Mud and glory for 4WD enthusiasts

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it ... and there was no shortage of volunteers at Wanganui four-wheel-drive club's bog day out on Sunday.

A torrential downpour that gradually subsided to a mere deluge was not going to stop the club hosting the third round of the six-round national trials run by the NZ 4WD Association.

So the hills were alive with the sound of revving engines on a patch of challenging terrain just beyond Upokongaro and a good number of spectators braved the elements to enjoy the Cycom Classic Hits National Trial.

Mud was sprayed around like confetti, wheels spun madly, some vehicles rolled while others just got stuck.

At the end of it, Wellington teenager Mitch Seymour, from the Windy City Club, took out the elite super-modifieds class D and put himself in pole position in the overall national series. Seymour and his co-driver Mark Stockler also won the last round at Cambridge.

Wanganui's reigning NZ champion Dan Cowper suffered a number of breakdowns and had to settle for sixth place, leaving him second overall behind Seymour.

Palmerston's Derek Smyth, a member of the Wanganui club, finished 10th after two second places in the earlier rounds and lies fourth in the national series, with Wanganui's Mike Gee-Taylor in fifth.

And Sunday saw two section wins for local drivers - Hamish Auret in class C (up to 4 cylinders, super-modified), and Grant Harrison in class E (up to 4 cylinders, super production).

The national trials series is run in seven classes and each driver's best five rounds out of the six count in the championship which next heads to Whitemans Valley, Wellington, on January 29, then to Te Puke on March 3 and ends at Thames on April 7.

Sunday class winners

Class A: Graeme Goble (Mt Egmont)

Class C: Hamish Auret (Wanganui)

Class D: Mitch Seymour (Windy City, Wellington)

Class E: Grant Harrison (Wanganui)

Class F: Graeme Kingstone (Bay of Plenty)

Sunday overall result:

1, Mitch Seymour & Mark Stockler (Windy City, class D)

2, Brian Howat & Dwayne Mead (Windy City, class D)

3, Ron Sturme & William Sturme (Eastern Bay Twin Diff Club, class D).