Truck tangle earns drivers a telling-off

ILL-FEELING between truck-racing front-runners Malcolm Little and Andrew Porter, which has been simmering for the past few seasons, erupted at Manfeild on Sunday, with both drivers hauled before the clerk of the course for a ticking-off.
The two men, both in five-tonne trucks travelling at speeds of up to 160km/h, banged and clanged through the final points race of the season.
Porter won two races and was third in the last to defend his national championship, while Little got a second and third for second overall.
Afterwards Little put the blame squarely on Porter's shoulders for an overtaking manoeuvre which nearly caused disaster. Photos by Pete Nikolaison show them tangling where the sweeper joins the main straight.
This was exactly the point where Little's truck tangled with then-champion Robin Porter's vehicle four years ago. That coming-together saw the Porter truck cartwheel down the main straight, disintegrating, the driver lucky to survive.
Robin Porter, father of Andrew Porter, has not spoken to the Masterton man since, and has retired from racing.
Little reckons Sunday's incident could have been avoided.
"He's got the power. He can drive round us. All he said afterwards was 'who crashed my old man's truck?' How childish can you get? That was four years ago. I was cleared then, but is it ever going to stop?"
Porter lodged a protest after the race and the two drivers were told to clean up their act. Little said the slanging continued at the after-meeting social function.
This has been Little's best season ever, and he puts Porter's performance down to the fact that the family dominance of the sport is ending. The Little team now runs two trucks, the second, a Kenworth, being driven by Richard Lester in the absence of part-owner Mat Summerfield. Sponsors Alan Griffin, PPG, and Phil Cottle had generously extended their backing to cover both the Freightliner and the Kenworth.
Both trucks competed in the non-points transtasman challenge (the Kenworth representing Australia). Little handed his truck over to veteran Calvin Bonney and watched from the stands. Perhaps inevitably the two Boss Racing trucks tangled and took each other out.
Little then took the wheel for the flying farewell.
"We're not put off ? we won't be bullied into submission," Little said yesterday.
"We'll come back, and with something better." He's already thinking in terms of an import engine, a Cummins variant from the United States, to give him the edge over Porter.
He added that he is still enjoying the sport and said he was heartened by the support of other truck racers.