Tight championship as Auret out to defend title

BACK TO BACK: Defending champion Hamish Auret is ready for another 4X4 season, starting tomorrow at Upokongaro.PHOTO/FILE

Wanganui's defending NZ 1 Hamish Auret is "chomping at the bit" to make it back-to-back titles when the National 4x4 Championship season gets under way at Upokongaro tomorrow morning.

Auret and his Egmont club co-driver Paul Barnes will again be among the favourites for the Super Modified D Class title amongst a group of around 60 trucks that will enter the six round series in the various engine classes.

Among them will be 10 local truck crews, with the other local standout and former national champion Dan Cowper setting up a new truck for this campaign.

After the forecast of rain today, conditions are expected to be fine for tomorrow, although Auret is still expecting the Upokongaro course to be pretty challenging first up.

"There will be holes and spills. We're pretty well known to have the toughest hazards in the country."

Auret's title win came in thrilling circumstances at last season's final round in the back blocks of Thames in April.

Sitting on a comfortable seven point lead as they tackled the course, Auret and Barnes rolled their truck and sprialled end over end.

That ended their day and they had to wait and see how second placed Scott Biggs from Auckland would fare, so when Biggs finished runnerup at Thames, Auret lifted the crown by a solitary point.

While the overall numbers registered for this season are down a few, Biggs and the other notables are back for more.

"The boys that are in it to win it are all going to be there," said Auret.

"There's still the fire in the belly to defend the title.

"The guy that came second has got a new vehicle so he's coming out to win it. Dan Cowper has finished a new truck as well.

"It's who'll make the least mistakes on the day - we're all as good as each other."

Cowper, who also built Auret and Barnes' truck, said he and his crew were working overtime to get their new vehicle sorted - having only got it on a 5m trip down the driveway yesterday afternoon.

"We're still putting it together. It will be touch and go."

Even if the truck is not ready, Cowper said competitors can drop off their worst result from six rounds in the points tally, so they can absorb missing Upokongaro although they would have to drive strongly in the other five rounds.

They will try to get out there and mingle with the others to get a gauge on who the contenders are this year, he said.

Following tomorrow, the next rounds will be in South Waikato on November 21, then Whakatane on January 24.

February will see rounds held in Counties (14th) and Masterton (28th), before the final round in Taranaki on Easter Weekend, March 26.

Tomorrow's action will be held the farm property on the corner of State Highway 4 and Kaiwhaiki Rd in Upokongaro, which is across the road from the Shelterview Jetsprint Park.

The event will be from 8.30am to around 4pm.