MOTORSPORT - On track for plenty of mud slinging

Rally fans heading to Pohe Island for the NAC International Rally of Whangarei special stages on Saturday could get more than they bargained for with Whangarei Four Wheel Drive club members looking to make a bit of a splash at the event.
The club have agreed to entertain the crowd with an exhibition of some of their distinct brand of motorsport and, although they have never held an event at the venue, they're planning to have plenty of fun in the mud.
"There will be mud-drags, followed up by a short course race against the clock and also some tug o' war match-ups, where vehicles tie themselves together and see which one can pull the other backwards," organiser Colin Jaggard said.
"As it's a new thing for the club and has to fit around the rallying. It will be a fairly fluid schedule," Jaggard said.
"What I can tell you is there going to be a lot of mud slinging out there by a whole host of different vehicles," he said.
The event will be run in four classes, which may not be easily decipherable after the first run in the mud. "Well be out to win bragging rights. There are no prizes, no podiums. We're out to get one up on each other and it won't mean much to anyone else but we'll know," he said.
Jaggard said this is the first time the club had organised a public demonstration but leaping into the unknown came naturally to four-wheel drive competitors.
"You can prepare as much as you like for any event but everything can change (on a course) pretty quickly. A bit of rain can come down. But even vehicles going over a terrain can change conditions, so you've got to be ready for anything," he said.
The competition starts at 10am and goes for an hour before the rally cars take over. When they finish around 1pm the club will again take over until the rally's return about 4pm.
Jaggard said the 60-plus members in the club span a wide range of interests.
Jaggard said he hoped the demonstration would allow people to see what the club got up to and he wouldn't be too surprised if there was a fair bit of interest.
"Maybe people will be motivated to join but it's just as likely people will look at us and say `what idiots' - it could go either way."