Off-road racing a roaring success

Dion Edgecombe took about second place in the first North Island round of the national off-road racing series. Photos: Darren Stanley Photography.

Four years of hard work for the Waikato Offroad Racing Club came to fruition last weekend, with the first ever national racing event held at their TECT Park track.

The club hosted the first North Island round of the national off-road racing series.

Club president Colin Meredith has been working on the track for the last four years and says it's hard not to get emotional seeing the track used for national racing for the first time.

'It's the first time we've put our track on display to all the major racers in the North Island,” he says. 'It's very gratifying.”

Race day ran smoothly, with all races running on time, and there were no dust issues which meant the track didn't have to be watered throughout the day.

'It's probably the first time that any of us have been to off-road racing where dust hasn't become an issue during the day,” says Colin.

'We had a fantastic day and all the competitors were very, very positive.

'We're pumped about how well it went here.”

Some 47 cars entered 14 different classes, and they all put on a great show for the 400-strong crowd.

The first round saw some fierce competition, with locals Dion Edgecombe and Dyson Delahunty taking out first and second in the S class. The national series is shaping up to be a tough battle leading up to the finals in October.

Club member Dion is hoping the number of spectators will continue to increase as word spreads about their TECT venue and events.

'A lot of people here had never been to off-road racing before and they said: ‘when's the next one? We're coming back',” says Dion.

Part of the management team at Daltons, Dion and the crew spent the three weeks leading up to the race refining the track.

He raced on Saturday and says the track held up really well and provides good viewing for spectators in a beautiful setting.

'I could be a little bit biased, but I would call it the best off-road racing track in the country at the current time.”

When the club first got the land at TECT Park it was empty, so the course had to be built from scratch.

'There's been a lot of effort from the whole club over the last four years,” says Dion. 'So it's pretty cool to see a club take something from nothing and do what we did here on Saturday.”

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