A Change of Gear for Raana Horan
With a debut season podium and leading the Canterbury Rally outright to the penultimate stage, true to form, Raana Horan has hit the rally ground running.
Speed is King! Off-Road Racing can generally be broken into two divisions, short track stadium style sprint events, and longer “open course” endurance races of up to 500 km at forest and farm venues.
Rather than the extreme stages the Trials and Winch Challenge competitors face, Off-Road racing is more about rough tracks, with Short Track courses including purpose built jumps and other challenges.
Enduros can be based around a circuit, with the course being extended out into the surrounding farmland or forestry, but many are run on a temporary course set up specifically for the event. The isolation of these events see a weekend tent city appear for the weekend.
Most competitors race in both types of event, and the National Championship Series is made up of a combination of both.
Entrants are divided into a number of classes ranging from big V8 powered buggies and trucks, to diminutive four cylinder buggies, and modified production 4WD’s and Utes.
Between these two extremes sit the smaller, often locally built buggies, which with their greater balance and nimbleness regularly take the honours away from their bigger, more fancied opposition.
With a debut season podium and leading the Canterbury Rally outright to the penultimate stage, true to form, Raana Horan has hit the rally ground running.
Bob Uttridge took out both the GT Radial NZ Offroad Endurance Championship and the UTV Bits NZ Offroad Racing Short Course Championship title for 2018.
It’s a day of no-holds-barred racing action in Feilding to decide the champion of stadium short course racing.
Christchurch racer Bob Uttridge has won the 2018 GT Radial NZ Offroad Racing Endurance Championship in his Yamaha UTV (side by side) race car.
Offroad racing returns to the forests south of Nelson this weekend as the 700 km GT Radial NZ Enduro Championship roars into action.
Aucklander John Morga’s dominant run in the Mainland Challenge short course heats has extended his southern championship lead.
Already the spectacular unlimited class thunder race cars are gathering in force, with the class one field the strongest in the event so far.
Racers contesting the stock class for UTV race vehicles are the most numerous as the northern region competition reaches its decisive round at MAkarau.