Round 2 of the SSS Mickey Thompson Series was held at Crofters Estate (Formerly Landcruiser Mountain Park) on the 10-12 June. A total of 19 teams started out the weekend ready to tackle the tough and technical stages produced by Stirlo & Jubbo including tight tracks, long winches and side by side action.
Friday night kicked off just at the sun had set and consisted of two winch stages alongside each other with multiple obstacles and winches. A quick run on both SS1 and SS2 by Christian Trusz and Terry Kane in the GQ Patrol of CBT Racing.
Saturday teams went straight into a speed run heading in the direction of the other stages for the day, a quick run by Mick Short and Cam Marks in the No Kids Racing Hilux. SS4 gave teams a lot of tight turns, a couple of winches and a lot of technical obstacles including a barber’s poll worth 40 points each time it was touched. Only two teams managed to get through with no penalties, Matthew Dicks and Carl Miers in the Loose Snatch Racing 75 Series with a time of 12 min 34 sec and Carl Johannesen and David Gregg in the CSJ Racing GQ Patrol with a time of 11 min 11 sec. SS5 gave teams a break from the winch walls and sent them on a sprint run, quickest time was 7 min 3 sec set by Karl Berry and Mark Berry from Berry Bros Racing in their GQ Patrol. SS6 and SS7 started off with a side by side winch wall and a challenge of drive the hill get 40 bonus point (with 6 teams achieving this on SS6 and 1 team on SS7). These stages then took teams on a bit of a quick sprint before tacking a few winch obstacles and heading into the finish box. The CBT Racing GQ Patrol of Christian Trusz and Terry Kane came in with a win on SS6 as well as SS7. The final stage of the day was a GPS run with teams looking for a total of 35 points within 90 minutes. First to finish with the most correct points was Carl Johannesen and David Gregg in the CSJ Racing GQ Patrol.
Sunday consisted of SS9 and SS10 which were back in the gully from Friday night with a few changes to the stages, including a reverse ground anchor winch for the final hill and the addition of barber’s polls. SS9 seemed like the quicker of the two stages with most teams managing to drive the final hill without receiving the barber’s poll penalty. Taking out the win was the Rusty Nuts Racing GQ Patrol of Josh Kummerfeld and Tim Barns in a time of 6 min 3 sec. SS10 saw many teams literally get stuck in the mud while other teams found themselves on the final hill with a broken CV or hub on the driver’s side making it rather difficult to manoeuvre the final winch. A great drive by Allan Tierney and Michael Topfer in the Family Feud GQ on the final hill but unfortunately just not quick enough with the GQ Patrol of CSJ Racing’s Carl Johannesen and David Gregg coming through in a time of 12 min 13 sec.
With the final scores all tallied up 3rd Place went to Carl Johannesen and David Gregg (CSJ Racing) on 836 points, 2nd place on 857 points to Josh Kummerfeld and Tim Barns (Rusty Nuts Racing) and taking out 1st place was Christian Trusz and Terry Kane (CBT Racing) on 922 points.
Round 3 dates have been set for the 4 – 6 November 2016 at Crofters Estate.
Report and Images thanks to Shanty O’Donnell – SS Photography. Click here to visit their website
