Smallest Race Car Wins Big Off Road Race

Hamish Lawlor, driving the smallest race car in the championship, has won his second straight New Zealand off-road racing title. Over two days of competition in the Radio Hauraki Surfin' the Dirt event at Reglan, Lawlor first took a clean sweep in his class heats . . . This article was originally produced by Mark Baker for New Zealand 4WD.

Smallest Race Car Wins Biggest New Zealand Off Road Race of 2013: Hamish Lawlor drove the smallest race car in the New Zealand championship and won 2 titles at the Radio Hauraki Surfin' the Dirt 2013 event. Hamish Lawlor, driving the smallest race car in the championship, has won his second straight New Zealand off-road racing title. Over two days of competition in the Radio Hauraki Surfin' the Dirt event at Reglan, Lawlor first took a clean sweep in his class heats . . . This article was originally produced by Mark Baker for New Zealand 4WD. Smallest Race Car Wins Biggest New Zealand Off Road Race of 2013 Hamish Lawlor drove the smallest race car in the New Zealand championship and won 2 titles at the Radio Hauraki Surfin' the Dirt 2013 event. Winning vehicle is powered by motorcycle engine Lawlor's road to the off-road championship was not an easy one Tony McCall Comes In Second In The Series Car Problems Pitted Some Contenders Who Won In The Other Classes? Hamish Lawlor takes two championships at Raglan, Waikaito, New Zealand Hamish Lawlor, driving the smallest race car in the championship, has won his second straight New Zealand off-road racing title. Over two days of competition in the Radio Hauraki Surfin' the Dirt event at Raglan, Lawlor first took a clean sweep in his class heats on the Saturday of Labour Weekend, then won Sunday's 170km endurance race to clinch his second title. His car is based on the Australian Edge Barracuda recreational off-road single-seater, much modified for the rigours of championship racing. It is powered by a high-revving Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, and weighs around 550kg, making it one of the lightest cars in the championship, as well as the smallest. The car took him to the championship win last year, to a first day lead at the punishing ENZED Taupo 1000 just a month before the fina and then - with a comprehensive "lifing" rebuild in between - to the national title. Hamish Lawlor's road to off-road victory was not easy Lawlor's run to the title was not an easy one. He was wheel-to-wheel with Neil Hook, a new entrant to the sport, through the first day's heats. Waikato driver Hook has built a car similar to Lawlor's, and was making his debut at the final round. The following day Lawlor was battling with the BSL Terra Chev of Tony McCall, and defending against the Polaris 4WDs of Ben Thomasen (Tauranga) and Mike Small (Paeroa), while the leading trucks circulated just inside the top five, waiting for a breakage or mistake among the leading group. Polaris racer Ben Thomasen had gone to the finals with maximum points, and like Lawlor, had raced to a clean sweep of his class heats, but rolled his car in the last race on Saturday, and then smashed its left front suspension lat in the enduro. He had the consolation of having set fasest race lap of 6:38:485 for the 8km course Mike Small, also driving a Polaris, was jammed in between Tony McCall's V8-engined BSL Terra Chevrolet and Thomasen's RZ-R for several laps of the enduro, then overtook McCall to lead the BSL Terra Chevrolet struck brake problems. His time at the front ended when his car lost a rear wheel, possibly due to contact between his Polaris and McCall's car. At the start of the race McCall had shared the front row of the grid for the endure, and had been briefly overtaken by Eric Teers in a class 3 (1.6-litre) car before using the BSL car's V8 pwoer to push through and lead. Tony McCall Comes In Second In The Series McCall, a multiple New Zealand champion, had a strong chance of taking the title if he won the enduro. His challenge faded with his brakes, and then took a further blow tiwh a stop-go penalty responding to the tangle between his car and Small's. McCall returned to the track determined to retake the lead. He had fallen to a distant fourth, but fought back to tussle with Small for the lead over several lapse, before Small went out and Lawlor came through to lead. Behind them Winton racer Donal Preston was edging closer to the front, and in the latter part of the race tagged onto Lawlor as McCall settled into third place, his brakes nearly shot. Car Problems Pitted Some Contenders Also in the unlimited truck class, Martin van der Wal pittled before the end of the enduro with a broken steering mount, but was second in class eight, with his son William right behind him in third place for the class. Nick Leahy rolled the ELF Toyota Chevrolet Pro-lite truck, then fought back, but was stopped when the transmission oil cooler line failed and sprayed hot oil on the truck's exhaust, causing a brief but spectacular fire. Christchurch racer Wayne Moriarty, another who came to the finals with maximum points, was having his own battle with a gastric bug that force him to drop out of fourth place part way through the enduro so that he coulc vomit up what he ate for breakfast. Running his new United States produced Aluminicraft in class 3, Moriarty gamely resumed the race after throwing up and actually completed the race. He ended up being third outright in the national championship for his efforts. Behind them Winton racer Donal Preston was edging closer to the front, and in the latter part of the race tagged onto Lawlor as McCall settled into third place, his brakes nearly shot. Who Won In The Other Classes? A keen rival in class three, Devlin Hill rolled his Honda-powered single-seater early in the race on a tricky downhill off-camber corner. He landed completely upside down, but was righted by a marshal and continued. Richard Crabb of Albany rolled his unlimited class Chenowth V6 at the same corner, but landed on one side, and was also able to continue after the same marshal helped pull the car back on its wheels. Donald Preston had enjoyed an untroubled run through his Saturday heats in the unlimted truck classes, and then put in a determined drive in the enduro to win the unlimited trucks class for the event, and for the championship. But it ws Hamish Lawlor who took the checkered flag and the championship win, to the obvious and vocal delight of the South Islanders in the spectator pool. Tony McCall was third across the finish line, winning class one for the weekend and the championship, and gaining the right to run under the #NZ2 race number in 2014. Wayne Moriarty's tenacity was rewarded with third in the championship. Nine of the top ten in the championship also won in their classes. The Championship has evolved quickly in the past three years, with motorcycle-engined cars such as Lawlors's coming to the fore. and the Polaris UTVs making their championship entrance. The "old guard" in the sport run increasingly fast and powerful single-seater race cars and trucks in a battle against the fast racers - almost exclusively males - in the new classes. Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|**|END:IF|* *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences