KEY POINTS:
The 2008 Asset Finance New Zealand Offroad Racing National Championship draws to a close this Labour Weekend with two days of racing at Manukau. Any one of five drivers have a clear shot at the outright title.
Nelson racer Dennis Andreassend scored a clean sweep at the South Island's final round and leads the championship outright, an important psychological advantage going into the finals, where he will race against the fastest Super 1600 drivers in the country.
He has 190 points, four points clear of Christchurch's Daniel Powell who runs a Jimco single-seater in the unlimited class.
Behind them are Super 1300 driver Ryan Densem on 182 points, Maurice Bain on 175 and Nick Hall on 169.
Shaking up the Super 1600 class, though, is a late entry from Christchurch's Wayne Moriarty, who led the championship in his Euroblast Cougar Toyota until his transmission failed at the last South Island round. He has now repaired his car and secured additional backing for the long and expensive trip north.
The event brings offroad racing the closest it can be to metropolitan Auckland and teams it with the 2008 Targa Rally to create Manukau's Full Throttle Weekend. Targa starts in Manukau on Labour Weekend Monday.
Leading entries in the Race Shock Specialists class one category include defending class one national champion Tony McCall, experienced racer Grant Ferguson of Drury, Whakatane racer Clive Thornton, and Christchurch drivers Geoff Densem and Daniel Powell.
Camco class two for production trucks includes former championship outright leader Maurice Bain, who is expected to be battling long-time rival and fellow Hamiltonian Nigel Newlands. The first entries in the class are Scott Hay in his Toyota Surf and Robin Smith.
The Leader Products Super 1600 class includes current outright championship leader Dennis Andreassend (Nelson) in his Chenowth Honda VTEC single-seater, Donn Attwood of West Auckland and Malcolm Langley of Whakatane along with Manukau racer Warren Rogers. Also entered are Albany driver Richard Crabb in his innovative and fast mid-engined car along with Devlin Hill and Shane Cato.
Camco class four is up for grabs, with South Islander Simon Smith seventh overall and leading the class. Second in the class on points is another South Islander, Dave Manze, while currently third on points is Wellington's Glenn Turvey in his V6 Toyota Hilux ute.
The Iveco-backed event will be held on October 25-26 at Prices Rd, Manukau.
Adults admission is $10 per person, and children under 12 are free.
