big red racing

Tough Tracks 4x4 Challenge round 1 2011

2011-02-13T14:23:00.002+10:00

TOUGH TRACKS 4X4 CHALLENGE
Round one 2011

The start of the 2011 Tough Tracks 4x4 Challenge series brings in new changes to the event with a new Outlaw Class brought in to cater to the types of vehicles that would like to compete in NSW’s Tuff Truck Challenge along with some minor changes to the rules.

The Classes are now:
Trophy Class: up to 4” lift, 33’s and no lockers. Registered
Mod Class: up to 6” lift, 35’s and lockers. Registered
Challenge Class: any lift, 38.5”s and lockers. Unregistered based on a normal 4WD
Outlaw Class: almost anything goes. Unregistered buggy style
[See the www.toughtracks4wdclub.org for rules and regs]

Along with the changes to rules and regs there has been some new blood in the marshalls and track designers so all up the weekend had an injection of fresh ideas to keep it interesting for spectators and competitors alike.

One of the new ideas was to open up the course between obstacles allowing the competitors more freedom in the angles to approach the gated sections which seemed to go down well with the competitors and had them thinking outside the square as they attacked each track.

Tuff Truck competitors Brett and Mitch Thorpe were handling the new Outlaw Class and had designed some awesome challenges to suit the capabilities of the Outlaw class vehicles.

Over on Track One Outlaw Class the track looped through the creek bed which saw some mechanical damage put an end to the white DGR buggy’s weekend, the track then followed the creek up to a sheer waterfall with some deep water in the pool below, with only three tries allowed you had to make each one count.

There was some awesome wheel standing action as the competitors attacked the falls spraying water everywhere from the spinning tyres.

The Red Sierra had wheels high in the air but despite an enormous try failed to make the climb.

It seemed impossible but a few of them managed to scale the falls and tackle to top section of track with Craig driving the falls easily but flopping his maroon Suzuki on its side not long after and unable to drive it upright again despite a huge try.

Chris had a fairly long wheelbase in the silver Turbo Diesel Buggy and made it look easy but the shorter wheelbase and smaller tyres of the Colins bronze Jimny threatened to tip it over backwards into the water at the base of the falls.

Track One Challenge Class had the competitors tackle a rocky creek bed before doing a U turn and crossing back across the creek and finishing between two closely spaced trees with the bank on an angle.

Aaron’s orange Amada Extreme Hilux was first to tackle the course and in his usual way took it slow and steady where he could with a few spots needing him to find the rev limiter to launch up the steep banks.
His wheelstanding finish between the trees made a spectacular end to a great run.

Brad was next up and piloted the blue V6 Hilux easily through the course but ended up flipping it on its side BETWEEN the trees at the finish markers …. So near yet so far !!

The crowd loved it as evidenced by the resounding cheering coming from the spectators and competitors alike.

His Hilux had to be dragged on its side from between the trees before it could be righted.

Over on the Trophy Class track the competitors had to tackle some deep mud just to get to the start of the narrow gorge through which the track ran.

Darren’s bright green 2 stroke Suzuki made it look easy but a slight miscalculation at the 500 marker saw the wheels in the air as it laid down on its side.
At least it was a light vehicle and only took a few blokes to tip it back on to its wheels.

Track one Mod Class took its toll on Darryn’s Jeep when the whole wheel and hub assembly sheared off leaving him immobile, a log was chained to the bumper and axle to act as a skid and it was laboriously winched out and strapped to a trailer for the ride back to camp.

Track two Mod Class took place in an open section of small gullys with the track criss crossing and looping through the deepest one.

The blue dual cab found a bit too much side angle on one of the turns and took a tumble on to it roof not far from the end of the track, it was then winched back uphill on to it wheels.

Andrew’s Defender trayback grabbed a bit too much traction in one gully crossing and bent the rear trailing arms allowing the rear axle to keep driving forward under the cab, it had to be winched out backwards.

The white 80 series and red GQ found it a little harder crossing through the narrow gullies with their long wheel bases but managed to scrape their way through.

Meanwhile over on the other side of the gully at Trophy Class track two the green 2 stroke Suzuki was keeping up appearances and had another lay down, they were obviously having a great time laughing all the way.

The blue Bundy was lifting wheels as it powered its way through the course to the uphill section at the end of the course and the end of the days driving.

Track Three Challenge Class on Sunday morning zig zagged through a creek bed with the first hill climb a little daunting to most, Aaron’s orange Amada Extreme Hilux made a spectacular climb then settled down making a steady run up the rugged rocks of the creek bed and through the rest of the course

Brad had the blue Hilux on three wheels up the first climb to no avail as he had to reverse back and try again then had a great run through to the finish.

The yellow Hilux had a bit of trouble in the mud in the middle section then when he finally got it lined up to drop over the bank it all went wrong and it ended up on its side.

The blue Suzuki had three awesome tries on the first hill but even though he had the front wheels right to the top it wasn’t quite enough ending his run.

By this time all the classes had run their final vehicles and everyone retired back to the shed for the presentations.

. Shane Gerrish
OVERALL PLACINGS for Round 1
Trophy Class:
1 Team Jaffa: Kylie Halford/Rob Moore
2 Team Hulk: Alan Goodwin/Graham Wright
3 Team Fragile: Jason Roberts/Alex Braxton
Mod Class:
1 Team Casper: Bruce Hay/Jason Hay
2 G4 Racing: Keith Duncan/Craig Kittle
3 British Offroad: Andrew McFarlane/Mark Coulder
Challenge Class:
1 Team Amada Xtreme: Aaron Williams/Michael Hayes
2 Team Tuff Lux: Brad Rooks/Mick Manzi
3 Team A1: Rob Moore/Ben English
Outlaw Class:

1 Team Diesel: Chris Wood/Chris Brame
2 Jimny Extreme: Colin Kane/Michael Kane
3 Zukes of Hazard: Craig Buse/Tony Dalton

TROPHY CLASS
TRACK 1
1 Team Fragile: Jason Roberts/Alex Braxton
2 Team Red Rocket: Tim Bambricle/Colin Healey
3 Ring Ding Ding Racing: Darren Barnard/Aaron Follett
TRACK 2
1 Team Jaffa: Kylie Halford/Rob Moore
2 Team Hulk: Alan Goodwin/Graham Wright
3 CMS 2 Racing: Bradley Claydon/Mark Coles
TRACK 3
1 Team Damage Inc.: Aaron Follett/Darren Barnard
2 Team TreeFab: Keith Barnard/Darren Barnard
3 Ring Ding Ding Racing: Darren Barnard/Aaron Follett
MODIFIED CLASS
TRACK 1
1 British Offroad: Andrew McFarlane/Mark Coulder
2 G4 Racing: Keith Duncan/Craig Kittle
3 Team Casper: Bruce Hay/Jason Hay
TRACK 2
1 CMS 1 Racing: Trevor Boyd/Brad Claydon
2 Team Casper: Bruce Hay/Jason Hay
3 G4 Racing: Keith Duncan/Craig Kittle
TRACK 3
1 British Offroad: Andrew McFarlane/Mark Coulder
2 Team Casper: Bruce Hay/Jason Hay
3 G4 Racing: Keith Duncan/Craig Kittle
CHALLENGE CLASS
TRACK 1
1 Team Amada Xtreme: Aaron Williams/Michael Hayes
2 Team Tuff Lux: Brad Rooks/Mick Manzi
3 Team A1: Rob Moore/Ben English
TRACK 2
1 Team Amada Xtreme: Aaron Williams/Michael Hayes
2 Team A1: Rob Moore/Ben English
3 Team Tuff Lux: Brad Rooks/Mick Man
TRACK 3
1 Team Amada Xtreme: Aaron Williams/Michael Hayes
2 Team Tuff Lux: Brad Rooks/Mick Manzi
3 Team A1: Rob Moore/Ben English
OUTLAW CLASS
TRACK 1
1 Team Diesel: Chris Wood/Chris Brame
2 Zukes of Hazard: Craig Buse/Tony Dalton
3 Jimny Extreme: Colin Kane/Michael Kane
TRACK 2
1 Team Diesel: Chris Wood/Chris Brame
2 Jimny Extreme: Colin Kane/Michael Kane
3 Zukes of Hazard: Craig Buse/Tony Dalton
TRACK 3
1 Team Army Barbie: Aaron Ward/Kerrod Ward
2 Jimny Extreme: Colin Kane/Michael Kane
3 Zukes of Hazard: Craig Buse/Tony Dalton

Carnage Canyon 2010

2010-12-11T22:22:00.035+10:00

The Carnage Canyon competition was originally scheduled to be run back in October but heavy rain preceeding the comp flooded the bed of the Brisbane river making the course 3 metres under water.

With my Birthday coming up on the 11th of December it seemed like a good date to start the comp and with the river levels back down to a metre the Saturday was looking Good.

Michael and Shane were first to tackle the challenging course ...

Brad and Mick were up next...

Lee and Ross raced next ...

Ken and Callan threw caution to the wind and went flat out from the word go ...

Stage two ...

some spectators at the Goolies

Heavy rain flooded the course in the afternoon and cancelling the night stage and final.

Score were tallied on the first two stages and Results taken from them.

A class
First: A1 Mick & Shane, Superior Engineering, 30.39 and 31.21 in the White DGR Hilux
Second: A2 Lee & Ross, Povey Bros Racing, 42.20 and DNF in the grey GU dual cab

B class
First: B2 Ken & Callan, team RTDR, 20.38 and 20.08 in the blue/silver GQ extra cab
Second: B1 Brad & Mick, team Tufflux, 34.43 and 24.07 in the blue hilux

OUTRIGHT WINNER
Ken Bain and Callan McNamara

A CLASS WINNER
Michael Hayes and Shane Findlay

B CLASS WINNER
Ken Bain and Callan McNamara

King of the Rim

2010-11-28T19:28:00.010+10:00

The King of the Rim comp was held at the Scenic Rim Adventure Park on the Saturday and Saturday night.

Mathew Dunk

David Burton-Bradley

David Camp

Mal Van Ysseldyk

Peter Antunac

Rhett Bryant snapped the steering off the knuckle...

Nathan Hancock

Sai Haines snapped the wheel studs off ...

Glenn Buttigieg

Steve Currell

Bruce Fraser ...

Chris Wood

Matthew White

Dirtcomp's Randall Kilner

Michael Sweeney

Rhetts exhaust manifold glows bright red after tackling Crampy's Climb

Extreme Modified/ Winch Class
First The Diesel Shop Chris Wood Chris Brame
Second Offroad Boss Bruce Fraser Dan Cole
Third Snake Racing Glenn Buttigieg Andrew Buss
Fourth Bethania Mechanical James Morgan Peter Anderson

Buggy/Truggy Class
First Snake Racing Matthew Dunk Tristan Baguley
Second Rockrash Racing David Camp Hayden Smith
Third OPW Peter Antunac Tarrant "Tazz" Baguley
Fourth Gympie Offroad Rhett Bryant Roger Edols

Superior All Terrain Challenge round 3 2010

2010-09-11T20:27:00.001+10:00

Superior All Terrain Challenge round 3 2010

Heavy rain on the day before the event served to dampen the track but certainly not the enthusiasm of the marshals and competitors as they readied themselves for the final round of the 2010 series at the famous Landcruiser Mountain Park north west of Brisbane.

The morning of the event dawned clear so the Ozcat excavator and a water pump were employed to drain the mud from the bottom of the Rock Garden before the event got underway but the competition area stayed wet for the whole weekend.

With the event underway on very slippery tracks it wasn’t long before Ken Bain served up the first round of excitement with a nice drop off the logs resulting in a gravity defying landing!

It seemed impossible that the Patrol didn’t roll over and I’m sure if a fly had of landed on it the truck would have laid down.

A rope was quickly attached and some people power soon had it back on all four wheels.

Matt and Josh turned up in a nice white GQ wagon acquired the week before; they had whacked in a cage, some suspension, 36” centipedes and the safety gear and took it racing.

Without sliders or rear protection and only an old alloy bar at the front the poor thing was destined to become a nice wreck by the end of the weekend.

They had trouble not long into the race when the motor would not run properly but despite their best efforts to find the fault it remained the same causing them to really struggle to get up the slightest slopes over the rest of the weekend.

One of the new sections put in was the Bowl which proved to be very interesting with the clay surface holding the wet all weekend.
The trick was to use exactly the right amount of speed to hold you up on the wall as you went round to keep you off the rock pile in the middle but not so much that you slid up and over the walls edge.

Brendan went a bit slow in the Dual Cab Hilux and slid back down and tangled with the rocks … Matt and Josh also struggled in the misfiring Patrol as they found it hard to get up enough speed to make it out of the uphill side of the Bowl.

One of the new sections of track ran right in front of the spectators before dropping left over the rocks on the top track.
Christian managed to get stranded on one of the rocks wrecking what had been a good run up until then, Belinda worked the Hi Lift jack hard to no avail.

On the other side of the rocks Brad got stranded on another rock and managed to drag it downhill under the front of the dark blue Hilux, the more he tried to reverse off the more he slid sideways towards a drop off, eventually he freed his Hilux as it slid sideways over the drop off but he somehow managed to keep it upright.

Daniel had the Outlaw class to himself but still drove the multi coloured buggy hard all weekend
Despite the Buggy being designed for slow speed work Daniels times were right up there with the Super Modified class but at times it appeared his body would be shaken to pieces at speed over the tough terrain.

Jack must be sick of replacing broken bits on the V8 MQ/GQ Ute as he started out trying to be gentle on the long suffering Patrol.

One of the tracks involved rounding a large rock beside a bottomless mud pit which Jack easily ploughed through then thinking he had to do a 360 round the rock he tackled it again but this time sunk the patrol and had to be recovered.

The red mist set in and Jack broke the front and was left with rear drive only for the remainder of the Sunday.

Brad had probably his worst weekend in years of competing in the Superior All Terrain with major problems dropping him to last place in the gold Patrol wagon.
While it was going he was up to his usual antics and thinking outside the square to get great times.

With the heats and finals run and won it was Brendan and Russell in the white dual cab Hilux who took the first place honours in Modified class.
Ken and Callan piloted the silver/blue GQ Ute to victory in the Super Modified class and Daniel and Glenn in the multi coloured Buggy easily secured the top spot in Outlaw class.

The King of the Mountain is a once a year event open to anyone who had competed in all three rounds during the year and is a long track encompassing most of the tracks and obstacles in the competition area.

Jack gave it a good go in two wheel drive and almost did the whole track using lots of full revs and momentum but it wasn’t to be.

Christian just pipped Ken Bain’s time in the race but as he did not do the first race of the year it was Ken Bain and Callan McNamara who not only took out the series win but also deservedly won the coveted King of the Mountain title for 2010.

After this years efforts I think some extensions to their trophy cabinets may be in order.

RESULTS:

Modified:
1 Brendan and Russell
2 Jack and Josh

Super Modified:
1 Ken and Callan
2 Christian and Belinda
3 Josh and Matt
4 Brad and Mick
5 Matt and Josh
6 Brad and Brad

Outlaw:
1 Daniel and Glenn

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN:

Ken Bain and Callan McNamara

Some more pics ...

King of the Rim July 2010

2010-07-17T16:16:00.013+10:00

The King of the rim Competition was held at the Scenic Rim Adventure Park near Beaudesert in Qld.

The Creek run was certainly extreme... and due to the deep shadows, very hard to photograph even using high iso as the speed was very low and movement blur was a real problem.

MAXXIS KING OF THE RIM
JULY 2010

Scenic Rim Adventure Park hosted the inaugural “King of the Rim” competition on July 17 at the park just outside Beaudesert in South East Queensland.

The local SES provided the food and drinks for the spectators at the play area which was used for the Short Course tracks and the start/finish of the Long Course Tracks.

Eight Buggy/Truggy Vehicles and five Extreme/winch vehicles entered the two classes with 4 stages being held.

1 - Long track – this track is about endurance and stamina over extreme terrain.
2 - Short track combined – full of obstacles, logs, large wombat holes and giant tyres.
3 - Class specific track in the same area as 2.
4 - Night run – this track is Scenic Rim Adventure Park’s signature track, there is
no other creek run like this in Australia and it will be lit up for the drive.

With competitors from as far away as Sydney it promised to be a huge day of action and excitement

The Long Course Track for the Buggies incorporated the lower end of the creek in the spectator areas where the competitors had to tackle some large boulders in the creek bed before heading up to the top of the range above the campground.

A steep dropoff caught out the front heavy Mog as it headed downhill and it end over ended before getting caught by the back wheel on a tree stopping its plummet to the campground area below.

Luckily for the driver Geoff, the heavier than usual cage held up to the pummelling with very little damage to the bodywork although the broken components underneath ended their run.

Those that continued on followed the ridges to the top end of the creek where the adventure really began.

Rhett Bryant arrived at the top of the creek with his Suzuki needing some water which was supplied by the creek they were about to try and traverse.

With water topped up after skirting the deep hole under the first waterfall they drove down the slide of the next waterfall before hugging the base of the overhang to clear some large boulders then drove over the edge of the ledge on an angle with no dramas.

The next chasm caused all the drivers some dramas to make sure they straddled the hole in the middle while keeping their left wheels on a near vertical rock face, one slip and they were going to be there for a long time.

The next waterfall was a very steep drop into a pool of soft sand with the rear of Rhetts buggy needing to be held down by a strap attached to a tree and lowered carefully while starting his turn to the right.

It might have been very good decision as the Michael Sweeney’s Suzuki buggy, II Evil drove straight down it but got stuck in the sand with the front jammed against the large boulders on the exit.
After a good try to get out they broke the front diff and only had one rear wheel driving so had to winch them selves out.

A couple of huge rocks a bit further on was driven by Rhett and Snake Racing but II Evil winched down it and Dave Camp rolled his blue buggy trying to drive it, they soon continued on when Justin in the Orange Buggy arrived and winched then back on their wheels with the blue buggy now looking decidedly second hand.

The next waterfall comprised three ledges not quite a wheelbase apart and Rhett once again strapped the buggy to lower it down, Evil II were about to winch themselves down backwards when the Snake Racing Buggy arrived so the quickly got themselves out of the way allowing Matt to drive over the edge in a controlled manner with their slightly longer wheelbase.

The Snake Racing Boys got stuck a short while later when the diffed out but soon were mobile again and had no more problems as the creek run gets a bit easier as it levels out.

This track is a Mecca for those wanting an extremely difficult track over a few kilometres to really test out their buggies and the Snake Racing boys had their buggy very well sorted for this type of terrain making it look relatively easy.

Trackside repairs and self recovery is mandatory if you intend to try this track as no one can get in to tow you out.

The Long Course for the Extreme Class used the tough tracks and hills on the other side of the valley; Only Chris Wood was still running by the end due to mechanical damage taking it toll on the rest of the Competitors

The action shifted back to the spectator areas where the two classes tackled the man made obstacles on the Short Course Track then they split into two separate courses in the same area for the next stage.

In the Buggy class The Huge Dump Truck Tyres caused some problems after someone destroyed the bunting, Rhett tried to drive all 4 wheels over them getting stuck severely and having to use a large branch to lever the buggy off while other competitors only drove two wheels over the edge of the tyres.

The wombat holes only served to slow the buggies with all of them driving the deep holes easily.

The huge holes in the S bends has the suspension working overtime to try and keep the competitors vehicles on the ground and the log wall at the end of this section caused most vehicles to have more than one go to try and get all four wheels up it.

The Extreme class competitors dropped into the creek then drove back up the bank before negotiating some deep holes which claimed Chris Wood.

As he powered up and out of the holes the front left of the Bobbed GQ wagon lifted too far and he rolled gently onto its side, Navigator Chris Brame soon had the winch connected and they righted themselves to continue on without losing much time at all.
All that Winch Comp practise sure comes in handy at times like this.

Driving off the Dump Truck Tyres showed up the advantage of the Bobbed rear end with no overhang to get caught on the way down and they made short work of those before carefully straddling the wombat holes on the way down to the end of the play area then a U turn brought them back to the Tyres which they ran two tyres over before zig zagging their way back to the finish line.

The Extreme class Yellow 60 series Ute was repaired in time for this track but found itself severely hung up on the tyres and took quite a while to get off with the use of the highlift jack before completing the rest of the course with no problems.

The Cals Creek run was lit up that night for the fourth and final stage with the sound of crunching metal and revving engines echoing down the valley in the chilly night air.
Most decided to stay back at the camp though as the freezing winds kept all but the most hardened spectator close to the warmth of the campfire.

At the end of a tough and gruelling day of hardcore action the Snake Racing buggy expertly driven by Matt Dunk and navi Mitch Ward claimed the honours for the Buggy Class while Chris Wood and navi Chris Brame in the Bobbed 2.8 TD GQ Wagon took out the title in the Extreme Class.

Mark this event in your diary for November 26 as the lessons learnt from this Inaugural event will only help to improve this unique event on the 4WD calendar !

. Shane Gerrish

Rhett Bryant

Michael Sweeney

Matt Dunk

After the creek run i walked all the way back down to the play area to see the stages in the spectator area.

Justin Kerr

Chris Wood

Matt Dunk

Rhett Bryant

Dave Camp

Justin Kerr

Bruce Fraser

Geoff Thompson's broken Mog

SUPERIOR ALL TERRAIN CHALLENGE round 2 2010

2010-06-12T18:20:00.005+10:00

SUPERIOR ALL TERRAIN CHALLENGE
round 2 2010

Landcruiser Mountain Park had arranged for a cool, clear and crisp long weekend for the running of the second round of the Superior Alignment All Terrain Challenge with nine vehicles in three classes pumped and ready to race.

Always on the lookout for something different, during the heats the officials snuck a track into the rally cross area to allow the competitors a chance to get a bit of speed up.

Luckily the side of the deep gully alongside the RallyX track is fenced as Jack lost control of the white GQ/MQ V8 Ute and used the fence as a safety net to stop his truck from making the long steep drop to the wreckers.

Back in the usual comp area, the Wombat holes usually reserved for the Outlaw class buggies was brought into play for the Super Modified class with most having a bit of trouble finding a good line through them.
Haylea, driving the blue over silver GQ Ute needing the highlift jack to raise the chassis off the log lined holes when she got stuck but was soon under way again.

Christian had a pretty big pucker moment in the orange GQ Ute when he tried to take a different line over the tyres at the rock mound, he had the rear wheel at least a metre and a half off the ground but was able to reverse back to safety and drive out on a better line.

Jack was having a few mechanical woes in front end of the Ute when he reached the rock mound and as is his usual spectacular style decided to use momentum to try and clear the logs but launched upwards rather than along and landed half way amid a cloud of smoke ending his run.

Haylea found a unique parking position when she managed to almost roll the Nissan but the high bank stopped it going right over, they were quickly under way again powering through the rest of the course.

The organiser of the event, Craig Linnane, had somehow managed to convince Christian Trusz to let him race the bright orange Patrol Ute around the course and just like everyone else had to run down from the top of the course near the spectators, jump into the drivers seat and buckle up the harness then drive as fast as possible around the course.

Craig managed the first two reasonably fast but actually managed to roll the Ute on the start line!!

There was a large rock off to the right hand side of the track just in front of the right hand wheel but the track veered to the left and when Craig drove off he drove up the rock and gently rolled the Patrol.

We have seen a lot of rollovers over the years on the tracks [including your truly] and even a couple of rollovers on and through the finish line but this was a first for this event and something he will never live down if the other competitors and officials have anything to do with it !

Come to think of it, he takes out the prize for the fastest DNF as well !

The Ozcat excavator soon had the Ute back on its wheels and Craig had a great run around the track this time.

Brendan Lohse seemed to do it easily in the White Hilux dual cab taking out the Modified class ahead of Jack in the much abused white GQ/MQ Ute.

Ken Bain keeps getting faster and faster with less and less mistakes and fully deserved the win in Super Modified class driving his blue over silver GQ Ute ahead of Brad Rooks in the Blue Hilux, Christian Trusz in the orange GQ Ute, Brad Bernard in the gold GQ Wagon and girlfriend Haylea Reed also driving his GQ Ute.

Justin Kerr in the Orange buggy had the Outlaw Class to himself after Dan Cable had to pull out after the first heat.

Anyone thinking of getting into competitive driving should consider this event.
The competitors and officials always seem to have such a great time with plenty of help and a warm welcome offered for new competitors.
The driving is not too hard or damaging until you add too much speed for the conditions so it is entirely up to the driver to control the “Red Mist”
If you reckon you have what it takes, come along and join in the fun … you won’t be disappointed!

. Shane Gerrish

RESULTS:

Heats: Driver - Heat 1 - Heat 2 -

Modified Class
Brendan Lohse 1733 1714
Jack Chapple 1294 1733

Super Modified Class
Ken Bain 1748 2099
Brad Bernard 1689 2130
Christian Trusz 1645 2143
Haylea Reed 1638 2042
Brad Rooks 1613 1915

Outlaw Class
Justin Kerr 1800 1825
Dan Kable 823 0

RESULTS:

Finals:

Modified Class
Brendan Lohse 595 1st
Jack Chapple 544 2nd

Super Modified Class
Ken Bain 595 1st
Brad Rooks 585 2nd
Christian Trusz 569 3rd
Brad Bernard 569 4th
Haylea Reed 560 5th

Outlaw Class
Justin Kerr 600 1st

Competitors gathered around a big campfire on Sunday Night

this is the way to feed a fire

Brad Bernard

Haylea Reed

Christian Trusz

Justin Kerr

Brendan Lohse

Jack Chapple

Haylea

Christian

Jack

Brendan

Haylea

driver Ken Bain making the run to the start.

Ken Bain

Brendan

Brad Rooks

Jack

Jack Broken

Craig Linnane

Expo 2010

2010-05-03T19:24:00.007+10:00

Landcruiser Mountain Park’s Offroad Expo 2010 was off to a great start on Friday night with the Mickey Thompson Tyres SSS winch challenge held in the lower end of the Dam gully not far from the Expo site entrance.

Three tracks had been designed with the start through the same section on all three tracks, followed by an extension to the first section for the second track and finally another extension to the second section for the third track; Needless to say the water section degenerated into a muddy morass by the time the vehicles had winched themselves through the bonnet deep mud for the third time.

The little Suzuki had the crowd on edge as it defied gravity in the water section, most expected it to tip on its drivers side and the officials were ready to dive in to rescue the driver but amazingly it failed to flop and they winched to safety.
A couple of his supporters had secretly attached a strap to the side of the vehicle and were ready to support it just in case; The officials had noticed but turned a blind eye and didn’t say anything although they were keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn’t help the vehicle get through, smart decision as it could have been a major drama if it tipped over and dunked the driver under a metre of muddy water.

A couple of the vehicles succumbed to the muddy mire and missed out on their three runs which I’m sure the cold and wet Navi’s didn’t mind.

Power played an important part on the third stage with Wil Neilsons supercharged V8 powered Nissan not even needing a run up to launch itself up the steep bank at the top of the course in a plume of flying dirt.

Wil Neilsen took out a well deserved first place followed by Chrisian Trusz and Rodney Boyle

.Saturday morning saw the running of the All 4X4 Parts Gymkhana on a newly extended track allowing the competitors to really stretch their legs on the run right up to the far end of the gully and back along the edge of the camping area.

The usual track zig zagging its way up the slope in front of the crowd was still in place and produced plenty of thrills and dust as the competitors fought to keep their vehicles on four wheels as the ruts started to deepen in the soft dirt.

As the vehicles neared the end of the track they dropped down into the gully in front of the crowd and hit a patch of mud at the bottom which threw them off line and slowing their ascent to the finish line so the usual big jumps were missing this time.
Kevin McCord gave the officials a scare as he almost lost it and drove up the bank off the course and almost through the timing tent in his usual flamboyant style.

Christian Trusz took out the Diesel class, Clayton Chapman took out the Petrol class, Amy Perrett took out the Ladies class with Rob Chapman taking out the Modified Petrol class and the Outright Fastest Trophies.

.The heats of the Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge got underway with a couple of regular competitors making some large changes to their vehicles for the new season.

Ken Bain had retired the old MQ body last season in favour of a “cut down GQ wagon into a ute” body and this year had pretty much got rid of the chassis and driveline in favour of a GQ chassis and driveline to slide underneath it, he found the change to coils spring to be a lot different to his old leaf suspension and complained about the lack of articulation but by the end of the weekend seemed to be liking the way it worked and his results spoke for themselves.

Jack Chapple had end for ended his V8 powered MQ late last year and destroyed the body so this year he had dumped a GQ ute body on top of the old MQ so he still had the shorter wheelbase to assist in the tight turns.

Brad Bernard had decided that the old Scout had seen its last days and was now running a full bodied GQ wagon.

Justin Kerr was now piloting the ex Stewart Parkes orange buggy in Outlaw class and was busy finding its limits.

One of the tracks allowed a bit of high speed which was enjoyed by the competitors although Jack had a tangle with the fence which was probably a good thing as it’s a long way to the bottom of the gully.

.The ARB 4X4 Accessories Super Rally X heats had plenty of air happening over the big jump right in front of the enthralled spectators as the competitors jockeyed for position in the finals.

Luckily there were plenty of positions on offer so they could save the best efforts for the next day although the red mist clouded the judgement of more than a few competitors keeping the afternoons excitement going to the end of the day.

The constant traffic through the corners was starting to dig some deep ruts which was destined to play a big part in the action during the finals the next day.

. As darkness descended over the park the Marque Lubricants Show and Shine got under way with the lights reflecting off the chrome.

With everything from competition vehicles and touring vehicles through to show vehicles there was something for everyone to admire.

After spending a fair bit of time going over the vehicles The Judges Choice Trophy went to Greg Batchelor.

. Sunday morning started with a roar of high revving engines and flying gravel as the Cooper Tires Hill Drags got under way.

Competitors raced side by side up the gravel with spectators lined up against the fence for the full length of the track.

Shawn Swaffield took out the diesel class, Roger Vickery took out the petrol class, Leila Chapmen took out the ladies class and Bill Geddes took home the petrol modified and outright trophies.

. The ARB Maroochydore Barrel Race had competitors trying everything from 2WD and 4WD to minimal wheel spin and just plain “flat out and turn” to try and get the fastest times with some spectacular near rolls and scaring of trees.

Kevin McCord had a very near miss when he put it up on two wheels rounding the second barrel but not to be outdone he did it again rounding the third barrel.

ARB’s Roger Vickery was the only one to actually hit one of the ARB barrels but it was Daniel Curran who grabbed the outright trophy for the fastest time.

. The Finals for the Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge got underway with Justin laying the Buggy on its side, The boys tried hard but couldn’t lift the buggy back on its wheels and had to DNF that track.

One of the tracks had the competitors rubbing their roof panels against a tree so Brad tried to avoid damage to the body of his new wagon by driving up the bank and reversing through the rocks in the gully but ended up jammed in solidly between a rock and … well … more rocks, all the while copping a huge good natured ribbing from his fellow competitors who eagerly towed him out when he DNF’d the track.

Shane Ryall and Daniel Jewel were not about to let a dented roof slow them down and showed some pretty severe damage on their wagons at the end of the day as they slammed into the trees.

One of the highlights of the track was when Jack got stuck on the rocks for quite a while, after he finally managed to reverse off he reversed back for a run up... and back … and back and then used the V8’s power combined with centrifugal force to drive up the side of the bank and around the rocks altogether to a huge cheer from the crowd.

Josh Chapple came out on top for the modified class, Brad Bernard grabbed first in the Super Modified class and Justin Kerr won the first place trophy in the Outlaw Class.

. The Finals of the ARB 4X4 Accessories Super Rally X saw the competitors unleash the full potential of their vehicles with the added problem of the ever deepening ruts making for some exciting driving as competitors often had wheels lifting on the corners.

The Jump once again kept the spectators enthralled especially when two competitors entered the jump straight side by side and didn’t back off as they raced each other to the finish line just over the other side of the jump, some huge air and dodgy landings drew a fantastic response from the crowd gathered on the hill.

Kevin McCord wowed the spectators when he went a bit too hard into the ruts on the esses and rolled his Nissan ute on to the other track; Marshalls quickly had the situation safe and the vehicle back on all four wheel but Kevy soon had the poor old ute fired up and on his next lap had the vehicle on two wheels all the way around the very same corner!
That boy has just never learned how to back off !!
As the Rally X finished we saw Shawn Swaffield grabbing the trophy for Diesel Class, Clayton Chapman winning the Petrol Class, Amy Perrett receiving the trophy for the ladies and Myles Newbon taking out Petrol Modified Class and The outright Victory.

As darkness descended over the park at the end of another excitement filled weekend of four wheel fun the trophies were handed out for the weekends efforts with Leila Chapman taking the well deserved trophy for the Champion Lady Driver and Myles Newbon beating all comers for the Champion Driver trophy.

. Shane Gerrish

Mud Bulls and Music 2009

2009-11-08T01:49:00.005+10:00

Mud Bulls and Music 2009

Bushfires glowed red and lightning put on a spectacular show with multiple strikes lighting up the ominous black clouds along the ranges surrounding Landcruiser Mountain Park as I made my way northwest from Brisbane on Thursday afternoon.

Rain was threatening as I drove up through the green and brown patchwork of forests past the small township of Jimna but I had time to set up camp before the first drops raised little puffs of dust on the bonnet.

Campsite were silhouetted against the sky on every ridge overlooking the Expo site and all the grassy slopes within walking distance were packed with tents but I chose to camp out in the park in a nice little grassy flat beside a small gully with the country music occasionally floating past on the wind.

With nearly a dozen artists playing from noon on Thursday the Country music fans were well catered for and the small patches of rain only served to dampen the dust so my preparations against the threatening storms were not fully justified.

The first 4WD event began just after lunch on Friday and was a whole new event sponsored by All 4X4 Parts at Minden.

The Go to Whoa utilised the old Hills Drags strip but the competitors had to stop with their front wheels between two lines at the top of the hill.

Three classes are available but no one entered the 2WD Ute class so the Standard 4WD and Modified 4WD classes were left to battle it out up the short gravelled track.

Some of the more highly powered vehicles had trouble trying to keep in a straight line from the start but many of the vehicles slid past the lines at the stop point and had to reverse back.

Some of the more “over enthusiastic” competitors slid sideways trying to stop but as both front wheels had to be between the lines they had to straighten their vehicles to finish wasting a lot of time.

After the heats were run the top 10 in each class battled it out for the Trophies with another two runs each.
Leila Chapman won the Modified 4WD Class while Clayton Chapman won the Standard 4WD Class.

Just on Dark the Bull Riding started drawing quite a crowd away from the music for an action packed couple of hours but the fans were soon back to the stage area.
Tania Kernaghan was one of the feature artists on the Friday night and after performing several songs she had the honour of unveiling the new 2010 Toyota Prado amidst lots of flashing lights and much fanfare.

Saturday morning saw the Clarion 4WD and 2WD Ute Muster flashing lots of chrome and flags under a clearing blue sky with Bill Geddes taking out the best overall prize.

After lunch the ARB and Goodyear Autocare Super Rally X heats drew the crowds away from the music again, the jump saw quite a few airborne vehicle land a little out of shape and a few loses really mixed up the results.

Deep ruts were forming in the soft dirt, particularly in the Esses so there was quite a bit of two wheel action.

After someone hit the left hand log rail earlier in the year the whole left side of the bridge was replaced but the dark green jeep came very close to taking out the right hand side of the bridge after coming into the previous corner a fair bit out of shape, he managed to wrestle it back on to the track again but lost a few valuable seconds.

The Bull riding was back on again as the sun set providing lots of thrills and even more spills with one of the contestants needing medical attention.
After the Bulls had won more than their share of battles the crowd returned to the main stage for more of the musical entertainment into the small hours.

The finals of the Rally Cross kicked off early on Sunday morning with the competitors getting straight into it, no mucking around!

The jumps were getting bigger and bigger as the competitors tested the limits of their vehicles, or maybe it was the red mist setting in, either way the crowd were loving it.

The action wasn’t confined to the jump though; the ruts formed in the track at all the corners were causing major dramas when the vehicles slid over the edges with several competitors losing a lot of time due to a lose.

Clayton Chapman won through in the Standard Class to take out a well deserved win in his Triton Ute while Brent Perrett took out the Modified Class in his twin turbo V8 Patrol.

While results were being tallied the Toyota versus Nissan grudge match went ahead with both vehicles having the new Goodyear Kevlar MT/R’s fitted for the race.

Brent Perrett in his twin turbo’d V8 GU patrol Ute raced Myles Newbon in the Hilux styleside bodied V8 on a Patrol Chassis but after two round it was declared a draw and they both received the tyres as a prize.

The threatening storms had stayed away allowing an enjoyable weekend for Fans, Competitors and Spectators alike, bring on Mud Bulls and Music 2010 !!

. Shane Gerrish

::All 4x4 Parts Go to Woe::

Standard Class:
1st Clayton Chapman 13.40 sec
2nd Rob Chapman
3rd Roger Vickery
4th Kevin McCord
5th Chris Hammond

Modified Class:
1st Leila Chapman 11.87 sec
2nd Dan Brown
3rd Clayton Chapman
4th Evan Pradella
5th Rob Chapman

::ARB & Goodyear Super Rally Cross::

Standard Class:
1st Clayton Chapman 1.26.74
2nd Rob Chapman
3rd Roger Vickery
4th Ben de Brueys
5th Brent Perrett

Modified Class:
1st Brent Perrett 1.23.61
2nd Clayton Chapman
3rd Myles Newbon
4th Rob Chapman
5th Paul Thatcher

The Goodyear Kevlar Knockout, Toyota vs Nissan, was fought out between Brent Perrett for Nissan and Myles Newbon for Toyota.
This was run following the finals of the Super Rally Cross as a grudge match between the two. Both vehicles were fitted with the new Kelvar MT/R's on site to race with.
After 2 rounds it was a tie so Goodyear kindly awarded both drivers a set of new Kevlar MT/R tyres.

::CLARION UTE MUSTER::

4WD’s - Best Overall: Bill Geddes
Chicks 4wd : 1st Kylie Row 2nd Romana McCall
Feral 4wd: 1st Mick Legge 2nd Micky De
3rd Evan Pradella
Promotional 4wd: 1st Dan Brown 2nd Romana McCall
3rd Mark Petersen
Extreme 4wd: 1st Bill Geddes 2nd Drew Schultz
3rd Clay Richards
Work 4wd: 1st Howard Fiedler 2nd Brad Goltz
3rd Jean Fielder

2WD’S - Best Overall: Christopher Dix
Feral 2wd: 1st Rum Can 2nd Travis Milne
3rd Nick Andrews
Restored 2wd: 1st Corey Pereira 2nd Stephanie
Nielsen
Chicks 2wd : 1st Tanya Mundey 2nd Amy Litfin
3rd Amanda Featherstone
Aussie 2wd : 1st Dugald Watts 2nd Christopher
Dix 3rd Joe Bradley
Bundy 2wd: 1st Christopher Dix 2nd Grant
Shuttleworth 3rd Rum Can

EXHIBITION SITE:

GO TO WHOA:

PERFORMERS:
Tania Kernaghan

UNVEILING OF THE NEW PRADO:

RALLY CROSS HEATS:

BULL RIDING:

RALLY CROSS FINALS:

CARNAGE CANYON 2009

2009-10-14T19:54:00.007+10:00

Carnage Canyon

Carnage Canyon was held at Landcruiser Mountain Park in sunny Queensland over the weekend of the 17th and 18th of October and is run down a remote Gorge in the upper reaches of the Brisbane River.

Carnage Canyon is an event for drivers and something that has a few features that no other comp has.
This year had a change to the format as there is no access to the Dinner Hole end of the Gorge from the State Forest tracks so they will race down and back to the start box again and also have an extra heat on Saturday afternoon.
1: no rules ... [apart from safety]
2: no track ... go where you please to get from A to B and back to A again
3: no pre entry ... if you want to race just turn up,[with safety gear, rego and CTP] pay the entry fee and race
4: no penalties ... you can winch or carry boards etc
5: you don't have to have a Navi ... drive by yourself if you want.

This makes the whole event very casual and pressure free as evidenced by the camaraderie on Saturday night at the start line.

There are three classes and as power or high speeds are not an issue they are sorted by tyre size.

Class A: up to 35" tyres
Class B: 35" to 37" tyres
Class C: over 37" tyres

All vehicles must be road registered.

The course itself has a huge and consistent variety of natural terrain spread along the 5.2 Kms ... everything from mud, water, hillclimbs, boulders, rocky outcrops, grassy flats, tight trees, sand, gravel, side slopes, deepish water crossings, wet rock slabs, rock gardens, drop offs to sandy bottomed water crossings ...
once you reach the turn around point and note the sign on the back of the marked tree you drive back the way you came over the same obstacles.

Carnage Canyon is an event for drivers and something that has a few features that no other comp has.
This year had a change to the format as there is no access to the Dinner Hole end of the Gorge from the State Forest tracks so they will race down and back to the start box again and also have an extra heat on Saturday afternoon.
1: no rules ... [apart from safety]
2: no track ... go where you please to get from A to B and back to A again
3: no pre entry ... if you want to race just turn up,[with safety gear, rego and CTP] pay the entry fee and race
4: no penalties ... you can winch or carry boards etc
5: you don't have to have a Navi ... drive by yourself if you want.

This makes the whole event very casual and pressure free as evidenced by the camaraderie on Saturday night at the start line.

There is one run on Saturday morning then another run in the afternoon before another run at night so you know where you are going and what to expect ... this is absolutely awesome and most people actually beat their daylight times!

The final is run on Sunday Morning with a big jump right at the finish line to end on a high

Great fun to drive fast but can be driven slowly in a stocker if you don't mind a bit of damage to sills and bumpers.

A normal trip with a few mates down the Carnage Canyon normally takes 3 to 4 hours but the best time so far has been 8 minutes 34 seconds in race mode set by Jeff White in 2006

As this will be a new format at twice the distance, the fastest time is now up for grabs again and is taken from the finals run on Sunday morning.

Saturday:
The weekend started off badly for Brendan, on a reconnaissance trip on the Friday before the Comp he broke a steering arm on his Gympie Offroad/Bridgestone tyre centre Gympie White dual cab Hilux driving down Dead Mans Dropoff and took a few hours to go and get parts to repair it so he could get it out, then on the first heat he hit a tree and ripped the rear wheel off breaking the axle.
A few more hours for repairs saw him back for the optional afternoon heat 2 where he did a 26:19:75

Ken was having a fairly good first heat in his blue GQ leaf sprung ute until he staked a tyre, a quick wheel change saw him at the finish line in 30:29:00.
Brendan and Russel helped out with tyre repairs and he was back for the second heat where he did a respectable 23:54:47

Michael had a bit of trouble with a turbo hose and ignition short on the first heat in his Superior Engineering Red Nissan Ute clocking a 23:01:72, he opted out of the second heat as he was helping Dave.

Dave didn't get far at all as he hit a tree on Rollover Ridge and broke the end off his rear axle housing, some makeshift repairs involving a forked tree branch in place of the wheel allowed him to drive the DGR White hilux back out of the canyon and on to the car trailer ending his weekends racing.

Saturday Night:
The Night Run is the best part of the comp and gives a completely different aspect to the race, Brendan had a good run with a 30:13:00 while Ken managed a 25:56:66 even with an unplanned venture into the sticky black mud of Lake Tripygurgle, i'll bet he wished he had some decent driving lights on his ute.

Michael did a best time of 21:08:18 in a trouble free run, pity it wasn't in the finals.

The Finals:
Sunday morning saw the competitors fired up and ready to race with Brendan doing a personal best of 22:01:66 in an easy run and taking the Class B Trophy as well as taking the Outright Champion Trophy and cash.

Ken had a great run spoiled by several attempts to get over the Goolies, without his trouble on the rocks it would have been a very close time to Brendans but was still a personal best with a time of 23:45:53.

Michael dropped a front spring out twice and the repairs cost him several minutes as well as losing a lot of time by taking it easy and limping back to the finish with a disapointing 36:07:00 although he did pick up the Class C Trophy and cash.

Once again competitor numbers were down as a few other starters competed in another event which had changed dates but all drivers agreed that it is a great track to race and promised to be back better than ever next year!

.Shane Gerrish

RESULTS:

Carnage Canyon Champion:
Brendan Lobse, Russel Corbet 22:01:66

Class C:
Michael Hayes, David Burton-Bradley 36:07:00

Class B:
Brendan Lobse, Russel Corbet 22:01:66
Ken Bain, Callan McNamara 23:45:53
David Burton-Bradley, Michael Hayes DNF

All Terrain round 3 2009

2009-09-14T14:49:00.005+10:00

Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge
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

Expo 2009

2009-05-02T22:29:00.004+10:00

The show and shine:

The All Terrain Challenge Heats:

The All 4x4 Parts Gymkhana:

SSS Winch Challenge round 3 2008

2008-11-23T12:03:00.007+10:00

Mickey Thompson
SSS Winch Challenge
Round Three 2008 Landcruiser Mountain Park

The Final Round of the Inaugural Mickey Thompson SSS Winch Challenge started off with a field of 22 extremely keen teams ready to battle anything that Peter Stirling and his band of dedicated helpers could throw at them.

Competitors and Spectators alike were kept entertained on Friday night with challenging tracks in, out and along the gullies featuring tight uphill turns, deep water, extreme side angles and large tree roots on vertical banks.

More than one competitor had to anchor themselves to avoid tipping on their sides in the muddy water at the bottom of a steep climb on one of the tracks with the vertical climb up the bank over a large tree root on another track only metres away causing all sorts of mayhem, the competitors stuck on one track had a birds eye view of the action on the other track while they waited for their Navi’s to hook up the winches.

The sight of powerful lights spearing through the darkness and the bellowing of high revving V8’s echoing around the hills made for a very entertaining night’s racing.

Saturday Morning saw most of the Teams repaired and ready for another day of tough and unrelenting winching.
Two of the tracks were staged on the side of a very steep slope forcing the competitors to winch up, then winch back down again followed by winching up again on the N shaped left track whilst on the A shaped right track the competitors had a much simpler winch up and back down again section.
These two stages were so steep that the Navi’s had extreme difficulty climbing them and the vehicles had trouble reversing down and across at the same time as they were virtually hanging by their winch ropes.

Two of the tracks dodged in and out of one of the gullies with plenty of wheels in the air action much to the appreciation of the crowd.

Just to mix things up the other two tracks were a short and a long high speed run to really blow the cobwebs out and once again the hills were alive with the sound of V8 and Turbo Diesel music.

With the stages run and the scores being tallied it was time for Peter to unveil the secret stage 11 … this time it was a timed run around the Mud Pursuit track but with a twist … recent rain had filled one end of the track with a couple of metres of water and you had to maintain a fast enough speed through the shallower water at the top of the banked corner to prevent sliding down but as Robbie Marshall found out, if you went too fast the front right wheel grabbed in the water and pulled you in to the deep, luckily his sideways slide stopped him and he was able to reverse back up to the top of the bank and continue on.

With the fun over it was time to get ready for the presentation dinner where the Third Round Trophies were handed out, Congratulations to Wil Neilson and Chris Brame for fighting off a determined attack by Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin in second followed Robbie Marshall and Glen Macdougal in third.

The Trophies for the Overall winners of the 2008 series were then announced with Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin taking out a well deserved win from Robbie Marshall & Joel Jeffry/Glen MacDougal in second place and Jason Wotherspoon & Errold Misso/Anthony Stout in third.

It has been a fantastic Inaugural year for the SSS Winch Challenge with a number of innovative ideas tried and improvements made throughout the year, I’m sure the series will continue to grow and provide some more awesome action in 2009 !

.Shane Gerrish

Darren Blackburn launches the Navara...

Robbie Marshall loses it sideways into the deep water at the end on the mud pursuit track.

Round 3 Special Stage Winners:
SS1 Wil Neilson & Chris Brame
SS2 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS3 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS4 Wil Neilson & Chris Brame
SS5 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS6 Nathan Barrett & Danny McDonald
SS7 Michael Camac & Jason Enright
SS8 Christian Trusz & Terry Kane
SS9 Wil Neilson & Chris Brame
SS10 Robbie Marshall & Glen MacDougal
SS11 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin

Overall Scores for Round 3:
1 Wil Neilson & Chris Brame 857
2 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin 791
3 Robbie Marshall & Glen MacDougal 757
4 Christian Trusz & Terry Kane 657
5 Jason Wotherspoon & Anthony Stout 645
6 Michael Camac & Jason Enright 609
7 Mike Clayton & Samantha Clayton 589
8 Peter von Pein & Jane von Pein 581
9 Brad Drummond & Phil Macready 550
10 Nathan Barrett & Danny McDonald 543
11 Darren Blackburn & Mark Biezl 539
12 Brian Gregg & David Gregg 530
13 Ashlie Enright & Michael Baucock 441
14 Karl Chaney & Mark Stringer 400
15 Kirby White & William Dolan 361
16 Mark Fowler & Dean Grills 350
17 Joel Thomson & Paul Espig 215
18 Brad Dukes & Robbie Weller 177
19 Ashley Bunney & Warren Bunney 83
20 Shawn Swaffield & Phillip Benson 77
21 Bob Dunsmore & Damian Henningsen 67
22 Brad Cooper & Kevvy Knott 40
First Place

second place

third place

OVERALL RESULTS FOR 2008

1 Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin 2454
2 Robbie Marshall & Joel Jeffry/Glen MacDougal 2260
3 Jason Wotherspoon & Errold Misso/Anthony Stout 2096
4 Christian Trusz & Terry Kane 2087
5 Brad Drummond & Phil Macready 1872
6 Ashlie Enright & Michael Baucock 1825
7 Michael Camac & Glen Hollings/Jason Enrigh 1791
8 Peter & Jane von Pein 1780
9 Brian Gregg & Wil Neilson/David Gregg 1741
10 Derek Priestly/Joel Thomson & Paul Espig 1654
11 Scott Purkis & Josh Foster 1518
12 Wil Neilson & Glen Teichman/Chris Brame 1507
13 Ashley & Warren Bunney 1243
14 Darren Blackburn & Karl Chaney/Mark Biezl 1089
15 Mike & Samantha Clayton 1055
16 Mark Fowler & Mark Biezl/Dean Grills 1003
17 Nathan Barrett & Danny McDonald 995
18 Bob Dunsmore & Damian Henningsen 763
19 Kevin McCord & Glen MacDougal 547
20 Danny Moore & Matthew Sawyer 511
21 Wally Rhodes & Troy Callinan 507
22 Andrew Stark & Craig Linnane 493
23 Robert & Michael Marx 432
24 Karl Chaney & Mark Stringer 400
25 Kirby White & Kodi Zabel/William Dolan 379
26 Dave Metcalfe & Chris Wood 252
27 Brad Dukes & Robbie Weller 177
28 Robbie Weller & Anthony Stout 129
29 Shawn Swaffield & Phillip Benson 77
30 Brad Cooper & Kevvy Knott 40

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

Superior All Terrain Challenge round 3 2008

2008-11-02T18:14:00.005+10:00

SUPERIOR ALL TERRAIN CHALLENGE
ROUND 3 AND SERIES FINALS

Once again Landcruiser Mountain Park played host to the Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge.

This event has grown to become one of the major drawcards to the Mud Bulls and Music event weekend held at Landcruiser Mountain Park in the first weekend of November.

Spectators crowded to the Rock Arena to watch the heats on Friday before coming back for the finals on Sunday.

THE HEATS:
Competitors lined up side by side on separate tracks using the same countdown to launch their vehicles at the unforgiving obstacles with the Superior Alignment team once again coming up with some new approaches to the obstacles to keep the tracks new and interesting for the competitors.

The mud hole was partly emptied of the recent rain and it didn’t take long before the logs placed lengthways out of the exit became slippery with mud making everyone use as much momentum as possible to make it up to the rock garden at the top.

With breakages and strandings bound to happen at this level of competition it was great to see the Ozcat excavator standing by to extract the stricken vehicles quickly and safely.
The author has often been on the end of this machine being removed from the top of a large rock or putting the wheels back where they are supposed to be … on the bottom side of the vehicle !!

Stuart Parkes made good use of Ozcat’s services after breaking a hydraulic component and was lifted out of the track area to make repairs.

Robbie Marshall took a different approach to the cones on top of the mound, he drove past the cones then reversed back to get a better line so he could miss the inside cone that everyone else was hitting but unfortunately went back too far and the right rear wheel went up the bank and his GQ ute slowly and gracefully rolled right over ending up on the right hand side with Robbie still trying to use the momentum to get enough drive to get it back on its wheels.
He was soon put right way up and ready for the next track.

The sound of crunching metal echoed over the competition area as the competitors tackled the mound of rocks at the bottom of the course, the one metre high rock at the end had most slamming down on the chassis as they powered off the top to avoid being stranded with wheels hanging in mid air.

The rocks were not the only metal crunchers with a large tree leaning over in the gully ready to take out the roof of the vehicles as they went past.

As the shadows lengthened during the afternoon and the heats drew to a close most competitors were wondering if they went fast enough to get into the finals on Sunday.

There’s a fine line between breaking your truck and going the quickest you can with most taking the safe route during the heats although you wouldn’t know it going by the amount of air time the wheels were grabbing, I’m sure the spectators appreciated the action as they were kept enthralled by the action going on just in front of them all throughout the day.

THE HEATS:

Robbie Marshall reversed up the bank to get a better line but went a bit far and rolled it right over.

THE FINALS:

Sunday dawned with some cloud cover to help keep the sun’s bite at bay and the 5 finalists in each class lined up to find out what they had in store for them.

With the score reset at zero it was the best run today which would take out the honors in each of the classes and the teams stepped up the pace accordingly

The course was divided into two section with the first section in the top end of the gully then after a short stop to make sure the second half was cleared the competitors tackled the second section in the main competition area.

A couple of teams took the opportunity to repair their vehicles between sections.

Keith Bignell made it almost all the way through to the end but rolled his bundera bodied holden powered GQ on the finish line … to say he was elated to find out it had rolled past the finish line was an understatement!!

Damien Edwards broke an oil filter or component in the red landrover buggy but refused to give up and battled on with the motor knocking and steam pouring out all the way to the finish line where he took a well deserved bow from the roof of the much abused Buggy.

In the end Ben Van Gestal brought the Rangie in for a win in the Modified class, Brad Bernard punted the Scout into first place in the Super Modified class and Roger Edols scored a fine win with his blue Buggy in Outlaw class.

ROUND 3 RESULTS:

MODIFIED
1st PLACE Ben Van Gestal
2nd Ken bain
3rd Brian Langbein

SUPER MODIFIED
1st PLACE Brad Bernard
2nd Carl Chaney
3rd Keith Bignell

OUTLAW
1st PLACE Roger Edols
2nd Damien Edwards
3rd Rhett Bryant

THE FINALS:

Keith rolled on the finish line but the vehicle stopped after the line so he was elated that he had finished.

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN:

Once the score from the finals were worked out, the overall placing for the year were worked out and the top 3 vehicles from each class were pitted against each other to determine the overall winner for the year.

Once again the competitors were lined up and they launched themselves in a no holds barred attack on the course… no one held back and the battered and bruised vehicles were pounded over the obstacles unmercifully but in the final wash there can only be one winner and Damien McCotter took out the coveted trophy in his yellow buggy.

The Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge has grown and improved over the last couple of years with the times getting shorter and the trucks getting tougher but the one thing that has not changed is the fun and friendly way in which the competitors and marshals enjoy the weekend, everyone is sure looking forward to the next one!

2008 OVERALL RESULTS:

MODIFIED Ken Bain
SUPER MODIFIED Keith Bignell
OUTLAW Stuart Parks
LADIES Lynda O’Reilly

2008 KING OF THE MOUNTAIN:
Damien McCotter

The KING OF THE MOUNTAIN for 2008 is:
Damien McCotter

Carnage Canyon 2008

2008-10-05T22:21:00.009+10:00

Carnage Canyon was held at Landcruiser Mountain Park in sunny Queensland over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of October and is run down a remote Gorge in the upper reaches of the Brisbane River.

Carnage Canyon is an event for drivers and something that has a few features that no other comp has.
I have entered in a lot of different events over the years and picked out a few things i wanted to see changed then implemented them in this event.
1: no rules ... [apart from safety]
2: no track ... go where you please to get from A to B
3: no pre entry ... if you want to race just turn up,[with safety gear, rego and CTP] pay the entry fee and race
4: no penalties ... you can winch or carry boards etc
5: you don't have to have a Navi ... drive by yourself if you want.

This makes the whole event very casual and pressure free as evidenced by the Saturday night around the campfire at the start line.

There are three classes and as power or high speeds are not an issue they are sorted by tyre size.

Class A: up to 35" tyres
Class B: 35" to 37" tyres
Class C: over 37" tyres

All vehicles must be road registered.

The course itself has a huge and consistent variety of natural terrain spread along the 2.6 Kms ... everything from mud, water, hillclimbs, boulders, rocky outcrops, grassy flats, tight trees, sand, gravel, side slopes, deepish water crossings, wet rock slabs, rock gardens, drop offs to sandy bottomed water crossings.

We have one run on Saturday morning then the afternoon off to repair anything needed before another run in the same direction at night so you know where you are going and what to expect ... this is absolutely awesome and most people actually beat their daylight times!

The final is run in the reverse direction on Sunday Morning with a big jump right at the finish line to end on a high

Great fun to drive fast but can be driven slowly in a stocker if you don't mind a bit of damage to sills and bumpers.

A normal trip with a few mates down the canyon normally takes 3 to 4 hours but the best time so far has been 8 minutes 34 seconds in race mode set by Jeff White in 2006

We had a quiet weekend with only three competitors and all in B class.
[35" - 37"tyres]

B3: Ashley Bunney and Angus Allen pushed the 2.8 Hilux very hard all weekend with a 14'4", 12'27", and a final run of 12'25" to bring it in to second place.
they bent a spring hanger and a tie rod on the final run but had no trouble apart from that.
They had a bit of drama getting over the Goolies but drove the gully to get through on the way down and went round the back over the top of the rock in the final with some nice wheel lifting action.

B2: Michael Davis and Grant Walker had a great first ever run down the canyon in the 4.2TD GU with a superb first up time of 9'36" but did a tyre sidewall near the start on the night stage and had to change it dropping their time to 33'50".
Their final run was ruined by another destroyed tyre but they refused to give up and drove the track on three to complete it in 26'15" bringing it into third place.
Amazingly their mag wheel survived the journey with minimal damage but their winch got a good work out to pull the vehicle across the Goolies.

B1: Wil Neilson and Chris Brame in the 5.7 V8 powered GQ did a fantastic 8'57" on his first run but were put off by the lights of a spectator and cruised to a 11'22" on the night stage, they were asked if they wanted to run again but were in the final anyway and so declined.
Their final run on Sunday morning was a race winning 8'49" only 15 seconds short of the best ever time.
Wil has run the course in 2006 and so knew what to expect but Chris had never been down the Canyon at race pace before and was heard to say "nothing" ... its not very often Chris is speechless !!

We may have been well down on numbers due to other competitions run on the previous two weekends and other events during the same weekend but we all had a great time and are already looking forward to next year!

.Shane Gerrish

A few pics taken over the weekend:

The "goolies", a large outcrop of rock and probably the hardest part of the track, i spent friday morning driving the track and clearing the new growth before the race ...

Racing:
Exiting the end of the track at the "Dinner Hole" ...

Sunday Mornings reverse direction over the "Goolies" ...

The jump at the finish line...

Tough Tracks Round 3 2008

2008-09-28T12:07:00.015+10:00

RESULTS: still to be announced

TOUGH TRACKS 4X4 CHALLENGE
Round three 2008

The Springs 4x4 Park played host to the final round of the 2008 season under blue skies and mild temperatures making for excellent viewing for the many spectators crowded around the tracks.

The Park is situated 25Kms south of Warwick right beside the New England Highway making access easy for trucks, trailers, campers and caravans.

Saturdays tracks were laid out on the hill at the rear of the office.

Both the Challenge class and Trophy class’s track 1 utilised the same starting point but the more challenging Challenge class track veered off to the right after 15 metres and into large loose boulders catching some out early.

The loose boulders just before the 300 point mark had most easily traversing this section but a couple of teams rolled when boulders were dragged into different positions by previous teams.

The huge rock step at the 300 point mark just after this section had most teams struggling with one team rolling after getting up over it causing a rapid extension of the safety zone.

A side angle off a rock slab had a few teams worried but once past this point it was a simple climb over another rock slab to the finish line.

The Trophy class track continued straight up before veering to the left between some isolated boulders then doing a U turn and winding its way back to the bottom of the hill through more rocky obstacles.

Momentum seemed to be the preferred strategy making for some exciting action for the crowd of spectators.

Track 2 for both classes was a little further up the same hillside with the Challenge class starting off by climbing over some jutting rocks before tackling a steep rocky outcrop at the 400 point mark that stopped all but the most determined attacks.

Plenty of sill bar metal and tyre rubber was left behind in futile attempts to conquer this mid point obstacle with many different lines taken over the wide competition area between the cones,
those that did make it truly deserved every point.

Those that made it thus far had no real trouble climbing the cascade of rock steps to the finish line.

The Trophy class had numerous obstacles on their track but the one that caught most out was a simple log across the track.

Plenty of loose dirt was sent skywards as the teams struggled to gain traction with the underpinnings dragging on wood.

Some rock steps greeted their attempts at the finish line with a big side lean occurring if they slipped off line.

Sunday saw the Challenge class move to the back of the park and tackle a rocky creek bed studded with deep clefts and water sections, most had only minor troubles to get to the end where a bonus line was added.

To the left out of the gorge was the “less difficult” 900 point finish line, most had a few goes to get out this way due to the steep dirt strewn rock face causing them to slide off line.

A few tried the near vertical rock waterfall with the 1000 point finish line sitting enticingly at the top of the mass of smooth rock.

Lynda in the team Barbie Gq ute jarred her back when the truck slammed back into the waiting rock at the bottom of the waterfall and had to be helped from her Nissan after a valiant effort to conquer the track.

Evan rolled his hilux on its side after sliding sideways across the rock face and Sloshy and his hilux did a mirror act a short time later although after his roll on Saturday there was no extra damage to be seen anyway.

Only Shane and Mick dual driving the Superior Engineering GQ made the 1000 points mark to take out first and second for the track.

The Trophy class was running their track 3 at the same time but was out near the front of the park so spectators had to choose which class they wanted to watch this time round.

Most had enough time while the score were tallied to pack up camp and drive back out to the office where the weekends presentations were held in the marquee.
With the season at an end it only remains for the 2008 year Outright winners to be announced at the Tough Tracks 4x4 clubs annual Xmas dinner in early December.

Its been a fantastic year of action, guts and glory run by a team of dedicated volunteers who can be truly proud of the great competition they have developed over the past three years … well done guys and gals !!

See you at round 1 on Feb 14 at Janowen 4wd park!

.Shane Gerrish

Superior All Terrain Challenge Round 2 2008

2008-09-21T11:54:00.009+10:00

15 competitors fronted up to Landcruiser Mountain Parks torturous All Terrain Track area to tackle the tracks the team at Superior Alignments had ripped out of the rocky gully above the expo area.

Competitors were sorted into two Teams and raced two at a time on side by side tracks, once finished they then swapped tracks and raced again.

Mick is a long time competitor but his ute was not ready to compete so he has been concentrating on the track building for quite some time, as a reward they gave him Starky's ute to use and let him loose as a wildcard.

Shane got a little enthusiastic on the log dump and launched his wagon over the top with wheels airborn then had to stop in a hurry as the finish line was just after the last log.

Brad was back in the V8 Scout but the motor was missing badly all weekend although it didn't seem to slow him down much and he took out third in Super Modified.

Romana always has a great time and is one of the regulars who uses the competition as stress relief, must be working going by the smile on her face at every event.

Stuart Parkes Outlaw Buggy looked like it was fresh from a show and shine competition and was beautifully presented, he was not afraid to go hard in it though and his results showed he had done his homework well on the build up by winning the Outlaw class.

Keith Bignell drove like a demon all weekend in his holden V6 powered, nissan chassied toyota bodied hybrid to once again take out Super Modified Class.

Lynda was mixing it with the boys at the pointy end not only taking out the top ladies award but coming second in the super competitive Super Modified class.

Michael was on fire piloting his buggy to second place in the Outlaw class.

Shayne was doing well until he broke the top link on the rear diff and had to be carted off by the excavator.

Daniel may only have L plates for the road but fifth place in Super Modified showed he had what it takes on the track.

Brad smashed the windscreen when he got a bit close to the tree in the gully after bending a rim and deflating the front left tyre, he still managed to finish in a reasonable time though.

Shane was struggling to finish the course in two wheel drive after breaking the front end.

Yuri Rock almost claimed another victim when Ken Bain got into a bad spot and had to be dragged out by the excavator, he did well enough for most of the weekend to take out first place in Modified class.

Damien had a great run over the weekend taking out fourth place in Outlaw class even despite a rollover in the final.

Jack was only six points behind Ken to take out second place in Modified class.

The newly dug out rock claims its first victim, Al in the Yuri Buggy and so was christened "Yuri Rock"

A huge electrical storm overnight had me erecting a makeshift shelter before the rain hit.

If you thought they went hard on Saturday then you should have seen them all go even harder in the finals on Sunday.

Craig had quite a few goes at this obstacle but finally made it up to come in third in Outlaw class.

The tree at the top of the course took its toll on a few trucks over the weekend.

Drive the front up and spin the back round then reverse back off on the other side of the cone was one option a few teams made over the weekend.

Oops!

Rear wheel steer certainly came in handy getting out of the gully.

Outlaw class had their own section of track down the gully a bit.

There was plenty of rock for the other classes as well.

RESULTS:

Modified:
First: Ken Bain and Callan 295

Second: Jack and Josh 289

Super Modified:
First: Keith Bignell and Tom 284

Second: Lynda and Aaron 279
Third: Brad and Brad 278
Fourth: Shane and Ashley 269
Fifth: Daniel and Rod 241

Outlaw:
First: Stuart Parkes and Jodie 289

Second: Michael and Matt 262
Third: Craig and Paul 257
Fourth: Damien and Jamie 206

Logan Challenge 2008

2008-08-29T17:13:00.011+10:00

Logan Challenge 2008

Heading south from Warwick for about 25Kms brought me to a blaze of light indicating the challenge area in front of The Springs 4WD Park office where three of the stages for the Logan Challenge were being run under lights.

The Logan Challenge is a survival based 4WD event, each team comprises 3 cars and a manager. The Challenge accepted 12 teams equalling 36 competing cars, the competition ran over the Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.
The event has everything from winching, hard drives, GPS runs, mechanical stages and first aid, basically anything 4WD related spread over 20 stages all around the Park.
Spectators had several stages within walking distance of the campground and a food tent helped to make it an enjoyable weekend watching the teams put their vehicles and themselves through their paces.

The competitors did not need their vehicles for the 3 Friday night stages but the freezing cold night air probably made them wish they did so they could use their heaters.

The Friday night stages included a "wheelbarrow" race, "blind obstacle" course and "drag the objects from the ring" race.

After an overnight Frost the sun was out for a cool clear day for the start of the driving stages.

SS5
This stage was the spear the spud stage where competitors had to pick up the coloured spuds with a spear then change driver and navigator before rerunning the course and dropping the correct coloured spuds back into the coloured tyres, with red and orange colours in use there was some confusion getting them back in the correct tyres.

SS9
This stage started with a zigzag across the gully where competitors exited the gully up the steep bank before looping back to the gully and driving back down the gully to the start finish line.
A large loose rock at the base of the climb caused the early runners some grief but it was broken into smaller pieces as the competitors took their toll on it.

SS8
This stage ran through a deep mud pit before the competitors had to build a bridge and drive the cars across then tackle a steep climb up the bank.
They then drove over the hill and back down a gully before turning left into a long series of deep waterholes to get back to the start finish line.

The first team took a lot longer to build the bridge than expected so the organisers changed the crossing position and the position of the logs to speed things up and awarded the first team "average points".
The Mud hole at the start caused most vehicles quite a few dramas and teams had to work hard to shift the logs into position for the bridge building then move them out of the way again after the trucks had crossed to allow a clear passage up through the waterholes, several trucks had water rolling over their roofs as they hit the deep holes hard and fast on their way back to the start.

SS16
competitors started with a long run across the ridge line and a drop down the long steep "beer o'clock hill".
A few of the competitors made it down "not quite in control" and did a graceful slide around the bottom corner.
A drive along the creek bed over some large rocky outcrops preceded a climb up a bank and the long run back to the start.

Most spectators and competitors agreed it was another great event put on by the Logan 4WD club members and volunteers with plenty of action happening at all times and great weather helping make it an enjoyable weekend for all.

Results:

1) Logan Districts.

2) SOC Racing.

3) Thunder Monkeys.

4) Redlands 4WD Centre [aka The Simon Slayers]

5) The Pansies.

6) Gold Coast 4wd Club.

12) DDD - The South East QLD Deaf 4wd Club.

SSS Winch Challenge round 2 2008

2008-08-02T22:45:00.006+10:00

The SSS Winch Challenge was held on the weeknd of the 2nd and 3rd of August at Landcruiser Mountain Park to the north of Jimna.

Friday Night saw two quick stages and one stage with a huge hill straight up out of the creek.
Johnny Trackabout lent his Truck out but at least this time it wasn't him that rolled it !

It was soon back on its wheels and continued on to finish the stage but didn't sound too healthy after that and they retired from the event.

it was a long steep hill with everyone taking at least two goes at the winch to make it up.

Dave Metcalf was behind the wheel instead of behind the whistle for this event and getting a reminder of what it like competing instead of running an event, he was also an early retiree with clutch problems.

The big hill stage was taking a long time to complete and the stage didn't finish until 3.30AM with most taking the opportunity to hang around the campfire to keep the chill at bay.

Saturday saw a further six stages, two of which involved reverse winching down into a steep narrow gulley before winching back out and returning back to the start line.
The winch tree was pulled out of the ground on one of the stages forcing the rest to use ground anchors.

Two of the other stages crossed forward through the same steep narrow gully causing quite a few problems with approach angles.

The creek and the tall steep hill on the other side of the valley was the setting for two more stages running side by side.
Competitors had an easy drive through the creek followed by a very steep and long winch up the bare hillside, not a place you would want to break a winch rope as it was a long way back down with nothing to stop you.
the end of the track had both stages running through the same deep water hole to the finish line.

Sunday Started with a layer of frost covering the swags but it turned into a beautiful warm day to watch the very long tenth stage.

Competitors crisscrossed the creek attacking some deep sections and slippery banks as they made their way up to the mid point.

Lucky it was warm as quite a few of the people lining the creek got wet as the competitors blasted up a long section in the creek just before the finish corner where they had one last winch then screamed to a halt in the finish box.

While the results were tallied, special stage 11 commenced on the hill drag area across the paddock.

The faster trucks grabbed some air over the cross roads with Greg Jackson losing the front drive shaft on the bottom jump and still managing to make it to the top.

Wil Neilson had a scary moment when his Nissan bounced off the track after getting air and went up the bank eliciting a rather large ooh from the crowd of spectators.

The V8’s really loved being able to stretch their legs on this climb but Robbie Marshall’s Turbo Diesel still managed to get the quickest time.

The presentations were held back at the Expo Music Stage to round off another fantastic weekend of thrills and spills.

Congratulations to Christian Trusz and Terry Kane for a great effort to take the winners trophy.

Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin came second.

Jason Wotherspoon and Errold Misso came third.

Stage Winner with no penalties are:

SS1: Christial Trusz and Terry Kane
SS2: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin
SS3: Wally Rhodes and Troy Callinan
SS4: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin
SS5: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin
SS6: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin
SS7: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin
SS8: Wil Neilson and Glen Teichman
SS9: Rob Marshall and Joel Jeffrey
SS10: Christian Trusz and Terry Kane
SS11: Robbie Marshall

The overall scores starting from 24th spot are:

Total
24: Kirby White and Kodi Zabel 18
23: Darren Blackburn and Karl Chaney 23
22: Robbie Weller and Anthony Stout 129
21: David Metcalfe and Chris Wood 252
20: Nathan Barrett (Noof) and Danny McDonald 452
19: Mike Clayton and Samantha Clayton 466
18: Andrew Stark and Craig Linnane 493
17: Wally Rhodes and Troy Callinan 507
16: Danny Moore and Matthew Sawyer 511
15: Brian Gregg and David Gregg 533
14: Michael Camac and Glen Hollings 575
13: Brad Drummond and Phil Macready 603
12: Peter von Pein and Jane von Pein 621
11: Ashley Bunney and Warren Bunney 627
10: Wil Neilson and Glen Teichman 650
9: Mark Fowler and Mark Beilz 653
8: Michael Baucock and Ashlie Enright 687
7: Bob Dunsmore and Damian Henningsen 696
6: Robbie Marshall and Joel Jeffrey 701
5: Scott Purkis and Josh Foster 709
4: Joel Thomson and Paul Espig 742
3: Jason Wotherspoon and Errold Misso 764
2: Greg Jackson and Brent Griffin 796
1: Christian Trusz and Terry Kane 874

Tough Tracks Round 2 2008

2008-06-18T14:35:00.032+10:00

The Second round of the Tough Tracks 4X4 Challenge took place over the Queens Birthday long weekend in June with a slight departure from the normal itinerary.

The 15 Challenge Class and 15 Trophy class competitors had a late start on Saturday with only one longish track to do each while two shorter tracks each were planned for Sunday followed by presentations and Dinner back at the Base Camp.

All six tracks were run in the same section of a rock filled gully at the famous Landcruiser Mountain Park north west of Brisbane with heavy rain during the week and some patches of light drizzle over the weekend making it "interesting" on the smooth rock slabs and rounded boulders of the competition area.

CHALLENGE CLASS:

Track One:

Track One was held in a fairly open section of the gully with large rocks and rounded boulders kept slippery by small puddles

Craig George and Scott Henry had vehicle troubles before getting to the track so 3rd in line Rick Nowlan was first to enter the track and got severely hung up on the first boulder when the spring hanger got solidly caught and they only just managed to get off on the last try.

The obstacle at the 200 point marker was almost the full width of the gully allowing for several different lines to choose from but Rick didn't make it over the large boulders of the middle on his third try ending his run.

Aaron Williams took the narrow path to the far left using his rails to pivot on the huge boulder and made it look easy.

Ben Henry also tried the boulders in the centre but his front tailshaft pulled apart stopping his run.

Only a couple of competitors tried the wide line at the 300 point mark with most keeping to the left and tilting into the rock on the right and smashing their drivers door.

Ben Taylor rolled the left front tyre off the bead just before the 400 point marker and then went harder and harder much to the appreciation of the cheering crowd, he smashed his way to the 900 marker before finally getting stuck between boulders to end a truly awesome 3 Wheel Drive run.

The tight turn and large rocks at the 700 mark caught quite a few competitors out.

Ken Bain almost tipped his MQ ute on its side at the 800 mark and had to call it so he could be helped back to a stable position.

Track Two:

Track Two was held at the top of the competition area amongst a tree lined section of the gully with a fair amount of the track between rock sections comprising loose sandy soil.

It was a tight squeeze between a sharp edged rock on the left and a wire fence on the right connected to a log with the 100 point marker cone balanced on it ... if you moved the fence too much the marker tipped over costing you a 200 point penalty.

A large puddle at the 300 point mark made the next large rock slab very slippery with most competitors forced to use lots of revs and momentum to climb out of the waterhole.

The 600 point mark involved a very tight turn around a tree surrounded by large boulders.

The 800 point mark was also a tight turn over large boulders but had the bonus of a tight squeeze between a rock wall and a large tree.

The competitors who managed to get to the 1000 point finish line found it almost impossible to get across the isolated large boulders without careful rock stacking.

Track Three:

Track Three dropped down off the far bank, across a log, through a small waterhole then at the 400 point mark dropped down over a 1 1/2 metre rock with a log propped into a crevice to help ease the vehicle down the rock into the boulder field below.

As Rick Nowlan started to climbed the large rock on the left at the 800 point mark he yelled out to his navigator that he was getting a bit worried, Mick nonchalantly yelled back "don't worry about that, it wont tip over" ... one inch further and over it went bringing a huge round of laughter from the spectators, competitors and officials!
However, only Micks pride sustained any real damage.

Most competitors pulled out at the 900 point mark as the large climb up between two large rocks to get to the 1000 point finish line was extremely difficult and losing points for no extra gain if they didn't make it seemed like a high probability.

TROPHY CLASS:

The challenge class finished their tracks before the trophy class so i had the opportunity to watch the competitors tackle their last track.

Track Three:

Track Three took a slightly different route that the Challenge Class's Track One. Starting beside the large rock ledge, the track wound from one side of the gully to the other crossing rocky sections made muddy by all the traffic over the weekend.
momentum seemed to be the key to keeping moving and the girls in Offroad Princess Racing took out a fine win on the track.

The 40 series smoked the tyres up trying to gain some traction on the first obstacle.

Not to be outdone, the GQ shorty creates a larger cloud of tyre smoke on the crossover.

RESULTS:
.Challenge Class:
Track 1 first Daniel Schloss and Ryan Scott.
Track 2 first Mathew Bassett and Chris Lenehan.
Track 3 first Daniel Schloss and Ryan Scott.

Overall first: Daniel Schloss and Ryan Scott, Sloshy racing.
Overall second: Aaron Williams and Wesley Williams, team Maybelline.
Overall third: Evan Baldock and John Baldock, team Rellow.

.Trophy Class:
Track 1 first Darryn Bradshaw and Brenden Visher.
Track 2 first Darryn Bradshaw and Brenden Visher.
Track 3 first Teresa Bradshaw and Sally Kane.

Overall first Huub Beckers and Casey Visher, Jet racing.
Overall second Darryn Bradshaw and Brenden Visher, Wet Racing.
Overall third Teresa Bradshaw and Sally Kane, Offroad Princess Racing.

.Shane Gerrish

Superior All Terrain Challenge Round 1 2008

2008-05-22T09:43:00.004+10:00

Superior Alignments All Terrain Challenge
Round one May 3 2008 Landcruiser Mountain Park

The first round of the Superior All Terrain Challenge was held during the May long weekend with clear blue skies and cold crisp nights over Landcruiser Mountain Parks Expo area.
With several different competitions such as the Superior All Terrain Challenge, SSS Winch Challenge, Barrel Race, Gymkhana, Rallycross, Hill Drags and Mud Pursuit taking place over the weekend, spectators were spoilt for choice on what to watch but found it impossible to watch them all as some overlap occurred.

Saturday morning saw a new concept for the Superior All Terrain Challenge with heats comprising side by side racing on separate short tracks.
The two competitors then swap tracks and race again before moving to the next pair of tracks.

The tractor tyres scored a victim when Lynda in the bright pink Team Barbie GQ patrol got hung up on the diffs on the second set of tracks down on the flats while

Michael in the white wizard GU was having trouble keeping his wheels on the ground on the rock face at the start of one of the third pair of tracks.

Romana was enjoying herself as usual ... she usually has a big grin all weekend.

Fresh from competing at Tuff Truck, Greg had the repainted, repowered and revamped rover in fine form as they attacked the courses, everyone knows Red is supposed to be faster and they were out to prove it.

Brian had put a new silver body on the old blue MQ and had only finished a few hours before so was hoping it would all keep together OK for the weekend.

Steve rolled the black 75 series whilst climbing the loose powdery climb of the
3rd set when the front slid round, luckily the roll cage did its job and saved a lot of damage to both human and vehicle bodies.

The last track of the day was another change from the norm.
Competitors had 4 obstacles to drive within a time limit but could gain a bonus if they drove the bonuses a second time with the proviso that if they didn’t make it in time they lost all the points.
Those who had an easy run managed two runs while those who had a bit of trouble played it safe and stuck with the one run.
Keith was one of only a few who took the uphill run through the big rocks of the third obstacle while most of the others took the down hill direction through them.

Sunday saw the top 5 in each class line up for the final shootout with the racing all held in the area directly in front of the Rock Bar.

Craig hit the rock garden hard enough to shake his fillings out and had the wheels on his buggy bouncing high in the air while traversing the angled logs along the top track.

Paul had a good run in the Big Wheels hilux with consistent driving all weekend.
The side angle as he traversed the rock pile looked pretty spectacular.

Brian’s luck ran out when he got stuck on the tractor tyres and broke a main spring leaf on the front of the MQ, he kept the V8 roaring though until the axle moved far enough for the tailshaft to separate disconnecting drive to the front end, he still didn’t give up and kept trying but the noise of the tailshaft flogging around put an end to his run.

John had a fast run with the boxing kangaroo on the bonnet of his Middy bouncing all over the place but his time didn’t stop until he had collected all the bits that fell out of his vehicle.
The tailgate fell off just before the tractor tyres and his spare and the ramp fell out as he came into the finish line … it was a quite a comedy as they ran around with no idea what had fallen off or where it landed but they couldn’t finish until all the bits were secured back onto the vehicle.

The All Terrain Challenge was a little down on numbers as a few of the regulars couldn’t compete but some new competitors had added some variety and made it a fun and exciting competition for competitors and spectators alike.
. Shane Gerrish

RESULTS:

Outlaw:
1st Damien McCotter
2nd Roger Edols
3rd Stuart Parkes
4th Craig Scotney
5th Greg Tinney

Super Modified:
1st Keith Bignell
2nd Ross Jewel
3rd Paul Whiting
4th Lynda O’Reilly
5th Craig Kittle

Modified:
1st Ken Bain
2nd John Butler
3rd Rick Nolan
4th Brian Langbien

The winners:

A few more pics:

Tuff Truck Challenge [non truck pics]

2008-04-17T08:31:00.003+10:00

After driving the 850 Kms overnight on thursday i passed the small town of Bulga not far from the Tuff Truck site on friday morning.

Pics from Friday:

The Pub at Bulga...

The sponsors campsite with the 5 event courses held in amongst the trees behind...

One of the competitors enters the Tuff Truck site, the show and shine area is off to the right with the mud run behind it...

Simon from 4WDTV attaching one of his stickers during the show and shine ...

The Team Barbie fan club ...

Spare wheel ...

Video interviews by 4WDTV ...

Portraits by Offroad Images ...

This bloke spent all day attaching sponsors stickers to the competitors vehicles ...

The crew at 4WDTV ...

When the Friday night entertainment started at the Mud Run this Yabbie was one of many washed up on the bank ... i should have collected them all and had a great feed!

Working hard in the Mud Run ...

Lights, Camera, no action ...

With none of the first few Trucks getting past the first rock pile and long recoveries taking place it was decided to modify the track and lets them run again ..

Not so squeezy ...

Helping Hand ...

High water mark ...

I don't think i should have stopped here ...

Because now i have a mobile mud bath ...

At the end of the night it was good to relax around a roaring fire ...

Saturday:

oops, one of a kind rear steer broken ...

Sunday:

"funny thing happened on the way to the shop dear!" ...

Offroad ...

Hailstorm on the way home ...

Tuff Truck Challenge

2008-04-17T08:29:00.003+10:00

Tuff Truck is the "Bathurst" of 4WD events with huge crowds and a fantastic atmosphere.
I was there filming for 4WDTV and managed to grab a few pics at the same time.

Friday morning saw the competitors start streaming in for scrutineering and then lining up for the show and shine..

Spectators had the chance to get a good look at the wierd and wonderful mods...

Friday night saw half the field tackle the Mud Run while the other half tackled the Mystery Night Stage ... they swapped over the next night.

The first rock mound stopped most of the first few competitors...

The large rocks under the mud were impossible to see and caught many out...

Trying to move one of the rocks out of the way...

despite some valiant attempts the rocks caused long delays to get the competitors out...

They decided to move the rocks and let the first competitors run again...

With the rock mound a bit easier the next long muddy hole had competitors driving the sides to avoid the deep soft mud in the middle ... some went a bit too high...

These guys were all prepared for a dip...

Most were completely covered in mud...

The first Mudhole was quite long and very deep...

The step up stopped most who got through to the end of the first mud hole...

Most just tried the old "if in doubt, go flat out" approach...

SSS Winch Challenge Round One 2008

2008-03-26T20:41:00.014+10:00

SSS Winch Challenge
round 1 2008 Landcruiser Mountain Park

The Mickey Thompson SSS Winch Challenge is a brand new series started by Peter Stirling and Alben Perrett.
Held in the rugged terrain north of the tiny forestry township of Jimna a couple of hours northwest of Brisbane, it proved to be a demanding test for the teams and an exciting event for the spectators.

The event kicked off on Friday night with stages 1 and 2 held in the Expo Gully with two vehicles racing side by side on separate tracks easily viewable by the spectators.

Both vehicles came back later and started on the opposite track and whilst the competitors finished too far apart to gauge times it was easy to see who did better on the various obstacles.

The step up over logs at the finish line saw a number of large wheel lifts much appreciated by the surrounding spectators.

Stages 3 and 4 were held on Saturday morning at a small amphitheatre on Kings Road utilising one steep hillside allowing side by side racing again.

One tree in particular caused more than its fair share of panel damage as competitors winched down while trying to do a dog leg curve in the loose soil of the side slope to clear it.

Stage 5 in the same amphitheatre involved a water crossing right before a steep hill, the hill became undercut as the day wore on causing chassis to be dragged over the top and leaving wheels hanging in mid air.

Stage 6 at the top end of the amphitheatre allowed the competitors to use all of the power as they sped across the hillside with some large dirt plumes and sideways action on the bottom sideslope and again as they sped down the fenceline through the finish line corner.

Sunday Morning saw the competitors line up at a section of creek behind the park office with stages 7 & 8 side by side.

The two stages crossed the creek and up a huge bank that saw more than one winching attempt end in failure before driving a large circle back through the creek again to the start finish line.

Stage 9 crossed the creek below the other stages with a tight angled climb between two “no touching” markers making it almost compulsory to winch to avoid sliding into one of them

Stage 10 was held a little down the creek with a side angle climb up a rockface beside a pair of trees that saw plenty of close up action, the finish line was beyond a deep and muddy creek crossing forcing most of the field to break out the ground anchors to winch themselves up the soft soil bank.

With the comp now over the competitors returned to the expo site for photos and “stage eleven” which all the competitors enjoyed immensely … you’ll have to turn up to the next round to find out about that one!

stages 1 and 2 were held in the expo gully on Friday night with two vehicles racing side by side on separate tracks easily viewable by the spectators.

Stages 3 and 4 were held on Saturday morning at a small ampitheater on Kings Road utilising one steep hillside allowing side by side racing again.

stage 5 had a water crossing while stage 6 had the nearby hillside

Sunday Morning saw the competition move to over behind the Park office along the creek, tracks 7 and 8 were once again side by side racing.

Tracks 9 and 10 were held a little further down the creek.

RESULTS:_____________________________________________________________________________

Overall scores for Modified Class in this series are :

Car Number
Driver
Navigator
Total Points

First 31
Greg Jackson
Brent Griffin
867

Second 36
Scott Purkis
Joshua Foster
809

Third 37
Rob Marshall
Joel Jeffry
802

Fourth 44
Brad Drummond
Phil Macready
719

Fifth 33
Ashlie Enright
Michael Baucock
697

Sixth 38
Derek Priestly
Paul Espig
697

Seventh 35
Jason Wotherspoon
Errold Misso
687

Eighth 39
Brian Gregg
Wil Neilson
678

Ninth 32
Michael Camac
Glen Hollings
607

Tenth 43
Peter von Pein
Jane von Pein
578

Eleventh 41
Christian Trusz
Terry Kane
556

Twelth 40
Ashley Bunney
Warren Bunney
533

Thirteenth 42
Darren Blackburn
Karl Chaney
527

Fourteenth 34
Robert Marks
Michael Marks
432

Overall scores for Standard Class in this series are :

Car Number
Driver
Navigator
Total Points

First 1
Kevin McCord
Glen MacDougal
547

Stage Winners are:

SS1: Jason Wotherspoon & Errold Misso
SS2: Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS3: Scott Purkis & Joshua Foster
SS4: Darren Blackburn & Karl Chaney
SS5: Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS6: Rob Marshall & Joel Jeffry
SS7: Ashlie Enright & Michael Baucock
SS8: Greg Jackson & Brent Griffin
SS9: Peter von Pein & Jane von Pein
SS10: Derek Priestly & Paul Espig

Tough Tracks Round 1 2008

2008-02-17T20:14:00.010+10:00

TOUGH TRACKS 4X4 CHALLENGE round 1 2008

The 2008 Tough Tracks 4X4 Challenge series started with a bang … and a crunch and a shatter, with 5 rollovers during the weekend as drivers pushed their vehicles to the limit and beyond in their quest to take out the coveted number one position.

Janowen Hills 4WD Park north of Warwick played host to the first round of the season with recent rain providing a lush green backdrop to an action packed weekend.

Track one courses for the Challenge and Trophy classes were held along the cliff face overlooking the camp ground so spectators didn’t have far to go to watch a top class field of competitors tackle the tough and demanding climbs and obstacles.

The short wheel base vehicles are difficult to drive in this sort of terrain and Steve in the blue GQ shorty put on a spectacular display of wheel lifting action as the boys with their never say die attitude attacked the obstacles in a way that was to prove costly later on.

Ben had the blue dual cab Hilux hopping high in the air as he attempted the ledge at the finish while his brother Scott had it even higher when he had his turn.

The top turn over the side of the cliff from a side on angle had most drivers having to accelerate to stay upright although there was still a lot of back wheel lifts as they drove over the side so the “pucker factor” was pretty high.

The high ledge at the top of a steep loose climb that marked the finish line brought many teams undone with only 13 of the 20 teams managing to finish the course.

First for the Challenge class track was Brett Thorpe followed by Rick Nowlan and coming in third was Grant Walker.

First for the Trophy class track was Greg Cox, second was Robert Anderson and third was Darryn Bradshaw.

Track Two for Trophy class was held on the same cliff face but at the end of the main campground while Challenge class was further along at the start of the second campground so once again the spectators didn’t have far to go and with both tracks held in a gully the viewing was easy from the sides.

The Challenge class track started out with an easy climb before dropping steeply into the gully in front of a small ledge.
The climb back out of the gully had a few vehicles bouncing sideways and almost tipping over the edge but those that made it up had to do a very sharp U turn back into the gully where they were faced with a steep drop to the side and almost all ended up taking out the inside cone to create a safer line.

Brett in the black GQ ute had a heart stopping moment when the front wheel dropped into a hole tipping over alarmingly.

Ben in the blue dual cab hilux broke the steering on this corner ending his run.

Ben in the purple Hilux started to tip on this section but some quick acceleration saved it until he hit a large boulder which flipped him onto his side with barely a scratch although it finished his run.

Mick in the red GQ ute had a great run until the final climb when he tried to drive around the large tree root in the centre of the track by going high up the bank, got sideways across the track and rolled one and a quarter times ending up at the bottom of the hill.

He was not hurt and the ute was righted and pushed up the valley out of the way for repairs.

Not to be outdone, Steve in the blue GQ shorty tried the same line as Mick and rolled one and a half times at an angle across the bank and down into Micks ute.

Once again the rollcage did its work and no one was hurt.

The Challenge class track remained unconquered with Jason Bond coming in first, Rick Nowlan in second and Scott Henry third.

The Trophy class track was won by Huub Beckers, second was Ted Cavanagh and third was Tamara Findlay

The two Track 3’s on Sunday was staged up the valley past the dam campsite and once again was held in gullies to allow good spectator viewing.

After a steep side angle drop in and managing to clear all the large boulders on the top U turn, Rick managed to break the steering on the Hilux ending his run.

Scotty drove the Dual cab Hilux well until the last climb where he got a bit enthusiastic and bounced off line and ending up on his roof damaging the motor so brother Ben was unable to attempt the track.

Steve drove the bruised and battered GQ shorty all the way to the last hill where he also attacked the hill and bounced off line to end up on his roof again in the same spot as Scotty.

First in Challenge class was Matthew Bassett, second was Brett Thorpe and third was Craig Kittle

First in Trophy class was Darryn Bradshaw, second was Robert Anderson and third was Tamara Findlay

Overall Winner of Challenge Class was Brett Thorpe, second was Michael Hayes and third was Rick Nowlan.

Overall Winner of Trophy class was Darryn Bradshaw, second was Tamara Findlay and third was Huub Beckers.

.Shane Gerrish

a few more pics...

Links

2008-01-11T18:48:00.001+10:00

My other great interest is Photography so i have set up a separate blog for that.
http://bigred4x4.blogspot.com/2008/01/welcome.html

This link is to a tyre calculator with explanations
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Vision X light test

2008-01-02T23:07:00.001+10:00

VISION X driving lights.

I have recently fitted a set of the VISION X HID-8500C lights on the Bullbar of the Patrol and let me tell you … I am blown away by how good they are !!

I have been running a set of 100 watt Hella Rallye 4000 halogen lights for a few years and have been really happy with them so anything that can beat them has to be pretty special.

The VISION X lights I fitted have a spot beam on the drivers side and what they call a Euro beam [driving beam] on the passenger side this is the same set up I had with the Hella’s

There are a lot of similarities between the Hella’s and the VISION X’s … the mounting system is a similar design [the bolt hole distance is different] so they should be just as durable, the size of them are the same [the VISION X clear covers fit the Hellas perfectly] the mounting bolt is the same as the Hella’s, Roolights, and Cibies so any locknuts are interchangeable which is a good thing as when people see how good they are they will want a set too.

The die cast aluminium housing seems even tougher than the Hella’s so there should be no problem there.

Testing:
I wanted to test the difference between the Hella’s and the VISION X’s so I found a little used narrow bitumen road between some canefields with a small tree on the right at 400 metres and a large tree on the left at 500 metres.
I marked out exactly one kilometre from the end of the road and marked out the position of the truck and the tripod for the camera, then I adjusted the lights to shine on the sign at the end of the road and left the truck running to keep the voltage the same.

Camera used was the Pentax K10D with the DA12-24/4 lens sitting on a Manfrotto Tripod with geared head.
The setting used for all the pics were 12mm, F5.6, 8 seconds, iso 100 and opened in photoshop at 5500 [daylight] colour temperature, smart sharpened at 100 and resized to keep everything the same except for the differences in the actual lights.

I then took a photo of low beam,

high beam,

high beam with the Hella’s,

Shot with PENTAX K10D at 2007-06-26

high beam with the Hella,s and the 4 x 100 watt no name brand roof lights on as well.

Shot with PENTAX K10D at 2007-06-26

I then fitted the 2 VISION X HID’s and set the truck and camera up exactly the same and took a photo then compared them all on the computer.

Shot with PENTAX K10D at 2007-06-26

The Hellas only just showed the sign at the end of the road and barely showed the trees

The Hellas and the roof flights showed more light close up at the sides

The VISION X’s shone very brightly on the sign at the end of the road, showed up both trees and was a very white colour like daylight.
The two 35watt HID’s simply blew away the 600watts of halogen lights !!

The replaceable polycarbonate clear covers means I don’t have to worry about stone strikes and the built in ballasts mean I don’t have to worry about trying to find extra space for the external boxes like some other HID’s, I just had to connect up two wires from the previous wiring and I was done, simple!

The power of the HID’s were really shown on the weekend when I was stopped on top of a hill overlooking a 4WD competition on the far hill near the bottom of the valley and was trying to find a road down, I found the road and arrived at the competition area about ten minutes later, a guy walked up and asked what lights I had as he was sitting in his vehicle with the back door open and when my lights lit up the inside of his car he though someone had pulled up behind him but when he looked back he saw my truck was on the top of the hill on the other side of the valley !!

He was just as impressed as I was with them!!

Can’t wait to replace the roof lights with some of the smaller HID-6500’s, I won’t be able to tell when the sun comes up !!

UPDATE:

Fitted the roof lights on sunday comprising two HID-6500 Euro beams and two HID-6501 Flood Beams.

I set everything up the same as previously and took a pic of High Beam with the Vision-X rooflights.

Then took a pic with High Beam, Vision-X lights on the Bullbar and Vision-X lights on the roof.

AWESOME !!! … hard to believe you can get this much light from only 210 watts !!

.Shane

.Shane

Big Red Racing

2008-01-01T18:02:00.002+10:00

Welcome to Big Red Racing.

4WD competition is a big part of my life and i try to get to as many as i can either as a competitor, photographer, videographer, [and sometimes all three at the same time] or just as a spectator.

I am based out of Brisbane in Australia and mostly cover the events around South East Queensland.

My sponsors are a great help and much appreciated, i have severely tested their equipment over the years and they continue to perform so i can heartily recommend them.

http://www.visionxoffroad.com/
http://www.wizardperformance.com.au/