
The top three for the year in each class then lined up for one last race to determine King of the Mountain.
Brad Bernard had a spectacular run in his Scout to take home the coveted trophy with his usual high flying style.
While the results were being tallied Roger Edols had another go at the Jump up doing a spectacular back flip to end the show with a bang and a promise of even more action when the new season starts in 2010 … can’t wait !!
.Shane Gerrish
RESULTS:
.MODIFIED:
DRIVER HEATS FINALS PENALTIES
1st BRENDAN LOHSE 1701 595 7
2nd KEN BAIN 1540 595 9 SERIES WINNER
3rd DWAYNE CHAPPLE 372
.SUPER MODIFIED:
DRIVER HEATS FINALS
1st
KEITH BIGNELL 1813 590 SERIES WINNER
2nd
LYNDA O'REILLY 1781 569
3rd BRAD BERNARD 1732 578
.OUTLAW:
DRIVER HEATS FINALS
1st STEWART PARKES 1729 640
2nd ROGER EDOLS 1829 639 SERIES WINNER
3rd RHETT BRYANT 1793 630
4th DANIEL KABLE 1591 570
.KING OF THE MOUNTAIN: 2009
BRAD BERNARD
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