Andreassend And Powell Face Off In Nelson

Asset Finance
New Zealand Offroad Racing
National Championship

Media release
10 August 2009

Spectacular offroad race action as:
Andreassend And Powell Face Off In Nelson

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Spectacular championship offroad race action returns to Nelson August 15 and 16 when local driver Dennis Andreassend and defending national champion Daniel Powell of Christchurch do battle for the title of South Island champion.

Also at stake is the lead in the national championship, which is currently held by Dennis Andreassend.

The action takes place at two different venues. On Saturday August 15 the fastest racers in the South Island compete in short course stadium-style racing on the Heslop raceway at the Nelson A&P showgrounds in Richmond.

Andreassend won the first round, held at Nelson during Anzac Weekend, outright. Two months later, he managed to hold onto the lead in the second round at Christchurch, pushing his Cougar Evo race car to the limit to stay with the larger and more powerful American-built Jimco of Powell.

Now he must fight for the championship lead, the South Island outright title and can only take the advantage by winning the weekend overall. A complicated points format means racers can only count two of their three rounds, dropping their worst result, in order to carry a points position through to the national final at Labour Weekend.

Convoluted backroom mathematics aside, Andreassend say this means Nelson motorsport fans can count on a spectacular showing at both the short course and the endurance race on the Sunday.

“Short course racing is very exciting for drivers, race crews and spectators. It’s as much of a contact sport as you will see in motorsport these days, the last place where racing really means racing.”

The 165 km enduro to be tackled the next day is similar in character to the race that started Andreassend’s championship campaign at Dunedin. The course is in the hilly forests of the “Snowpark” used last year, which is accessed from the top of Spooners Hill. Last year the race went ahead with a dusting of snow on the course and ice on the big puddles racers had to drive through.

Andreassend said the forest course may well suit his Cougar better than the big turbocharged Jimco.

“There’s only one way to know, isn’t there?”

Adding further excitement to the championship tussle between Andreassend and Powell is the presence of at least three other top unlimited-class racers.

Local driver Clayton Burrow will front up in the Kumeu Transport Engineering sponsored class, as will Ashley in his Nissan turbo powered car and Christchurch driver Geoff Densem in the Advanced Motorsports Ryan VW single-seater.

Racing in the Pine Harbour Painters Super 1600 class are Wayne Moriarty, Nigel Sutherland and Bruce Rolls.

Carrying local hopes in the Southern Lakes Transmissions Super 1300 class is Haydn Andreassend, son of Dennis Andreassend. He is up against Queenstown’s Donald McMillan, Clint and Ryan Densem.

There is a lone class nine “Baja” entry – a VW-bodied race car like the ones that kicked off the sport in the USA in the 1950s. That car will be driven by Gary Cooper.

The V-Dub Shoppe Challenger class will rekindle a season-long battle between Matthew Pratt and Paul Cooper, with Barry Phillips and Scott Campbell also entered.

In the Camco Offroad truck classes, production-class honours will be fought out between Steven Boyd, Carl Gardiner, Blair Prebble and Tod Johnson. The production class is proving popular in the South Island, with diverse four wheel drive machinery including Isuzu Mu, Suzuki jeeps, Isuzu Bighorn/Trooper all turning out to race in the affordable class.

Class four for improved or “sport” trucks will see a resumption of the battle between the Toyota Hilux trucks of defending champion Simon Smith and Nelson’s Darrin Thomason, with John Ratcliff and Neville Taylor also looking to score points.

The unlimited truck class, ThunderTrucks, has two entries: the V8 Land Rover of Blenheim driver Mark French will grid up against the supercharged V8-engined Land Cruiser of Donald Preston.

The 2009 Nelson Ruff’n’Tuff race weekend is presented by local sponsors the Heslop Group, Waimea Contract Carriers, Total Oil, VINZ, and Supercharge batteries. Racing on Saturday at the A&P showgrounds gets under way at 12.30; the enduro the next day starts at 10.30. Admission to Saturday’s racing is $4.00 adults, children under 14 free; admission on Sunday at the enduro track is free.

Saturday track profile story:
BRINGING SPECTACULAR OFFROAD RACE ACTION TO THE PEOPLE

Nelson race fans are about to experience championship offroad racing “up close and personal”, according to event organiser Clayton Burrow.

This Saturday and Sunday, Nelson hosts the final South Island round of the 2009 Asset Finance New Zealand Championship, where defending national champion Daniel Powell of Christchurch will go head to head with local driver Dennis Andreassend, who is the current championship points leader.

The first day’s race action will be held at the A&P Showgrounds. It will be the first time offroad racing has staged championship competition on the Heslop Raceway at the showgrounds.

“The fastest race teams in the South Island will do battle in a last chance clash for championship points before the national final in October. Offroad racing isn’t a contact sport, but the last time these guys came together there were crashes and rollovers all over the place. Even the defending national champion flipped his car. So the action is going to be fast and furious,” he said.

Offroad racing, like national championship rallying, is often held on farms and in forests outside built-up areas, “which means families and race enthusiasts have had to travel to get their adrenalin fix.”

“So we decided to bring the sport to the people on a fast and exciting course that’s very conveniently placed.”

Mr Burrow says the course starts with a 250 metre dash down a straight and into a tight 90 degree right hand turn.

“There will be plenty of action right there as the racers try to be first into the turn. There’s a huge advantage to being ahead as you come out of that ‘holeshot’ corner, because you are then locked into a short straight and a left hand corner and another short straight to the VINZ Bump, where the fast cars will get air.”

From there a medium-fast right hand corner opens onto the “massive” 450 metre Waimea Straight where the faster cars will nudge 140 km/h or more.

“They then dive into a 180 degree switchback corner under hard braking – I’m picking this will be another place where the cars will be great to watch, with huge potential for people to overshoot the corner and lose track position. They come out of that onto a 160 metre straight and a series of tricky left and right turns – the Total Turns - that set the cars up for the Heslop Flyer jump – where everyone will get airborne!”

Another switchback corner leads into the final 300 metre straight and onto another lap.

“Offroad racing is the last place where people can get up close to the race action. Down the home straight people will be able to be three metres from the cars, on the Waimea Straight the average distance is six metres. On the home straight people stand on an embankment with a fence between them and the cars. Huge air, high speeds, a bit of car to car contact - this will be unlike any race action Nelson people have seen.”

Mr Burrow says organisers will have quad bike racing between championship heats, and there will be static displays of rally cars and hot rods.

Hot food and “excellent” coffee will be available at the track and admission is $4 per adult, children under 14 free.

Issued on behalf of the Off Road Association of New Zealand by:.

ENDS

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