Thundertruck racer Raana Horan took his shiny gold Nissan Titan V8 to outright victory in the inaugural Mickey Thompson New Zealand Stadium Off-road Racing Championship, held at Manukau in Auckland over two rounds in February and March.
Horan dominated the Thundertruck class, winning at both rounds in pitched battle with a record field that included Warren Adams, Leigh Bishop, Ricky May and Mal Langley – the latter in his Donovan-Chev Toyota Tundra being knocked out of both rounds in multi-vehicle crashes.
Big truck entry
The truck-class entry across the two rounds on 6 February and 13 March topped 18 – the most ever seen at a New Zealand short course or stadium event.
The first national championship of 2021, the event attracted a record entry of 107 race cars across all classes at the first round, then 76 at the second. Organisers say the turnout to round two was affected by the Auckland Covid lockdown and the bruising action at round one.
Stadium championship organiser and multiple national champion Tony McCall won the Pro1 trophy at the opening round, rolled during round two but won his class for the series.
Wildcards impress
The racing drew VIP/wildcard entries from multiple speedway champion Michael Pickens and from motocrosser/drift racer ‘Mad’ Mike Whiddett and 13 year old so Linc.
For the first time, Whiddett Sr was able to race his agile rotary-powered racer in the ProLite truck class. He finished second at the opening round, splitting class winner Nick Hall (Toyota Chev ProLite) and rallyman Andrew Hawkeswood. A crash took him out of round two, tearing a wheel off the rotary-engined Red Bull truck.
Young gun
Lincoln Whiddett won the Super 450 ‘demonstration’ class, driving in a spectacular sideways style he can only have learned from his dad. Granted racing dispensation for his age, he flew past class five racers and made life difficult for the 1.6-litre Challenger VW cars.
The event is set to return in 2022, with a further hint of international entries provided the Covid border restrictions are eased.
