After coming so close on three previous occasions, Chris Gifford & Sam Thomsen take their maiden win in the NZ 4×4 Trials Series to kick off the 2025-2026 season!
The Superior Excavation National 4×4 Trial took place out of Whakatane in White Pine Bush, once again hosted by the Eastern Bay Twin Diff Club.
It was a hot, muggy day with changing conditions, with rain showers rolling in throughout the day to further add to the already evolving terrain! The Eastern Bay is notorious for its soft sandy ground. What might start as a rough & lumpy stage for the first team will often become unrecognisably smooth for the last team, as the terrain changes thanks to 40 trucks. That said, it doesn’t stop someone from putting their foot down to dig some holes to rough it up again!
Event Results
TOP FIVE
For the morning scores Scott Biggs & Phil Walton would hold a narrow two-point lead over Gifford & Thomsen. Fifty points behind them would be Ash Tonkin & Dyon Ross in third. Jarred Biggs & Fleche Crawford would be fourth, followed by Dave McKie & Reece McKie
One of the courses that caught the teams out in the morning was Section 1, an ungraded sidling. An ungraded section is one where you must reach the finish gate (by either running over pegs or attempting a clean run), or risk taking a maximum penalty score of 100 points. There were a few rollovers on the day, with 11/40 teams failing to reach the end, with only three managing a clean run!
For the afternoon Gifford & Thomsen would keep their cool to take the win by 20 points ahead of Biggs & Walton, who suffered from a couple costly mistakes in the afternoon.
Dave McKie & Reece McKie would pull a switcheroo to take third place ahead of defending champ Jarred Biggs & Fleche Crawford in fourth.
In a sublime fifth place was Alastair Bevege & Grant MacDonald in their VQ35 powered Homebuilt, in only their second Top 10 finish. It’s the highest placing for a V6 powered buggy in over five years, when Phil Hobart finished fourth at South Waikato in 2019.
C CLASS
In their last appearance in C Class back in 2023, Angus Hamilton & Daniel Howat both rounded out the bottom of the score sheet. It’s a different story for 2025 with The Compensator making its debut as the first 4-cylinder buggy from Nitro Customs.
Hamilton & Howat would start the day strong running second in class & ninth outright for the morning, despite also falling victim to Section 1. They would keep it consistent for the afternoon to come away with their first class win and finish 10th overall to boot! Throwing their hat in the ring for C Class honours straight off the bat, time will tell how the new kids on the block fare against the more seasoned competitors.
Rhys O’Brien & Clarrie Vazey would lead C Class in the morning and eighth outright, ultimately finishing a strong second in class and 12th overall at the end of the day for a K24 1-2.
Nathan Fogden & Mike Gibbons would take afternoon honours for C Class to finish third in class and 14th overall. Defending champs Shayne Towers & Tony Hadland would be not far behind in fourth and 19th outright.
SUPER PRODUCTION
Paul Taylor & Danielle Taylor are back for another season of F Class, finishing the day despite their gearbox saying sayonara late in the afternoon!
BEST OF THE REST
Rounding out the rest of the Top 10…
3NZ Ash Tonkin & Dyon Ross would ultimately finish sixth overall.
Wayne Weatherly & Tayla Weatherly would continue their impressive streak of Top 10’s in seventh.
Shaun Nicholson & Mike Ferguson would finish in the Top 10 again with eighth.
Wayne Buckthought & Rachel Buckthought would also continue their strong form from the final to finish in nineth place.
Round 2 in Kaukapakapa takes place soon in mid-December. Unfortunately, it is closed to the public, with the next round near Auckland taking place at Waiterimu on 21st March 2026.
For those in the lower north rejoice! As the next round open to public takes place in Whanganui on 1st February 2026.
