Moriarty masters mud and snow to take Championship lead

Wayne Moriarty Winner and current National Points Leader Leading Gordon Adamson 

Christchurch offroad race driver Wayne Moriarty has swept into a commanding 22 point lead in the national championship with a well-judged drive to victory at the Nelson 175 endurance race.

 Running a newly-built engine that had only been tuned and installed on the Thursday night, Moriarty ran in the top three until he was certain the engine was working as it should, then started a charge to the front of the race.

 Though heavy rain had been forecast for Saturday, the race was held in fine conditions – though the cold polar front that swept over New Zealand at the weekend added its own challenge in the form of a carpet of snow that lay up to 150 mm thick on parts of the course.  Mud bogs and massive puddles on some parts of the course had a fine skin of ice across them, and deposited freezing water into the open cars lap after lap. 

Pit Lane @ 8:00 am

 Held in forests southwest of Nelson on Saturday, the race was the fourth round of the 2008 Asset Finance Offroad Racing National Championship.  From the outset it seemed likely to fall to local driver Dennis Andreassend, who took pole by an emphatic eight seconds and led for all but the last eight kilometres of the race.

 “We got the perfect sprint in qualifying, and over that first lap I made the most of the clear conditions to build a good lead.  Once we started lapping the slower cars though, it was hard to keep up the momentum, and on that final lap I got stuck behind one of the production class trucks for a few kilometres.”

 Andreassend found himself carving through snow and slush as first car on the road, and smashing through ice in the big mud puddles and bogs.

Dennis Andreassend doing all he can to keep the start lead

“The cold water was a shock first time through – then it got worse knowing where the big puddles were and knowing you were going to get wet again next time around.  I found one hand got colder than the other, and in the later laps shifting gears got quite painful,” said Andreassend.

 Nonetheless, his opening lap was the fastest of the race – 16 minutes 23 seconds for the 19.2 km.

 Cars were quickly coated in sticky brown filth, conditions making racing difficult for drivers of the cars, which have open cockpits and expose the drivers to the elements.  In ambient air temperatures only slowly edging above freezing point, wind-chill was a major concern for all.

Nelson's Hayden Andreassend not slowed by the conditions

 Starting from second on the grid, Moriarty’s challenge began slowly as he made sure his newly-installed engine was working properly.  He was overtaken by young Nelson racer Gordon Adamson, and ran third for several laps until he began his charge for the lead.

 “I wanted to make sure all the temperatures were right and the oil pressure was good.  Once I was happy with that I chased after Gordon.  He drove a great defence, but once I got past him I was able to drive in clear air and pull away.  It took a while to get close to Dennis, but eventually I could see him about 400 metres ahead, so it was all on,“ he said.

 ThunderTruck racer Bryan Chang was delayed on the first lap when Challenger racer Scott Campbell’s engine seized, slewing his car broadside across the narrow track.  The time lost while Campbell’s car was cleared from the track let the front-running 15 cars get well away into the forest and with the mud and icy slush offering minimal grip, Chang decided to make sure of his class lead.

Christchurch competitor GT Radials  - Bryan Chang giving it all