2009 Asset Finance Taupo 1000 offroad race

Record numbers of offroad race teams are heading for the pine forests of the central North Island of New Zealand this weekend for the 2009 Asset Finance Taupo 1000.

The longest and toughest offroad race in the southern hemisphere has drawn a best-ever 79 entries to the popular resort town of Taupo, four up on the previous record of 75 set in 2007.

Drawn by the prospect of racing the equivalent of a full Bathurst 1000 road race on gravel over two days, the fastest Kiwi crews are coming, including four previous Taupo race winners along with current and defending national champion Daniel Powell of Christchurch.

Powell runs a massive American built Jimco single-seat offroad racer car powered by a twin-turbocharged Nissan V6.

Two Australian teams – three race cars – are confirmed to contest the event, which will run over three days from September 11-13.

Race commitments from the Dixon and Jameson teams will set up a trans-Tasman battle for the Taupo title. In the 18 year history of the Taupo race, Australian teams have won twice.

Roly Dixon of Sydney will be driving a brand-new Southern Cross car with a race-prepped Chrysler Mopar V8 engine. He has told organisers he is coming back to lift the title, having run in the top five in the 2007 race and set fastest lap time on the first day during that race. He was eventually sidelined when his car’s gearbox failed.

Dixon senior runs in a two-car team this year with son Tom Dixon, who will race the turbocharged Rimco Nissan the team drove at the previous Asset Finance Taupo 1000 in 2007. That car, which posted fastest lap on the Saturday, now runs an oversized 2.3-litre engine making 15 per cent more power.

Brisbane-based David Jameson also ran at the front of the field in 2007 in his Suzuki Vitara, eventually finishing second in the class behind Ryan Millen, son of ex-pat Kiwi racer Rod Millen. Jameson is back with a vengeance in his completely refurbished Suzuki/Silverstone-backed Grand Vitara.

The Jameson team is also making the most of a Kiwi holiday, with the family tagging along to explore the Taupo area and after the race to sample some South Island Park snow.

The fourth international entry is a production-class Suzuki for UK-based Angie Lloyd.

Set in the massive production pine forests east of Taupo, the race track is based at an all-new pit complex on the Te Awa forestry airstrip, and the roads used in the 53 km lap are significantly different from the course used for the previous race. Teams will drive ten laps on the Saturday and nine on the Sunday.

Organiser Tony Saelman says this means there will be little “home town” advantage for Kiwi racers or teams that have entered the classic race before.

“The great thing about this massive forest as that we can plot a course that is instantly recognisable as a Taupo track, but presents teams with a new challenge that will test them at every turn. From the big all—out forest straights to the narrow skid tracks where tree branches swat the side of your car to gnarly pumice firebreaks, the Taupo has something to challenge every driver.”

The start/finish and pit complex is bigger than the previous area, which reached capacity in 2007.

Top locals entering this year’s race include previous winner Clim Lammers from Northland. Lammers drives the whole 1000km distance on his own – and last year did all his own pit work as well. That included changing a rear driveshaft constant velocity joint while leading.

Saelman says Lammers won the Taupo 1000 in 2005 and 2007 and is back trying for a full hat-trick of wins, a “three-peat” that would put him well and truly in the history books for this iconic race.

Four – possibly five – Taupo champions will contest this year’s race, including Lammers, Phil Cameron of West Auckland, Melvin Rouse of Whangarei and Auckland’s Alan Butler.

A late entry for the event is also expected from two-time Taupo winner Tony McCall, sharing a drive with Lindsay Pointon. Tony Saelman says McCall is the only other driver besides Lammers who has an opportunity to take a record third race win.

“This is a race that rewards good preparation and mental toughness. Drivers have to treat each day as a separate race and have to run to a strategy that evolves as they go. This race asks teams to complete the distance of an entire Bathurst 1000 track race without once driving on tarmac, doing 500 km per day,” he says.

Taupo’s position and profile as the sport’s flagship event continues to draw racers from other disciplines. Mr Saelman says the entry list so far includes a high number of crews who are new to the sport.

“That means the Taupo 1000continues to draw people into offroad racing. Taupo has always welcomed the four wheel drive and winch challenge drivers, who love to get out in the forest and put their rigs into top gear; now we are also seeing people come across from rallying to race in our event. It’s fantastic: the highest profile event in our sport, which is also the toughest in the southern hemisphere, really inspires race teams from all kinds of other categories.”

Almost half the 79 entries are from truck (four wheel drive) teams, including the strongest turnout of production-class trucks in the history of the event - 11 production-class trucks have entered, including the massive V8-engined Dodge Ram 1500 of Auckland racer Anthony Hewitt.

The race weekend begins on Friday September 11 with qualifying sprints for the start grid; racing starts at 8.00 am on Saturday and Sunday and the finish each day is expected to be in the early afternoon.

Mr Saelman says if racers average high lap speeds then the single-day distance of 500 km could be completed by 2.00 pm.

“We won’t know how fast the race goes until we see the pace of the leaders on the first day. If the front-runners are fast and have no problems the race could finish earlier because it’s based on the race distance, the first driver across the line who completes that distance finishes the racing for the day.”