Media Releases 2010
Murfett and Payne are PINES bound!
01 Sep 2010
Two Tasmanian teams have set sail, leaving the little island for the big one, enroute to contest the 4th Round of the AORC this weekend at Millicent in SA.
Darren Payne & Crew
Payne raced the Pines last year but in the ultra lightweight chain driven single seater - his own creation.
Yearning for a more horsepower he returned from that event and built a larger 2 seater that would also enable his partner and newcomer to off road Kerri Wallace to be involved.
This will be Kerri’s debut as a navigator at a national round and she is keen and excited following 2 races riding alongside Darren this year on the Tassie circuit. Kerri will share the navvy seat with Stew Mc Kenzie , Payne’s long time friend, crew member and successful driver in his own right.
Byron Murfett also hailing from Ulverstone on the NW Coast is ultra keen to get behind the wheel of his V8 powered CORR Truck again for the first time since Griffith when electrical issues forced him to retire prematurely.
Byron Murfett
Murfett said they replaced the entire wiring loom upon returning to Tasmania, only to find it was a throttle position sensor that had caused the grief at the NSW event.
With wiring lurgys now definitely eradicated, Murfett said he is hungry for some decent ‘seat time’, considering this will be only the third race for the newly built truck.
Murfett imported the chassis from the US a few years ago and has worked tirelessly to assemble it to the spectacular truck it is today.
Whilst the run at Griffith was short lived, Murfett said he was wrapped with the overall feel and running of the Extreme 2wd but he has made some changes since then including lifting the vehicle in terms of height and has ‘ geared it up’ via a larger tyre choice.
Both Tassie teams are well prepared and keen to take on the challenges of Millicent and the 70 entrants.
By: Cara Tatnell
www.offroadracingtasmania.com.au
Winter Action on the dunes...
01 Aug 2010
Scott Rockliff has taken out the Peron Dunes Sprint ahead of Darren Payne in 2nd outright and Micheal Donohoe in 3rd outright.
Pic by: Amelia Napier
Heavy rain the night before could not put a dampener on Saturdays event when the sun shone warmly on the 14 entries in the winter sand event hosted by NWORCC.
Special thanks to the large SORRA entry contingent making the journey from the South to contest the one day event, with good performances from the Jacobson clan with David finishing 2nd in prolite and son Thomas 3rd in Prolite.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for many of them though with Nick Glover completing only 1.5 laps before a blown head gasket forced him out.
Deloraine’s Justin Tatnell in his single seater powered by a Holden V6 was forced out with electrical problems at the half way mark of the 4 heat event.
Pic by: Amelia Napier
In the overall results it was the NW Coast boys who pegged out the leading positions with Terry Morice coming 3rd in Pro Buggy despite transmission troubles which slowed the chev powered Truggy.
2nd in Probuggy & 3rd outright was Michael Donohoe in his turbo charged Rivmasta single seater.
1st in Prolite and 2nd outright was Darren Payne in his newly built single seater that he is planning to run at Millicent in September in the 4th round of the AORC.
1st outright was Scott Rockliff also of the NW Coast giving his Rocka A Arm single seater a run for the first time since returning from the Finke Desert Race where he finished 22nd outright.
Organisers from NWORCC advised the shortened track which missed out the Northen End, still ‘cut up’ fairly quickly especially the whoops after the blackhole. The beach run in contrast was fast and flat and the winter tides caused no problems.
Keith Armitage handled all the pre event admin with many others such as Colin Jones, Greg Turner, Lisa Morice, Andrew Wylie, the Gordon-Smiths, Ian and Ted James, Brad Rockliff and Steve Watkins carrying out various roles on the day to result in a succesful event.
See some photos by Amelia Napier in the Gallery.
Tasmanians all reach the FINKE !
14 June 2010
All three Tasmnanian entrants completed Leg 1 of the 2 day event yesterday when they arrived at the iconic destination for the overnight stop.
Apparently Tatnell is thrilled with the performance of the car including the engine and handling following some adjustments made after his prologue run.
We also learned that he blew a tyre just 8kms from Finke travelling at very high speeds and drove in on a flat.
Tatnell will no doubt be revelling in the horespower of his V8 chevvy after years in a 1600cc turbo motor. Yesterday on the Bundooma to Mt Squires stage he scored the 5th fastest time overall.
Tatnell has left the start line this morning in 12th position due to the Gallard entry being seeded into the top ten following issues yesterday that slowed the usually very fast 4wd truck.
Scott Rockliff arrived at Finke in 13th position on the road just behind Tatnell but on corrected time sat in 16th position in a total time of 2hrs and 8 mins.
We have heard that Scott had a trouble free run and all is well with the car, for this his best Finke result so far at this the half way mark.
Scott made it to Finke last year but was hampered by a blown turbo that saw him withdraw at that point and not start the return leg.
Scott has left the start line this morning in 17th position ( due to a seeding) and we wish him all the best to finally get that Finke survivors spike he deserves!
First timer Dale Newbon would be thrilled with efforts so far arriving at Finke yesterday in 34th position in a time of 2 hours and 39 mins.
We have heard all is well with his car too and he has set off from the start line today and is on the way home. We wish him every success in finishing!
To follow todays progress go to www.offroadracing.com.au the information from this site is fantastic.