ANDREASSEND CHRISTENS NEW CAR WITH DEBUT WIN
Through thick, choking dust on a fast and treacherous forest course, Nelson offroad racer Dennis Andreassend has christened his new Cougar Evo race car with a debut win and taken the lead in the 2009 championship.
Dennis Andreassend from Nelson - Current National Points Leader
The first South Island round of the championship, held on a blustery but sunny Anzac Day on the outskirts of Dunedin, pitted Andreassend, defending champion Daniel Powell and Geoff Densem in a battle for honours in the unlimited Kumeu Transport Engineering class one category.
It was the first time Powell had met Andreassend in equal competition, while Densem had raced the final round of the 2008 championship as his first event – and thus a shakedown – of the ex-Foster Ryan VW Evo. There were five of the fast “unlimited” class one cars on the start line.
Another Christchurch driver, Wayne Moriarty, was out to set his mark on the overall points battle in his Euroblast Cougar racing in Pine Harbour Painters Super 1600 class. He had two other Super 1600 drivers in his class, but had his sights firmly on the class one battle about to explode around him.
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.
In the simple there-and-back qualifying sprint for the weekend’s 162 km endurance event, Powell took third fastest time in his Jimco Nissan turbo; Andreassend topping his time to be second fastest.
Pole position and an immediate advantage going into the forest fell to Wayne Moriarty, his agile Cougar Toyota Super 1600 car edging out the more powerful class one cars.
At the race start, Moriarty established his lead and began to pull away from the class one cars battling behind him, Andreassend trying to close the gap while defending from the big Jimco of Powell behind him.
“The car was going really nicely in those opening laps, but the surface was like driving on ball bearings. I was looking for the gravel to scrub off and make a fast line but it actually didn’t improve much through the race,” said Moriarty, who ran in dust-free air at the front of the field and was extending his lead by ten or more seconds a lap on the class one cars behind him.
Andreassend said he was making sure of his placing in the opening laps. Running with a heavy fuel load, he wanted to stay close to Moriarty and learn the nine km lap before attacking.
Even so, he pulled a 15 second advantage over Powell in third place as the race developed.
“Then when we ran into the lapped traffic, everything closed up again.”
Passing slower cars, he said, was much easier in his new car than in the Super 1600 he ran last season.
“The package is amazing. Torque, power, handling, it’s all there. The engine has had a complete rebuild and it’s very strong, we have good useful grunt from just 2000 rpm which is really important in offroad racing.”
Behind them, Ashley Kelly and Geoff Densem had trouble slowing for the traffic-barrier chicane at the end of the first lap, as did another class one entry, Clayton Burrow. Burrow slid into the barriers, unsighted by the thick dust; likewise a lap later Kelly sledged into and through the barriers, driving on to rejoin the course further up the road.
Camco class two for production utes and four wheel drives belonged to the lone entry, Tod Johnson, in his Isuzu Mu, who put in a faultless drive through the dust and rocks to bring the Mu home intact and 16th overall.
In Camco Offroad class four, Simon Smith of Christchurch likewise had it all his own way when John Ratcliff’s Subaru Justy turbo disappeared on the first lap. Smith ended up 13th overall, second best finisher across all the truck classes.
An innovative entry in class six, the Range Rover V8 of rookie Neil Frankingham, had started well and looked set to score the class win. He had a full team on board: the “Strange” Rover has been built with no less than four race seats, enabling the team to share the excitement – and note any indiscretions along the way.
The team’s charge – they were chasing down Simon Smith’s class four Toyota Hilux – ended when the Range Rover hooked a wheel up and bank and rolled on its side just short of the 12 laps needed to be classified a finisher.
The class eight battle at Dunedin marked the arrival of a new force in the class: Donald Preston was driving his Toyota LandCruiser V8 aggressively, outstripping all other Camco truck-class entries with ease and giving the class one and three offroad race cars no simple overtaking opportunity on his way to winning the ultimate truck class from Blenheim’s Mark French in a Land Rover V8.
A classic duel in the VW “one make” Challenger class was resolving itself in favour of Queenstown driver Matthew Pratt, who was being chased hard by long-time rival Paul Cooper; both staying close to the leading bunch despite their cars making far less power.
Moriarty had continued to stretch out his lead as the front-runners came around to lap slower traffic. Once past each slower car he would extend out his lead over the duelling class one cars behind him, making the most of less dusty conditions. On lap 12, he ran into trouble in a fast section of the course.
“We were in fifth gear in the big sweeping corners down the bottom, I was pushing to get through lapped traffic to keep my lead. The car was feeling really good and I was trying to work a pass on Clint Densem when his car stepped sideways,” he said.
The Euroblast Cougar’s front wheel made contact with Densem’s rear wheel and was launched off the track into the forest. It flew over one tree stump and hit a second front-on, smashing the right front suspension in what Moriarty said was one of the heaviest impacts of his career.
“We hit that stump and the car went way up in the air and then fell back. Man, I’m sore!”
Though he was able to extract the Cougar from the forest and limp back to the pits on three wheels, Moriarty was forced to retire, though he was classified a finisher, having completed 60 per cent of total race distance.
With Moriarty gone, Andreassend swept through to a lead he would hold to the chequered flag. Powell was a lap behind, having spun deep in the forest while trying to catch Andreassend.
After the race, Andreassend said he is very pleased with the result and the way the car went. A new car, new race class and a new flat four engine was a lot to get used to, he said, but the off-season preparation programme had paid dividends.
“We went from one end of the car to the other, found some wiring issues that had plagued the car when Tony McCall owned it and sorted those, replaced bearings and bushes and some cracked transmission components – and of course the new engine programme Ritchie Wormald has put together for us is outstanding.”
Another significant factor in this winning performance, he said, was a new deal the team has struck with BF Goodrich Tyres, the most successful brand in the history of the sport.
“I was seeing some pretty freaky lines being taken by other cars out in the bush so a clean race line never really developed, but we really got the car hooking up well out of corners and it had great feedback in the fast stuff – that gives confidence and makes all the difference when trying to overtake lapped traffic in thick dust,” he said.
Overall, Andreassend rates the win a perfect first outing for the Richmond Car Sales Cougar Evo. A sixth overall and second place in the Southern Lakes Transmissions Super 1300 class for son Haydn sealed a successful weekend.
“We didn’t stress the Cougar too hard all day, it was important to just make sure of points and get settled into this new ride. Scoring a debut win and the championship points lead is fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.
Mark Baker
Top ten finishers, Otago Dirtfest 162 km endurance race
Dennis Andreassend, Cougar Evo, 1 (outright and class one winner)
Daniel Powell, Jimco Nissan, 2
Ashley Kelly, Nissan, 3
Ryan Densem, Nissan, 4 (class five winner)
Donald Preston, Toyota Land Cruiser, 5 (class eight winner)
Haydn Andreassend, 6
Clint Densem, 7
Donald McMillan, 8
Jacob Brownlees, 9 (class three winner)
Matthew Pratt, 10 (Challenger VW winner)
Top twenty, 2009 Asset Finance
Place Name Region Points Class (leader in bold)
|
1st |
Dennis Andreassend |
|
72 |
1 |
|
2nd |
Alan Butler |
|
70 |
3 |
|
3rd = |
Malcolm Langley |
|
66 |
3 |
|
3rd = |
Geoff Matich |
|
66 |
Challenger |
|
5th = |
Anthony Hewitt |
|
64 |
2 |
|
5th = |
Troy Tuffnell |
|
64 |
Challenger |
|
7th = |
|
|
60 |
1 |
|
7th = |
Daniel Powell |
|
60 |
1 |
|
7th = |
Ryan Densem |
|
60 |
5 |
|
10 |
Donald Preston |
|
58 |
8 |
|
11th |
Glen Turvey |
|
56 |
4 |
|
12th = |
Robert Ryan |
|
55 |
1 |
|
12th = |
Shane Huxtable |
|
55 |
1 |
|
14th |
Shane Campbell |
|
54 |
Challenger |
|
15th |
Raana Horan |
|
51 |
8 |
|
16th = |
Neville Smith |
|
50 |
1 |
|
16th = |
Matthew Pratt |
|
50 |
Challenger |
|
16th = |
Tod Johnson |
|
50 |
2 |
|
16th = |
Simon Smith |
|
50 |
4 |
|
16th = |
Jacob Brownlees |
|
50 |
3 |
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