KEY POINTS:
The sixth round of the national off-road racing championships near Whakatane threw up some surprise results, among them a win for Neville Smith and his sophisticated new Cougar.
The Beachlands driver battled Hawkes Bay rival Shayne Huxtable for almost all of the 165km enduro on the Matata course before snaring victory.
Earlier in the race, defending champion Tony McCall smashed the differential on his Cougar 07 and had to withdraw.
McCall had won the first two heats outright and was preparing to overtake Huxtable to move into the lead in the enduro when the differential broke.
Smith's car uses an intercooled Honda VTEC turbocharged engine, sequential gearbox and dry sump lubrication.
Its bodyshell contains carbon fibre and other composite materials to minimise weight.
But it has had a troubled career to date with mechanical breakages frustrating Smith at almost every race.
Now fitted with an Albins transmission and a rally-style anti-lag system keeping the turbocharger spinning between gear changes, the Smith Cougar is beginning to show its true pace.
With McCall sidelined, Smith and Huxtable engaged in a spirited race, chasing early leader Clive George and then battling for the outright lead when George was forced to withdraw.
But the tussle ended when Huxtable's rear suspension broke, forcing him to pit. That brought Whakatane racer Clive Thornton up into second place in his Australian Southern Cross V6, with Whangarei's Melvin Rouse holding third place.
Although Huxtable rejoined and set about chasing down the leaders he was forced out with mechanical failure with around 10 laps of the race remaining.
"Shayne and I had a fantastic battle through the middle part of the enduro," says Smith.
"I really got to grips with the engine's power characteristics. The car's great to drive and pulls wheelstands in every gear.
"We will work on brakes and suspension now to keep up the momentum."
Huxtable had the consolation of having won the morning's short course heats for class one.
Mt Albert driver Alan Butler provided another surprise when he shared the Super 1600 class win in his new Cougar 07 with West Auckland's Donn Attwood.
Clive George won the ThunderTruck class in his Chev V8-engine Toyota Tundra 4WD, taking the class result on the day and winning the ThunderTruck North Island title.
North and South Island racers meet next month at Nelson for the double-points final round of the championships, when defending champion McCall and current championship points leader Andrew Thomason of Christchurch go head-to-head for the first time.
