Eyes to the sky over West Melton

Icy blasts to the south hold few fears for the offroad race teams headed for the Christchurch Supercourse this weekend at West Melton.

With severe weather warnings issued for Dunedin, Otago and Southland and predictions of up to 200 mm of snow, there is an outside chance racers could find themselves carving through picture postcard drifts of white powder when the race on Saturday. A similar situation occurred in the championship last year when the Nelson endurance round started in light snow.

With most of the race cars designed as single-seaters or two-seaters without windscreens, the sheer windchill of racing in snowy conditions is a factor in deciding race winners.

Travelling south from the comparatively tropical temperatures around Nelson, championship points leader Dennis Andreassend is determined to emerge from a tough day of racing with his advantage intact.

He has a few demons to wrestle in order to do so: his first run at the track in his new Cougar Evo, in late 2008, ended in a spectacular end-over-end roll that put Andreassend in hospital.

He recovered from the spectacular crash and had the Cougar rebuilt in time to take an outright win at the first round of the Championship, a 162 km endurance race in forestry on the edge of Dunedin in late April.

That Anzac Day outright win restored some confidence and handed Andreassend the championship points lead. Close behind him at that event and now looking forward to going one-on-one with the Andreassend Cougar in his massive US-built Jimco Nissan is Christchurch racer and current national champion Daniel Powell.

Though the narrower parts of the Dunedin enduro would have challenged the big Jimco, Powell expects to be able to stretch the car’s legs over the jumps at West Melton and the organisers says he may run Andreassend close.

Also racing in the Kumeu Truck Sales Class One is Geoff Densem in a Ryan – VW race car formerly campaigned by the sport’s president, Ian Foster. Densem will welcome the opportunity to test the car against the Jimco of Powell and Andreassend’s Cougar.

In the Pine Harbour Painters Super 1600 Class Three, the favourite for the day – and possibly even for outright honours – is Christchurch racer Wayne Moriarty in his Euroblast Cougar Toyota.

Moriarty led the Dunedin round until he crashed while overtaking a slower car, but has the car rebuilt and ready to take on Nigel Sutherland, Jacob Brownlees and Bruce Rolls for class honours. Moriarty is an experienced driver and knows what it takes to win races on the testing course.

A “next generation” duel is shaping up in the Southern Lakes Transmissions Super 1300 class where Dennis Andreassend’s son Haydn meets Geoff Densem’s son Ryan and Bruce Rolls’ son Shannon.

Donald Preston in his Toyota Landcruiser V8 will rejoin battle in Camco Offroad Thundertruck class against Blenheim’s Mark French in a Land Rover V8. Preston currently leads the class for the championship and is tenth overall.

In Camco Offroad class four for sport trucks local driver Simon Smith currently leads the South Island points chase. In the overall class four standings he trails Wellington driver Glen Turvey by six points.

South Island and North Island racers each compete in three regional rounds to gain points in the 2009 Asset Finance National Championship before heading for the national final in Christchurch at Labour Weekend.

Racing at the Hauraki Raceway starts at 11.30 am, with three heats for all classes, quad and ATV racing and an all-in feature race for the offroad classes. Admission is $10 per adult.

-End- 

Top twenty, 2009 Asset Finance New Zealand Offroad Racing National Championship after two rounds of seven 

Place Name Region Points Class (leader in bold)

Check weather forecasts at www.metvuw.co.nz