KEY POINTS:
Christchurch racer Daniel Powell, a newcomer to the sport's top unlimited class, has won the 2008 Asset Finance New Zealand Offroad Racing National Championship.
At the final round, raced over two days of Labour Weekend at Manukau, Powell held on through a wet and miserable day of short
course racing to stay in contention for the title. He then went out from pole position for Sunday's 163km endurance race to take second overall and second in class behind Beachlands racer Neville Smith.
The combined results at the Iveco/Elf final round were enough to hand Powell the title.
His car, an American Jimco single-seater powered by a 3.5-litre twin-turbo Nissan V6, was engineered by 2007 national champion Andrew Thomason. It is the second time a Jimco has won the national championship and there are now three Jimco cars active in the sport in New Zealand.
Third across the line in Sunday's enduro, and second overall in the championship after a gritty drive, was Nelson's Dennis Andreassend.
He fought his way through in-class heats on Saturday against 13 other top Super 1600 cars despite having received two rear of the grid starts in the random draw for start order.
Andreassend also survived a last-lap fuel scare in the Sunday endurance race, diving into the pits for a splash and dash top-up when his engine starved of fuel approaching the start-finish line.
After seven championship rounds and 15 races, just six points separated top-two players Powell and Andreassend. Rookie of the Year Nick Hall of Papakura finished third overall 22 points behind Powell.
The 2009 national final will be contested in Christchurch.
Race results
Results, 2008 Asset Finance New Zealand Offroad Racing National Championship
* VW Shoppe Challenger VW
Troy Tufnell, Auckland, 1
Geoff Matich, Auckland, 2
Paul Thomas, Auckland, 3
* The Workshop Super 1300
Nick Hall, Papakura, 1
Ryan Densem, Christchurch, 2
Haydn Andreassend, Nelson, 3
* Leader Products Super 1600
Dennis Andreassend, Nelson, 1
Wayne Moriarty, Christchurch, 2
Malcolm Langley, Whakatane, 3
* Race Shock Specialists Class 1 (unlimited)
Daniel Powell, Christchurch 1
Neville Smith, Beachlands, 2
Rob Ryan, Auckland, 3
* Camco Class 2 (production 4X4)
Nigel Newlands, Hamilton, 1
Maurice Bain, Hamilton, 2
Scott Hay, Auckland, 3
* Camco Class 4 (improved 4X4)
Simon Smith, Christchurch, 1
Glenn Turvey, Wellington, 2
* Camco class 8 ThunderTruck (unlimited)
Raana Horan, South Head, 1
Bryan Chang, Christchurch, 2
Gary Baker, Otakiri, 3