“Old Man Racing” roars to second place in Taupo 1000
Matamata man Colin Meredith worked his way up through the field to finish second in a prestigious off road endurance race.
Matamata off road racer Colin Meredith drove an enduring two days and 1000 kilometres over rutted forest tracks and open gravel roads to come second in the Taupo 1000 last weekend
Mr Meredith finished four minutes ahead of the third place getter, after steadily working his way up through the field.
“It was the last five laps when I had to step up slightly to be sure of second,” said Mr Meredith, 61. “The third place getter was hunting me down. It wasn’t all over, I had to keep going.”
The Asset Finance Taupo 1000 is a bi-annual off road event, held in Kaingaroa Forest, and consists of 20 laps at just over 50 kilometres a lap, and runs for two days. Some cars achieve up to 200 kilometres an hour.
It is considered the toughest endurance off road race of its kind, and is also the longest race in any sport in the Southern Hemisphere.
Mr Meredith qualified in 11th place on the Friday of this year’s event, held from August 19-21, and finished fifth on the Saturday before clinching second on the final day.
“I ran the race to survive and finish,” said Mr Meredith.
“Some racers place and others demise; because some cars have broken, rolled out of the race, crashed, or had breakdowns. There is a 30 per cent attrition rate.”
The driving strategy was all done under the instruction of Mr Meredith’s son Logan who was monitoring on an electronic score board.
“Out there I really don’t know what’s happening. My son was very much a part of it with me, informing me.”
Mr Meredith has been racing for eight years and drives under the team name Old Man Racing.
“It’s a passion with a lot of commitment,” he said.
Mr Meredith drives a purpose built for off road racing ex-Australian Southern Cross, powered by a 3.6 V6 G.M. Quad Cam late model Holden Commodore engine, which he has owned for 12 months.
“The suspension is the most important thing, and has to take any roughness without slowing down, and has to corner well.”
Mr Meredith and his son do all the maintenance.
“The maintenance is approximately three hours for every hour of racing.”
Mr Meredith has spent much of his life behind the wheel of a truck and believes he is building a reputation as an endurance racer.
“Even a taxi driver or a bus driver will be a better long distance driver, as they learn how to concentrate.”
He said he had always enjoyed racing.
“From an early age I had a fascination with seeing how steep angles a vehicle could and couldn’t go on, as in tractors and four wheel drives; somewhere in my later years that became more of a passion for speed.”
