Moriarty takes it all at Mainland Challenge

An engine down on horsepower could not keep Christchurch driver Wayne Moriarty from a clean sweep of races at the second round of the 2008 Asset Finance New Zealand Offroad Racing National Championship.

Moriarty, of Christchurch, lined up alongside long-time rival Dennis Andreassend of Nelson as the leading entries in this weekend’s Mainland Challenge, two days of racing on farm course and a dedicated “stadium” race track near Christchurch.

Though the pair were out-qualified in soft going for the 150 km endurance race on Saturday, they quickly slipped past pole man Dave Taylor and second fastest qualifier Daniel Powell and set about their own battle for the lead.

That tussle set the theme for the weekend as Moriarty made the most of a near-perfect car set-up to gradually pull away from Andreassend and win. In the process he lapped the entire field, chasing Andreassend down just a few laps before the end of the race.

The next day the pair once more fought for the win in three heats of short course “stadium” racing at the Canterbury Off Road Club’s purpose-built track at West Melton.

Though they lined up alongside Nigel Sutherland in the Leader products Super 1600 heats, the battle was emphatically fought out between Moriarty in his Euroblast Cougar Toyota and Andreassend in his Autoworld Chenowth Honda.

Though Andreassend started one heat ahead of Moriarty, the Christchurch driver was able to overtake using the course’s challenging track split, where competitors must choose and left or right option into a corner with the two lanes divided by tyres.
Andreassend said his car’s steering was causing problems throughout the weekend, kicking back in corners and transmitting excessive road shocks when the car landed after jumps.

A mistake in the final heat gave Moriarty a lead that could not be challenged and enabled him to cruise to the final chequered flag and the weekend win.

Moriarty drove the last heat wondering if his car’s engine would last the distance. He had found oil in his car’s cooling system, and said its engine had been blowing smoke during the early laps of each race.

“We think the head gasket is letting go, but it’s held out long enough for us to do what we needed. It’s been a fantastic weekend.”
 

In other classes the racing was equally close.

Ryan Densem, dubbed by race commentators “the part-time Jafa” after recently moving to Auckland, won the weekend for The Workshop class 5 category despite blowing his gearbox in the final heat. His run to the class win was challenged by two new names: Canterbury driver Bruce Rolls and Nelson youth Haydn Andreassend.

Rolls was fifth in class for the endurance race but recovered to score a series of podium finishes including a win in the short course racing.

Rookie driver Haydn Andreassend of Nelson put in what many said was the drive of the event. Just 16 years old and in his first ever offroad race, he was second in class behind Ryan Densem in the enduro and took a third, a fourth and a second in the short course racing, which placed him second in class for the weekend, just four points behind.

Scott Campbell had an easy run in the VW Spares Challenger class. His only rival, Matthew Pratt, dropped out of Saturday’s enduro and did not enter the short course racing on the Sunday. The Campbell car had developed a chronic misfire in the enduro and he was forced to simply circulate on the Sunday to make sure of his class points.

In the popular Camco truck classes, Dave Taylor had a busy weekend, winning the class on both days despite damaging his transmission in the enduro. He made the most of four wheel drive and supercharged Suzuki Vitara power to take his string of wins despite the best efforts of second-placed Bryan Chang in the GT Radials Ford Falcon XR8 Turbo ute.

Chang said he was able to stay with Taylor in dry conditions but the wet farm course on the Saturday enabled the Taylor truck to ease away. Like Taylor, Chang had overnight repairs to do after bending a wheel rim and holing his radiator in the endurance race.

“On the Sunday I found I could close up at the end of the front straight but just couldn’t match the grip and torque of Taylor’s truck getting out of slow corners.”

The enduro and short course wins netted Moriarty 72 points, equalling the early lead established by production truck racer Maurice Bain of Hamilton.

Championship regulars are tipping a see-saw points battle between the north and south over coming rounds, with the next South Island round an endurance race at Nelson in July.