Zuki Central 2011 - Organisers Report
By Ralph Dobson, CCVC President & Vitara Owner Steve Mercer rang me one night and
asked if I was keen to help organise a Suzuki only event over the coming Easter
Weekend. Steve is mad keen on the Suzuki brand and I’m reasonably sure he would
have been happy naming his first born Suzi if he had been allowed. Apparently
it was the 40th year of the Suzuki 4x4 and with it coinciding with
Cross Country Vehicle Club’s 40th it sounded like a good idea. We
put the idea to the clubs committee and with their blessing we were underway.
Steve has a charm about him and
pretty soon he had a working committee of keen volunteers discussing how it was
going to happen, some didn’t even own Suzuki’s.
Each of us was given a task, Steve
had commissioned his son to create the logo and letter head so we looked like
we knew what we were doing. Stewart Burrell is a great PRO for CCVC and he soon
had meetings happening with Darren Stevens from Suzuki NZ, it took a while to
nail them down but they really came to the party and helped make it a fantastic
event.
For those out there that have
organised a multiday event you will know what I mean when I say the work that
goes into running a successful event is phenomenal and life would be the poorer
if people weren’t prepared to get involved. The recce the weekend before Easter
found the council had dropped a dozen trees across one of our main tracks, the
club rallied around and had the track cleared just in time.
Easter rolled around and the
committee had our last meeting two days before to confirm we had everything
ready, we didn’t but time moves on. Entries from the public were slow, we had
advertised in the 4 wheeling magazines, had it posted on the NZFWDA web site,
talked to all the dealers and placed flyers under windscreen wipers. On the
morning of registration we still didn’t really have a handle on who was coming,
not easy when confirming numbers for dinner.
We ended up having twenty five
Suzuki’s entered on Good Friday which was great, a number reasonably easy to
handle. While registration and scrutineering was taking place some of us headed
over to James’ Farm where the Jimny Khana was taking place in the afternoon.
Toilets set up, the BBQ on and a quick check of the hazards being used. This is
the same property that the Deadwood Safari national trial has been run for the
last three years so plenty of scope. We were catering for three classes of
truck, the shiney Class Suzuki, the mud tire Zooks and the Z Force hard yaka
boys and girls. The convoy turned up and the meet and greet took place over a
few hot bangers. The weather was good and a strong Northerly had dried out the
farm a little after a few days of rain.
CCVC President (me) welcomed the
guests to the event and outlined the weekends activities before running through
a safety briefing. Steve took the Suzuki Class trucks of for some basic
training as quite a number had done little or no off roading. The rest lined up
for hazards such as the popular speed section, the ramp, Yukusami (based on the
Samari skill of shooting targets with arrows, we threw golf balls at buckets,
some even got a few in them). We moved further up the valley and did some more
challenging hazards, including the blind fold, before all meeting up again in
the main paddock. A quick check of the track and we took everyone on a drive to
the back of the farm where we have previously held the club champs, plenty of
deep bogs so the Z trucks had a ball. Day one ended with a truck wash and Rob
from Tyres 2 U doing a few puncture repairs as well as assisting with airing up
for the short drive back to the Upper Hutt base. From an
organisers’ point of view it couldn’t have run better, people were buzzing.
Day Two was a 8.30am briefing and
then all classes entering Akatarawa Forest at the main gate before heading
separate ways. I was tail end Charlie with the Zooks and we had fun extracting
Andrew Dinsdale’s silver Jimny from a precarious hole on the Wainui Stream. The
Z Force trucks heading down the Rock Garden before climbing the notorious
Staircase, one very trick Vitara driven by Neville Mather drove it which is
impressive. All groups met up at the Fence Line for a BBQ lunch provided by
Suzuki NZ. Plenty of smiling faces, the Z guys were now humming. After lunch,
Pat McGehan repaired a broken CV while the other Z Force trucks took passengers
through the mud bogs on a circuit which impressed all who took up the offer. I
tagged on to the back of the shiney trucks for the drive out, the new Grand
Vitara’s are very impressive, could well be the next family chariot when the
Prado is retired.
Day Three was a coast drive for the
shiner trucks and another mud fest for the Z guys, they really couldn’t get
enough. I was on the Cattle Ridge run before catching up with the shineys
heading around the Palliser Bay coast on Orongorongo
Station. A slow trip as the shingle slide was pretty rough and some of these
vehicles would be back on the yard next week. By lunch time the weather had
closed in a bit with a few showers coming through. Another great day and all
were safely returned to base in time to powder the nose before heading to the
dinner and prize giving. Paul Adams from CCVC was the MC for the evening and
had plenty of prizes to hand out to the 47 who attended.
It was a good feeling as part of the organising team to listen to participants
telling us how much they enjoyed the weekend and how much more confident they
are in their chosen Suzuki.
A great team made this a successful
weekend, it was planned as a biannual event so watch out for the next Zuki
Central in 2013.
Thanks have to go to our sponsors –
Suzuki NZ, NZFWDA Central Zone, Firewatch, UHCC, CCVC, Ben Twose, 4x4 Action,
Tyres 2 U.
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