The 2016 Gecko Wheels Cliffhanger 4WD Event finished up on Friday just past after 5.5 days of gruelling stages in the tough terrain of the central outback of NSW. This year saw 31 teams all prepped and ready for whatever event organisers, Rudi & Hobzee, had to throw at them, except maybe the record rainfall that fell across the country. However as they say “The Show Must Go On” and teams got straight into tackling the rocky climbs, sandy creeks, Cliffhanger walls, mud, mud and more mud and even a bit of dust over the course of the week.
A few days in and a series of breakages and tough terrain saw a few teams drop from the pack, while the remainder pushed hard to stay in the game. Making it tougher again was a series of DNF’s for many teams due to the tough and changing terrain. By the middle of the week the competition had certainly heated up with the top spot changing from stage to stage, day to day and it was quite clear that the top runners were about to give it everything they had to get them in the top spot for good.
Leading the field going into the final stage and keeping that lead to come out on top was Dave McPherson and Damien Volta in the DMAC Carpentry GQ Patrol on 1489 points. Runners up and making up another place on last year was the Warragul Towing GQ of Nic Hodge and Daniel Fusinato on 1444 points followed by John “Biders” Bidwell and Russell Andrew in the Biders 4WD Unlimited GQ Patrol.
Full event coverage to come in Dirtcomp Magazine – Click here to subscribe.
Report thanks to Shantyl O’Donnell
Photo’s: SS Photography
