Goodyear

Finke a Happy Hunting Ground for Hunter

Teething issues in testing were a distant memory when Goodyear backed Hunter Racing took a class win in the legendary Finke Desert Race – in a brand-new car.

Colin Hunter, Simon Campbell and their new V6 twin-turbo Dodge Ram made their second appearance for the year in the ‘Extreme 4WD’ class of the Australian Off Road Championship, which is open to highly modified 4WD vehicles with engines not exceeding 6000c.

The Finke Desert Race is a 460km event run over two days every Queen’s Birthday weekend, from Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) Aboriginal community and back. It is a stand-alone event, as well as Round Two of the AORC. Hunter Racing finished 31st outright and first in class.

“We’d had a huge week even before the event started, with a few days of testing in Adelaide which threw up all sorts of problems,” says Hunter.

“So we did some more testing in Alice Springs and only just made it to scrutineering on time, and I think we were all wondering just how far we would go. Then we had an absolutely faultless run down to Finke – I think the winning car did it in just under two hours and we did it in two-twelve to be 18th car in, so it was a great result.

“We were having some problems with the torque converter, so the car was slipping badly in fifth and sixth. We couldn’t fix it in the time but it appears to be the wrong combination for our car, so we just had to run with it and not use too much throttle. But obviously there is a lot of potential if we had good speed under those conditions.

“Day Two wasn’t so good. About 20km in, on the way back to Alice, an oil line near the turbo caught fire. Simon and I drove off the track and repaired the hose and wiring as best we could, and we made it all the way back. It was like Christmas when we crossed the finish line – I don’t think any of us could believe it! The crew has done a fantastic job.”

Hunter Racing’s replacement for its fivetime championship-winning Jeep Cherokee is a purpose-built Extreme 4WD, with a fully fabricated chromoly chassis built in the US by Penhall Fabrications. The diffs and gearbox have been custom-built by Traction Products/Weismann Marine, while the front end design and components are from Pro Am. The car was built as a ‘roller’ in the USA to Hunter Racing specifications to suit Australian tracks. It was fitted out at the team’s Brisbane workshop, including the addition of the Extreme Motorsports v6 twin turbo engine and Goodyear MTR with Kevlar tyres.

Tags: Colin Hunter, Finke Desert Race, Hunter Racing