Forum

While talking to the guys at Manukau on the weekend, many times I was asked about having a consistent set of rules for 'club" class. So what do you want to see?
There are few things to consider.
Is the club class seen as a stepping stone to challenge class or is it just a competition for guys wanting to have a go?
Should it be based upon vehcile mods or crew skill and experience or a combination of both?
Should there be restrictions on tyre size? eg 35" instead of 36.5"?

The biggest thing is that this is a class that is for the compeitors and any formal rules are being put in place are to provide better competitions. To achieve this the rules need feedback from the guys doing and running these events. If the rules committee are asked to do this without feedback then it will be wrong and will fail! We need your help to help you.

The same debate is going on for the Mainland Series. The Marlborough 4WD Club are strongly of the opinion that the Club Class needs to be nurtured as an entry level competition suitable for people to "have a go" without huge cost in gear or modifications. This means organisers need to put in a little extra effort to set courses where rollovers are unlikely, so that roll cages are not needed. Winch points need to be provided so steel cable can be used and there is no need for ground anchors. Winch sections need to be reasonably short so there is no need for long cables or extensions, and slower (cheaper) winches can still compete. 33in tyres are about a natural limit before significant suspension and power modifications are needed, and this is a good Class size limit. You could even consider limiting the class to radials. Also, consider whether it is appropriate to carry results through a series, or whether each event should stand alone for this class. If someone wants to enter a full series, then they are already serious competitors and should enter the Open Class...

You may want to consider re-naming the class and call it a "Novice" class or similar. There are a few people who are thinking of the Club Class as serious competition for slightly less capable trucks than the Open Class, which in my opinion is not what the intention should be. Alternatively, run two divisions in the Open class. The point is that there needs to be a class suitable for people wanting a "First step" of competition.

During our recent Manukau 4wd winch challenge we discused this a lot after the Saturday night stages.
Our rule was that if you had competed in a national challange in the last 18 months then you could not enter.
We are keen to support the winch challenges but are wary of scaring away the club guys if they feel it is getting to hard to be competitive (cost etc.)
My opinions
1 Many of the rules in club class should be about affordability. eg hydrolic winches are out. Very few people who have a club truck for club purposes can afford a hydrolic winch. That sort of thing. This would keep the cost down which can be a big deturent for people wanting to give it a go and think they need a super suspension lift and 36 inch tires and a superfast winch to be competitive.
2 Have a handicap (like golf) This means that the newbie who turns up in his x vehicle with 31" mud tires and a electric winch with steel wire could still win if they run clean rounds. This would also encourage people to move up to the main series
3 Exclude trucks/drivers who have competed in a national challenge. This is to stop the hard out competitive trucks using the club class as a practice round. This is what happened to or Laurie Sanson trials rally and it drove a lot of the club guys away.

These are just my opinions I put out there for discussion.

Nathen Phillips
Manukau 4WD club winch Challenge organiser.

Hi Nathen ,i agree with most you have said apart from alot of the guys are already running 35s and there are some pretty cheap hyd winches out there now ,If a team wants to set their truck up to be that competitive then under the rules we are looking at bringing in then after 3 top 3 placings they would have to step up to the next level.What we are trying to achive is that the club class is a low cost intro to winch challenges where after gaining experence and continuing truck mods they could step into the open class when there ready .We are also continuing our policy of excludeing any comp truck who has competed in the National series in the previous 2 years and any driver who has competed also cannot drive.. Steve

The handicap option is sounding pretty good but it is a pretty complex option! I have beenr eading a few other rules and in the UK they have a +1 and +2 class. That means +1 traction aid and +2 traction aids. So you could have a list of traction aids like tyre size, tyre type, diff locks, winch type etc and then from there you get a time handicap. So +1 would be +1 minute per hazard and +2 could be plus 2 minutes per hazard. With most stages having between 1 and 3 hazards, potentially your could be 6 minutes slower and still win the stage if you drove a truck with standard tyres and no diff locks.
Thoughts???

This class could be based on the CCDAFWD Manuals Production class with some modifications. Open class crews could compete in these if they wished. I see no reason that open class and club could not compete together on appropriate stages. distance achieved may be used for the club class under certain circumstances.