Racer's return: McCALL MASTERS MATATA OFFROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

Manukau’s Tony McCall has dominated racing at the Sunshine Capital Showdown, the final northern round of the 2014 New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship.
In a stunning return to form on Saturday 4 October, McCall – the sport’s most successful racer – won all the morning’s heats for the unlimited class one race cars, then battled with pole-man Raana Horan of Albany through the opening laps of the afternoon’s 150 km endurance race until Horan’s Nissan Titan race truck destroyed its front differential.
In a day that saw four seasons pass over the farm course in the space of an hour or less, the 1200-strong crowd saw the closest racing of the championship year as McCall fought to take the title against the most competitive field of unlimited-class cars seen in 2014.
A consistent winner at national level, McCall recently built an all-new car and has suffered uneven performances while fine-tuning the design but was short course national champion in 2013.
The Horan-McCall battle in the 150 km enduro overshadowed a similar fight for the other podium placings, with another Albany racer, Richard Crabb, going wheel to wheel with Whakatane’s Malcolm Langley  until the closing laps of the race. These two were in turn shadowed by Drury racer Nick Hall in the Elf Toyota Hilux V8 until his truck lost a wheel.
In the new U class for the popular ‘side by side’ Polaris and Can Am all-wheel-drive vehicles, Ben Thomasen led the championship chase for points but was facing tough opposition from the most competitive turnout of these cars yet seen in the championship. Mike Small was keen to challenge the might of the factory-back Thomasen team, and a new arrival in the sport, drift racer Carl Ruiterman, also in a Polaris RZR 1000.
Raana Horan had similarly won all the heats for the unlimited class race trucks with comparative ease, carving through the nine-strong field in his four wheel drive Nissan Titan V8. In the process he set fastest time of the day and secured pole for the afternoon’s enduro.
Neil Hook was second fastest and would have started ahead of McCall but had barrel-rolled his class 10 motorcycle-engined single-seater car at high speed at the end of his in-class heats.
Third fastest put McCall behind Horan with Auckland’s Scott Buckley – who built McCall’s new car – sitting in fourth.
Off the start, Horan took the early lead, Buckley making the most of his class 10 car’s light weight to slot into second and McCall holding third ahead of Nick Hall.
Two corners later the McCall car swung wide and went around the outside of Buckley to set off in pursuit of Horan.
On the northern end of the circuit, the McCall car and Horan’s truck were side by side, and as the bunched field of race cars turned toward the pits McCall thundered past Horan to take the lead.
The move set up a dramatic fight for the race lead, Buckley slowly falling behind the two front-runners who took it in turn over the next four laps to lead the race. Lap after lap, Horan would push back through to lead, and time after time McCall would use the faster, more open parts of the farm course to take control.
Whakatane’s Mal Langley led the chasing bunch of racers.
Race organisers had expected laps of the tight 10 km track to take around 10 minutes, but both Horan and McCall were posting lap times at or under nine minutes. McCall recorded fastest lap of the day with an 8:32.
Three laps into the race, Richard Crabb had fought through to third overall and was engaged in a tussle with Malcolm Langley, while Nick Hall was staying in touch with this latter group, and Carl Ruiterman had inserted his Polaris RZR into the fray as well.
Championship leader Ben Thomason was chasing hard but destroyed the front and rear suspension of his Polaris RZR and retired.
Aucklander Ernie Hogg was a steady sixth in The General, his Scorpion Chev unlimited class car until he rolled at the northern end of the course.
Nick Leahy in Graeme Steedman’s Camco Toyota hit the narrow gateway back into the start-finish area, having to reverse clear of the post to continue; he also later tipped the truck over after the steering was damaged.
Tony McCall would hit the same post three times over coming laps.
Then Horan was gone from the race, a smashed front differential putting him off the track and into the pits.
With five laps to go, Tony McCall was able to control the race as he wished. He ran to the flag well clear of the pack. Behind him were local driver Malcolm Langley and Auckland’s Gregg Carrington-Hogg, both also in unlimited class cars, then Wellington’s Justin Leonard in an unlimited-class Chev truck and Paeroa driver Mike Small in the first UTV home, his Polaris RZR 1000.
Maurice Bain, the sole class nine (Baja and saloon) class entrant, ran out the northern championship overall winner by a matter of one point from McCall, with Mike Small third overall.
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Results by class, northern championship
2014 Sunshine Capital Showdown at Matata:
Class 1: Tony McCall 1; Gregg Carrington-Hogg, 2; Malcolm Langley 3.
Class 2: Anthony Hewitt, 1; Jared McGillivray, 2
Class 3: Brendon Old, 1; Dean Graham, 2; Devlin Hill, 3
Class 4: Rex Croskery, 1; Glenn Turvey, 2
Class 5: Taine Carrington, 1; Nick Magness, 2; Alastair Manning 3
Class 6: Keri Louie 1; Darrin Neeley 2.
Class 7: Dyson Delahunty 1; Tyler Castle 2; Jayden Carrington 3
Class 8: Justin Leonard, 1; Mike Cox, 2; Martin van der Wal 3
Class 9: Maurice Bain, 1
Class 10, Scott Buckley, 1; Colin Buckley, 2; Neil Hook, 3
Challenger: Campbell Witheford, 1; Peter May, 2; Ash Carlyle 3
UTV: Mike Small, 1; Ben Thomasen, 2; Tony Radisich, 3
Kiwitruck J class: Marcus Runciman, 1; Trae Carrington, 2; Travis Buckley, 3
Kiwitruck M class: Fergus Crabb, 1