NT TITLES 2010 Wrap Up

Wow !!! it was a night of shocks, surprises and highs and lows. Over 4000 people turned out at Downes Park Hidden Valley to watch the competitors battle it out for the NT Title crown in all 5 classes. The weather was perfect and the track was wet and muddy – just the way it should be for Mud Racing and everyone was settled in for a fantastic nights racing. The meeting was officially opened by The Hon. Mr. Rob Knight MLA (representing the Chief Minister).  Apart from the racing (which was spectacular) the highlight of the night were the mega massive fireworks display from ‘Sun Set Fireworks’ and the half time chocolate throw sponsored by Mr. Ross Bohlin MLA Member for Drysdale. I still say those children can make it around our track faster than any car out there. 

TOP GUN  

1st – Sean Luck – Chevy Metal
2nd – Ted Roderick – Hyperactive
3rd – Darren Diwell - Ogre

The biggest question for all watching was who would take out the Top Gun Class NT crown – would it be reigning Champion Gordon Fern in ‘Bad Attitude’ or heir apparent Darren Diwell in ‘Ogre’. These two have been neck and neck all season – trading win for win. Both drivers had been spending many a late night in the workshop getting their cars ready for this all-important meeting.

Darren warned the timing staff that he would not be holding back and that was pretty obvious in Round 1 when he pushed the limit just that little bit to far and rolled the car in the top corner. Gordon not to be out done pushed Bad Attitude to the limit and paid the price with a disastrous engine failure in Round 2.

Darren pulled some amazingly quick pit action and had ‘Ogre’ back on the track in Round 2 (how they do this we will never know – it’s secret male business). But with the two top runners out of contention the class was opened up and the crown was still up for grabs.

Ted Roderick in ‘Hyperactive’ (who flew back from WA the night before especially to race – Go Ted), Justin Gill in ‘4X4ORD and Sean Luck in ‘Chevy Metal’ stepped up and set some blistering times to battle it out for the Title honors. The crowd were the ultimate winners on the night with all drivers giving it everything they had.

In the end it was Sean Luck and Ted Roderick facing off for the Title in the back to back finals. It was a photo finish in both races with Sean Luck narrowly taking out the win by a one second difference. Congratulations to Sean the NEW TOP GUN TITLE holder.

The fight for third place was equally thrilling with Darren Diwell in ‘Ogre’ desperate to get those all important Season points in lieu of the NT Title. Justin Gill in the Abode New Homes sponsored 4X4ORD was having a fast and competitive night and was not going to sit back and hand Darren the third place on a platter. Justin made Darren work very hard for the third place.

I for one cannot wait for next Season…. It’s going to be absolutely amazing. Bring it on!!!!

PRO MODIFIED

1st – Greg Chin - Boogeyman
2nd – Chris Sunners – Piston Broke
3rd – Barry Troy – Norty Shorty and Jason McArthur – Nothin But trouble

It was fast it was furious and it was fantastic. It was great to see Chris Sunners in ‘Piston Broke’ back in action after missing the last two meetings. Chris proved he had not been wasting his time away by qualifying fastest for the finals, just ahead of Greg Chin driving the ‘Boogeyman’ solo with brother Wes sidelined with an injury. It was up to Greg to defend the family honor and he did not let the side down by taking out both back to back finals with some crackling times.

Mechanical issues put the ‘Predator’ team of cousins Jess and Melissa McArthur out of contention early in the night – but the girls have promised that they will be back next season to make sure the boys don’t have all of the fun in the Pro Modified class.

It was left to Jason McArthur in ‘Nothin But Trouble’ to ensure a McArthur family member made it to the finals. Jason and Barry Troy in ‘Norty Shorty’ faced off for the third place battle and a battle royal it was. With a rolling start due to mechanical (clutch) issues in ‘Norty Shorty’ it was exciting for the starters and the timing staff let alone the drivers. Both drivers took out a win each in the back to back finals and the times were too close to call and we were very please to award third place in the NT titles to both drivers. Congratulation to both drivers – we love an exciting race and this class is always one to provide excitement to the crowd.

TEMRA President Chris Lovewell was on the bench due to a blown engine but he promises to be back next Season in ‘Tonka Truck’ – he spent the night in our VIP area playing Hostess with the Mostess but we know he would much rather have been out there in the Mud.

Rod Gobell in ‘Dunno’ and brother Peter and Robert Holloway ‘Fun-King-Nuts’/’School Bus’ will also be back next Season. Pro Modified will be thumping in October.

4WD MODIFIED  

1st – Mark Tattingham - Rocky
2nd – Basil Roe – That Bloody Nissan
3rd – Tony ‘Datto’ Travas – BigFoot
 
This is one of our favorite classes – due to the fact that you just never know who is going to win on the night. With no dominating team, this is the one that is always exiting to watch - to see who is going to come out on top on the night. In the end it was a battle between the new boy (Mark Tattingham), the returning veterans (Basil Roe and Ditto) and TEMRA faithful (Matty Clark).

The Tattingham family is well represented in this class with Tiarne Tattingham driving ‘Aquaduck’ facing off against Uncle Mark Tattingham in ‘Rocky’ in Round 1. Mark didn’t take it easy on his niece (a 15 year old TEMRA veteran – she has been racing sine she was 12) and crossed the lie first.

Mark qualified fastest for the back to back finals and didn’t miss a beat all night – taking out wins in both of the back to back races from long time TEMRA driver Basil Roe in ‘That Bloody Nissan’. This was Basils fist season back at Mud Racing from a mini break and he showed he had not forgotten how to get through the Mud quickly. Well done to both drivers.

Basil was not the only veteran member returning to Mud Racing this Season. We also saw ‘Datto’ and his car ‘BigFoot’ return to the track after some time away. Mud’s like that – it gets into your blood they tell me and than it calls you back for another go.

‘Datto’ and Matty Clarke ‘Bush Pig’ fronted the line for the race for third place and the mud flew literally. ‘Datto’ also showed that he had not lost any talent and took double wins in the back to backs to take the third Place.

It’s been wonderful to see these TEMRA veterans return to the sport and we know we will see them again in October.

Luck was not on the side of the McArthur girls on the night with sisters Laura and Sarah in ‘Full Boar’ suffering dreaded mechanical issues early in the night and were than forced to join Melissa and Jess on the hill after Round 3.

The girls also assured us they would be back better than ever in October.

A special mention goes to Jarred and Tyler Donovan in ‘Crash Test Dummies’ for having a great Season and showing that Junior Drivers have to start somewhere and this is the class to do it in. See you in October…

2WD OPEN

1st – Tim Marshall – Bog Father
2nd – Jeff Gale - Bentaz
3rd – Julian Brown – Red Back

Well well well…. As we said before it was a night of shocks and 2WD Open class was one of the biggest shockers of the night. Jeff Gale in ‘Bentaz’ and Brian Buckley in ‘Buckleys’ came into the night as the favorites after trading first place wins all Season, but once again NT Titles has shown that it all comes down to what happens on the track on the night.

Brian had a shocking run in Round 2 that put him out of finals contention and this left the battle for first place to be played out between Jeff and Tim Marshall in ‘Bog Father’. Both drivers took a win each but the slippery conditions came into play with Jeff suffering some steering and control issues in the second run giving the NT Title to Tim with exactly one-second difference in the final average times. We want to welcome Tim to the winner podium and it’s great to see this amazing class getting better and better every season. It’s not easy getting around our track with out 4WD and these guys show amazing driving skills every meeting.

Johno Gosen in ‘4 Play’ and Julian Brown in ‘Red Back’ faced the start lights in the race for third place. ‘Red Back’ is a modified Sprint car and we’re not sure if the wing helps but Julian proved he can drive in mud just as well as he can on dirt by taking out the NT Titles third place with wins in both back to back finals.

We are looking forward to seeing Eddie Tattingham (yes another Tattingham) return to 2WD Open next season. Eddie continues to recover from a horrific Quad bike injury – we keep telling him that cars are much safer and Mud is softer.

2WD STANDARD

1st – Jeff Penny and Mal Lelay – Muddy States
2nd – Sue Abrook, Sarah Featherstone and Jan Diwell - PMT
3rd – Ashlee Modra – Coz I Can

Well we did ask if anyone could knock the PMT girls out of first place… and the question was answered on Saturday night. YES they can…

After being undefeated in 2 Seasons it looked to all that the winner of the 2WD std NT Title was a for gone conclusion but in a typical Mud Racing twist of fate, it was not to be. After qualifying fastest the PMT team became victims of the track in the back to back finals.

In one of the weirdest finals of the night the two contenders only managed to have one car actually make it over the finish line in the races. Both cars became bogged in the first race and had to be towed out. It was than all down to who would get across the line first in the final back to back run.

The Mud Gods were not kind to the PMT girls and their car just could not recover form the water intake in the first run bogging and it spluttered to a halt during the final run. All eyes than went to track one to see if Mal and Jeff in ‘Muddy States’ could make it around the track and across the finish line. Things looked tense when ‘Muddy States’ hit the car killing bog hole on track one. But with some amazing driving skills the boys managed to make it all the way around the track to cross the finish line and take out the NT Title and claim the first defeat of the PMT team in 2 Seasons. Well done guys the girls have been waiting for a challenge.

Ashlee Modra in ‘Coz I Can’ and Brendan McCarthy in ‘Mudda Fudda’ took to the mud to fight it out for the third place in 2WD Standard. This was Brendan’s first night in his new car and he did himself and his parents Bruce and Di Evans (Mum’s Taxi) proud by qualifying for the finals in his first night out.

Ashlee proved to good on the night and took out the win in the tough 2WD conditions that as with the race for first place saw both cars being pulled from the track. It was all down to one run to decide the winner and Ashlee showed her experience by getting ‘Coz I Can’ around the track in the harsh conditions.

Congratulations to all of the 2WD Standard teams for dealing with some really nasty conditions on the track and still finding things to laugh about at the end of the night.

SEE YOU ALL IN OCTOBER !!

Story by Maree Somers