MOTORSPORT - Northland Winch Challenge good dirty fun

Whangarei's Darren Neeley has discovered that mechanical failure at a motorsport event does sometimes have an upside.
Neeley was well in control of the 2008 Northland Winch Challenge - an event he and his wife Shiree started three years ago - until a $5 bearing failed on his turbo-charged 4.5 litre Nissan Safari truck on Saturday's penultimate stage.
Neeley's enforced withdrawal turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise as it left the competition wide open to give Neeley's mate, Kawakawa's William Thompson, the chance he needed to win his first major competition.
Thompson said it was a tough way for Neeley's competition to end, but eventually it happened to everybody.
"That's motorsport, we had a bad run on one of our stages today and that's just the way it goes," Thompson said.
If anything, Thompson's victory can be shared by the Neeley's after Thompson and co-driver John O'Leary tried four-wheel-drive competition for the first time at the Whangarei meeting last year.
The Challenge, which has grown in popularity since it began three years ago, has a section for novice drivers designed to encourage newcomers to the sport - in Thompson's case it worked.
"I liked four wheel driving and winching, so I had a go last year and I caught the bug and here I am again," he said.
Thompson won three stages on Saturday, but didn't fare too well on Sunday and was thrilled to still win the challenge with 831 points, ahead of Auckland's Justin Winyard with 788 points. Wellsford's Owen Fillery was third with 754 points.
Thompson has joined Neeley competing at the national level this year. He has just finished upgrading his production Nissan Safari to competition standard. "It's a constant thing, you're always rebuilding and changing things and it's taken me about a year and a half to get it to where it is now," he said.
The competition was made up of seven stages on Saturday including a night stage and three stages on Sunday.
The winch challenge tests all skills used in 4WD competitions, with the fastest time for a stage earning 100 points, unless penalty points are incurred. The competition order for each stage is changed around so the tougher conditions faced lower in the order are not another obstacle.
Mechanical failure is a feature of the offroad competition. Of the 18 trucks competing at the event, five were forced to withdraw before the event was completed.
The competition is steadily gaining a reputation as a relaxed event on the national calendar.
"This competition, although it's classified as part of the national series, is run a little bit lower key to get the new guys in to compete in the club class, and it's warmer of course and that all contributes to the enjoyment factor I think," he said.