McCall leaves rest in the woods

Tony McCall heads for first place in the Woodhill 100.

Manukau driver Tony McCall defended his Woodhill 100 crown with a flag-to-flag domination of New Zealand's toughest off-road race.

It was his fourth win in the event, and his third consecutive victory in a race that he says is the highlight of his racing year.

The SFL Woodhill 100, held over a course many of the drivers say was the fastest they have driven in the sandy Woodhill Forest northwest of Auckland, attracted a capped maximum entry, but in the tradition of all 26 annual races in the history of the event, only half the field survived to the finish.

McCall started as he meant to continue with pole position in qualifying sprints, then zoomed in front of second-fastest qualifier Donn Attwood at the start.

Behind him, Gary Baker and Lyndsay Dowler were third and fourth away in the best qualifying result for the big V8 ThunderTrucks. Baker, in his Nissan Navara V8, duelled with Dowler's Lexus-engined Toyota Hilux until a head gasket blew and put him out.

The race attracted six of the big-engined ThunderTrucks, one class-four Suzuki and three production-class trucks, including a Mitsubishi Pajero Evo.

Attwood was the only racer who could stay with McCall in the opening laps, although the gap stretched to more than a minute after two laps.

Attwood's less powerful 1.6-litre car then developed an ignition problem that let McCall get away into the forest.

When Attwood pitted his Bu-Mac two-seater to try to fix his misfire, Huapai-Kumeu drivers Rick Sciarone and Lyndsay Dowler found themselves elevated to second and third overall. Dowler gradually chased down Sciarone's more agile but less powerful 1.6-litre car.

When Sciarone split his fuel tank and pulled out, Dowler took over second place - several minutes behind McCall but setting his own pace.

Several major crashes marred the race at mid-distance, although no one was injured.

McCall said a 200km distance is hardly considered an endurance event by the top drivers, "but the tracks don't get any easier and the big hits aren't any softer than they were the first time I won".

Although McCall also leads the national championship with two perfect scores in a row, he said the Woodhill is always the biggest challenge of his racing year. "The championship is actually easier because you can be a bit strategic and take a long-term view - Woodhill is so fast and so hard that you just have to be inch-perfect all the way.

"The Taupo 1000 is the biggest race, and the longest distance we compete over, but I actually find the Woodhill much harder to win because it's a sprint distance.

"But the track is so tough you can't drive it like a sprint."

Only 12 drivers have won the Woodhill 100 in its 26-year history.