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SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
SPEEDtv.com
02/18/2008 - 05:43 PM
In the history of the Taupo 1000, two names stand out from the rest: Tony McCall and Clim Lammers. For this pair of tough-built Kiwis, the southern hemisphere’s longest off-road race is the ultimate motorsports challenge, and only victory will suffice.
McCall became the first man to win two of the biennial enduros when he added a 2003 victory to his 1999 success. For a decade, his fearsome Class 1 Cougar-Porsche buggy has been the benchmark in the Taupo 1000, and he might have scooped the honors in ’05, too, until transmission dramas wrecked his race.
That 2005 race is regarded as the toughest Taupo 1000 ever, with accidents and mechanical problems decimating the frontrunners, but it gave Lammers his first victory, despite clutch problems and engine cooling worries in his unlimited buggy.
“It’s impossible to win this race on day one,” says Lammers, “and then day two is always more treacherous, because the roads are always worse after 500 kms of racing on day one. Sometimes, it’s not the fastest car that wins.”
McCall, who has numerous New Zealand national off-road titles to his name, but relishes the Taupo 1000 in the same way an American off-roader regards the Baja 1000, agrees with Lammers, noting: “The Taupo 1000 is a huge challenge, because it rewards
the driver with the best strategy – and that’s not necessarily the best driver or the best car – or even the fastest driver or car.”
But with the competition so intense at the front, it’s a fine line between trying to run within the car’s limits over the 100 mph-plus logging roads and wheel-swallowing mud bogs and washes that define the course, and being too conservative. With other local heroes like Donn Attwood, Melvin Rouse and Kevin Charles gunning for Lammers and McCall, the race gets more intense every time it’s run.
“If you go out too hard on the first day, you risk damaging your car to the point where it fails the next day,” says McCall, “but if you’re too cautious and someone else has a sweet run through the first day you risk being left behind. In this race, there’s nowhere to hide and you have to front up to win.”
For the 2007 race, McCall and Lammers lined up against 18 other Class 1 entries, including former winners Rouse and Alan Butler, all vying for the overall win. Added to that, the Toyota FJ Cruisers of Ryan Millen and Team Necessary entered in the Class 2 production class where an unknown quantity for the locals, and capable of punching well above their weight. The ninth Taupo 1000 was shaping up to be a classic.
McCall became the first man to win two of the biennial enduros when he added a 2003 victory to his 1999 success. For a decade, his fearsome Class 1 Cougar-Porsche buggy has been the benchmark in the Taupo 1000, and he might have scooped the honors in ’05, too, until transmission dramas wrecked his race.
That 2005 race is regarded as the toughest Taupo 1000 ever, with accidents and mechanical problems decimating the frontrunners, but it gave Lammers his first victory, despite clutch problems and engine cooling worries in his unlimited buggy.
“It’s impossible to win this race on day one,” says Lammers, “and then day two is always more treacherous, because the roads are always worse after 500 kms of racing on day one. Sometimes, it’s not the fastest car that wins.”
McCall, who has numerous New Zealand national off-road titles to his name, but relishes the Taupo 1000 in the same way an American off-roader regards the Baja 1000, agrees with Lammers, noting: “The Taupo 1000 is a huge challenge, because it rewards
But with the competition so intense at the front, it’s a fine line between trying to run within the car’s limits over the 100 mph-plus logging roads and wheel-swallowing mud bogs and washes that define the course, and being too conservative. With other local heroes like Donn Attwood, Melvin Rouse and Kevin Charles gunning for Lammers and McCall, the race gets more intense every time it’s run.
“If you go out too hard on the first day, you risk damaging your car to the point where it fails the next day,” says McCall, “but if you’re too cautious and someone else has a sweet run through the first day you risk being left behind. In this race, there’s nowhere to hide and you have to front up to win.”
For the 2007 race, McCall and Lammers lined up against 18 other Class 1 entries, including former winners Rouse and Alan Butler, all vying for the overall win. Added to that, the Toyota FJ Cruisers of Ryan Millen and Team Necessary entered in the Class 2 production class where an unknown quantity for the locals, and capable of punching well above their weight. The ninth Taupo 1000 was shaping up to be a classic.
Click here for more on the Two Roads to the Taupo 1000 on SPEED!
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