Narva's Off-Road Racing's Mick Magher Shines at the Pines

SYDNEY – Sept 18, 2013: Narva Racing’s Mick Magher and Daniel Hose capped off the 2013 ARB Australian Off-Road Racing series in style, taking victory in the Extreme 4WD Class at the Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro held at Millicent, South Australia on the weekend.

Heading into the final round of the series sitting second in their class, the Geelong based team pulled out all stops and embraced a never say die attitude to take the class win. This propelled the Narva Racing team into equal first place in the Extreme 4WD category for the Series, alongside fellow Victorian Owen Ward in the GQ Patrol.

After heavy showers drenched the arena on Saturday morning, Magher and Hose made a steady start to the event, qualifying third in class during the prologue. Down on power, which was later attributed to a faulty lead, Magher then turned it on for the crowd during the Dash for Cash launching the Narva GU high off the jumps in a close battle with Owen Ward for second place behind Luke Hall.

“The atmosphere in Teagle’s Quarry for the prologue and Dash for Cash with all the spectators lining the fence is fantastic. It would have to be one of the best days of the whole season! Even the atmosphere on Friday night at scrutineering is great, with the fire drums going and all the cars on display,” said Magher.

On Sunday morning Magher pointed the Narva Racing GU towards the Tantanoola pine forests for 6 laps of the 73km course, which threaded its way out of Teagle’s Quarry and down the narrow forestry tracks and pine breaks.

“We took it easy for our first lap not knowing how slippery and greasy it was going to be. There were high speeds on the closed forestry roads and we were topping around 190kph, which is pretty fast in a Patrol.”

While Magher soon grabbed the class lead from Hall and Ward, it would not all be smooth sailing for the team. The transmission running warm in the soft loamy conditions and on lap 3 they tipped the Patrol on to its side after passing a buggy in some deep chopped out ruts which the Pines is renowned. This cost a further ten minutes by the time a broken steering damper was removed. However, the team powered on, withstanding a late charge from Owen Ward during the final section to take the class win in an overall time of 5hr 10mins 18.59sec.

“I couldn’t get over how much the track had changed to become rocky and sharp, especially in the quarry once the loamy sand was blasted away. Nasty tree roots became exposed out in the forest once the track became carved up and rutted, plus there were some really big sharp rocks lurking there ready to catch you out,” said Mick Magher.

The Narva Racing team’s equal first place in the Extreme 4WD Class was built on some solid performances throughout the season. After finishing third in class at the Sea Lake Mallee Rally in Victoria, the team’s season was turned upside down after a major hit with a tree at round 2 at Griffith. Determined to make the Goondiwindi 400, the Narva Racing team pulled out all stops to make the start line and finished the punishing 400km through the infamous Gundy melon holes to be rewarded with third in class, setting up the opportunity to strike for the class win at the final round at the Pines.

“The whole ARB Off-Road Racing series was filled with great racing amongst a great bunch of guys. Thanks to series sponsors like ARB, Narva and Cooper Tyres the series offers a whole new level of professionalism and is really going places. I have been really impressed by everything to do with it and can’t wait for it to kick off again in 2014. What a great way to finish the season. This was our first full season of Off-Road Racing and to come out on top was fantastic,” said a triumphant Mick Magher.

Mick Magher and Daniel Hose extended thanks to Narva, Mickey Thompson, AC Delco and Dirtcomp Magazine for their continued support in 2013.