"Max" masters Meremere mud

Beachlands racer Neville “Max” Smith has leapt into an early lead in the 2011 Mickey Thompson New Zealand Offroad Racing Championship.

Racing in slippery conditions at Meremere today, Smith drove his unlimited-class Cougar Honda turbo single-seat racing car to outright victory in the first heat and continued in winning form to the last race of the day, which put all surviing racers on the track together for a ten lap sprint race.

Smith, one of the founders of the Cougar brand, was able to master the greasy track despite driving one of the most powerful turbocharged cars entered.

Nick Leahy, driving one of the least powerful cars in the class, won heat after heat in his Challenger VW Cougar to end the day just four points behind Smith. Colin Meredith, driving an Australian-designe dSouthern Cross two-seater race car in the unlimited class, was third on points for the day on 62 points despite striking engine problems in the final all-in heat.

Defending champion Donn Attwood, finding the conditions difficult in his Bu-Mac RV magnum Toyota, remained in touch despite finishing one heat well down the order with a flat rear tyre.

“The car doesn’t hook up very well in the wet no matter what we change, and for some reason I always seem to get flat tyres here. Frustrating,” he said after the second heat.

Attwood amassed 60 points for the day, his total keeping him close enough to the front that he is well placed to continue his title defence.