HUNTER TOPS CLASS WITH ALMOST FAULTLESS RUN

Hunter Racing has taken another class win in the Australian Offroad Racing Championship, despite losing 20 minutes with a mystery mechanical issue.

The Queensland-based team of Colin Hunter and Margot Knowles also finished 13th outright in the Teagle Excavations Pines Enduro in Millicent SA, a punishing event which attracted 69 starters this year.

Millicent is on the Limestone Coast, mid-way between Melbourne and Adelaide. The event was made up of six laps of a 65km course taking in Teagle’s Quarry, closed public roads and the Tantanoola Forest Reserve, all 50km west of Mt Gambier.

Hunter Racing’s V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee compete in ‘Extreme 4WD’ in the Australian Off Road Championship. This used to be known as Class Eight and is open to highly modified 4WD vehicles with engines not exceeding 6000c.

“It was a great weekend of racing,” says Colin Hunter.

“The weather was mild and dry – perfect racing weather – and the track was really good. It’s a very sandy track and we’re used to driving it when it’s wet and muddy, not in the dry.

“There’s a trick, though, because about six inches below the sand are these massive sharp rocks. It looks like you’re driving on the beach, but once the track starts getting chopped up, it’s easy to hit the rocks and do some damage, which is exactly what we did on the second lap in Leg One.

“We bent a front rim but we thought we might have done a drive shaft, and we stopped two or three times to check because the noise was so bad. As it turned out, the rim was bent very badly and kept rubbing against the steering arm and it eventually wore away, but the guys were able to fix it during service.

”We also had a puncture in that leg about five kays later. Whatever had bent the front rim had split the rear tyre, as it turned out,  so we changed that and replaced that wheel at service too.”

Hunter says Leg Two and Leg Three were faultless, with the team driving for consistency and a good finish.

“There were so many people with flat tyres, bent rims and broken suspension parts, with all the damage being done once the track started to break up. Obviously we would have liked a top 10 finish, but given we had missed the first round at Hyden (WA), we couldn’t afford not to be careful, so we just drove to get the points on the board.

“Obviously we were able to do that and the added bonus is that there isn’t much work to do on the car to get it ready for the final round and the battle to wrap up another title.”

Hunter Racing would like to thank Goodyear, Modena Engineering and Chrysler Jeep for their ongoing support.

The Millicent round was round five of the six-round AORC. Hunter and Knowles are currently leading the points tally in their class and are hoping to maintain their lead when they head to the Albins Goondiwindi 500 – the ‘grand final’ which is their home event in Queensland, to be run over the weekend of October 18-19. Extra points are on offer (1.5 times the usual number) for the final round.