Local crew holding on for title

AIRBORNE:Wanganui crew Hamish Auret and co-pilot Paul Barnes take the aerial route during round three of the national 4x4 championship in Hunterville on Saturday. PHOTOS/TARA KOORNNEEF 110115WC4X41

A WANGANUI crew hold a slender lead in the New Zealand 4x4 Championship series after the third round in Hunterville on Saturday.

Hamish Auret and co-driver Paul Barnes from the Egmont club won the first two rounds in Waihi and New Plymouth, but a relatively dry track in the back blocks of Hunterville at the weekend was not suitable for their Pirtek Hydraulics-sponsored 650hp 7 litre Chev truck.

Ironically, Auret is used to one horse power. His day job is working with thoroughbred race horses at the family's Leatham Stud on the Marangi just south of Wanganui.

"We could only manage seventh on Saturday, but it was enough to retain the series lead, although not by much," Auret said yesterday.

The truck, built by Cowper Trucks in Wanganui, is arguably the most powerful on the circuit this season and conditions in Hunterville were against the crew.

"Our truck is probably the most powerful in the country at the moment, which has its advantages, but not on those drier conditions in Hunterville. It was almost too much traction."

Auret has raced 4x4 for the past seven years and while he has won a national winter series in the past he has yet to claim the New Zealand Championship title.

"Dan Cowper, who built our truck, has won the national series several times, but he's been racing for about 30 years. Nobody else from Wanganui has won the national championship, so we're hoping we can hold the lead with three rounds to go," Auret said.

The three rounds remaining are a month apart in Hawkes Bay, Wellington and the final in Thames.

"We are on 293 points and our nearest rival is on 290, so it's close. The rest of the field are a wee way back, but there's probably about five crews who are in striking distance of winning with three rounds to go.

"The worrying thing is Dan Cowper, who co-drives for a guy from Tauranga and Paul Chapman who co-drives for a Wellington unit, are among those in striking distance."