Edgecombe takes Woodhill 100 win

Matamata driver Dion Edgecombe has fought through to his first win in New Zealand’s oldest and fastest forest offroad endurance race.

Qualifying fifth for the Hydrovac Woodhill 100 at the Auckland 4X4 Adventure Park, he pushed up through the field to challenge and then overtake pole man Tony McCall.

It was not an easy drive. From the opening lap he was managing his Polaris UTV’s engine, which ran hot in the faster going and would only cool down in the slower sandy tracks.

“About half the way around the first lap I noticed the engine temp was high, 118 degrees, that’s two degrees away from the motor shutting down. I backed off and slowly got the temp down a few degrees, but this meant managing it. I became very smooth on the throttle very quickly.”

At one point he was also hit from behind by McCall, who had battled for the lead with Joel Giddy, Brian Rutgers, Daynom Templeman and Paul Hackett.

The light and agile UTVs handled the soft going in the narrow sand tracks of the 11km lap better than many expected, using their 4WD transmissions to find grip in the soft deeply-drifted areas of the course.

“The great thing about the Polaris and its CVT is it’s always keeping the engine in the right rev range, so the car gets grip without loading the engine too hard. Then in the fast tracks it means you can get out of the throttle but keep up your speed,” he said afterward.

He brought the UTV home unmarked – except for the engine cage, caved-in when he was hit from behind by McCall.

The lead changed multiple times. McCall duelled first with Joel Giddy, who also set the fastest lap of the race: a 9:18 for the 11 km distance. Giddy took the lead on lap three before dropping out a lap later.

Daynom Templeman had started sixth and surged forward to grab the lead on lap five in his new unlimited class car, but immediately struck a series of mechanical issues, losing drive in the car and dropping out a lap later.

Six-times champion McCall then returned to the lead and stayed in front for the next five laps, always defending from a pursuing pack that included Brian Rutgers, Donn Attwood, Roger McKay and Justin Davies.

A high rate of attrition favoured drivers who could maintain consistent speed as the course deteriorated.

Brian Rutgers had started fourth overall, dropped to seventh over the opening laps and then started clawing his way back up the race order as other front-runners struck trouble and the softer parts of the course chopped out.

Auckland Offroad Racing Club president Donn Attwood started seventh and was also making progress up the race order in his Honda-powered unlimited class car.

The race belonged to Dion Edgecombe by lap 11. He overtook McCall on that lap and proceeded to pull away, McCall losing top gear and dropping back to a finish placing of sixth.

Edgecombe completed the race in 2.24:19; his winning margin at the finish was 1:18 over Brian Rutgers, with third-placed Donn Attwood taking the flag 8:37 further back.

Only eight drivers completed the full 15 lap, 165 km distance.

2022 Hydrovac Woodhill 100

Top ten finishers

1. Dion Edgecombe (winner, Smart Electricians UTV S class)
2. Brian Rutgers
3. Donn Attwood (winner, Ryan Trucks class 1)
4. Roger McKay (winner, E&H Motors UTV U class)
5. Justin Davies
6. Tony McCall
7. Shayne Huxtable (winner, On Track Fabrication class eight)
8. Leigh Bishop
9. Boston Morgan-Horan
10. Carl Ruiterman