Persistent rain didn’t deter a capacity field from taking on the 2018 Nabiac Hotel Airport Challenge last weekend.
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The only impact the weather made in deciding the sixth and final round of the Hunter Rivmasta New South Wales Off Road Championship was an alteration to the course.
Course clerk Peter Sowter said the course had to be changed twice ahead of racing on Sunday after decent rainfall on Saturday night.
Still, a star-studded line-up ensured the series came to a fast-paced conclusion.
“It was a great weekend,” Peter said.
“The weather picked up on Sunday and we were able to complete the event.
“We had 24 of the 50 cars complete the course.
“That’s 187 kilometres over the two days.
“It’s the best field Nabiac has ever seen.”
The challenge doubled as the third round of the East Coast Tri Series.
Newcastle’s Peter and Josh Skaza made the most of the course change to finish with the outright win.
Derek Rose and Bill Coote took second spot on the podium while 2017 SXS turbo CAMS Australian champion Greg Campbell finished third.
The teams battled it out across the weekend, with several heat results decided by a few seconds.
“The drivers handled the course change well,” Peter said.
The off-road championship was won by Kurri Kurri super 1650 driver Scott Brown.
Scott led the championship by 11 points heading into Nabiac.
Tony Burgess was his co-driver.
Other class winners were Scott McNeill (Prolite), Greg Barron (Sportsman), Derrin Hedges (extreme 2WD), Lucky Mattiussi (extreme 4WD), Bruce Morgan (Production 4WD) and Kevin Cant (SXS Sport).
Nathan Chivers was awarded the Len Barron Midway Trophy.
Peter added the campground was packed across the weekend with visitors and competitors coming from across NSW and interstate to compete.
“We had them come from as far as North Lakes in Queensland, Crookwell and Dubbo,” Peter said.
Peter said the series will return to Nabiac in 2019.
It is expected to be held in October and again be the final race in the State off-road championship.
“We’ve been coming here for 23 years now and Nabiac is one of the top tracks in NSW,” Peter said.
The event was hosted by Central North Coast Sporting Car Club.
Additional photographs are published on-line.