Mickey Thompson Race Team Results 2017

Posted on 04 October 2017

What a year it has been! We've been proud to once again sponsor the ARB Australian Off Road Racing Series in 2017! See below for details on each round, complete with Team Mickey's placings. 

 

Happy Racing! 

The dates for the 2018 calendar have been released.

Round 1	Griffith, NSW	16-18 March
Round 2	Mildura, Vic	20-22 April
Round 3	Sea Lake, Vic	08-10 June
Round 4	Waikerie, SA	13-15 July
Round 5	Goondiwindi, Qld	17-19 August
Round 6	Millicent, SA	21-23 September

 

ARB ORRS ROUND 6 – Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro 400

22 - 24th SEPTEMBER 2017

The event was going to be epic right from the start, 70+ entries with over 40% of the field running Mickey Thompson tyres.

 

On Friday night, all teams lined up for scrutineering. Their vehicles were put on display for the large crowd of locals to see, who were keen to get up close and personal with these amazing machines.

 

Saturday kicked off with the Harts Transport prologue. The rain was on and off throughout the day, making conditions slippery - perfect for sideways action. Team Mickey’s Raana Horan and Mark Burrows took 2^nd and 3^rd places respectively.

 

The event then moved into the short course heats; three laps of the prologue track in heats of twelve vehicles. The event organisers, Millicent Sand Buggy Club, had arranged a big screen in the centre of the track and six cameras around the track to ensure that spectators always had the best view of the action.

 

Team Mickey’s Marty Scott hit a hole off-track, sending his Avenger Buggy into a six roll tumble. Both driver and navigator walked away without an issue.

 

Sunday kicked off with showers and wind again, making for trying conditions for teams with open cockpits. To add to all of this, a reverse grid format was in place. The attrition rate was high with vehicles having issues from gearbox failures, broken CV’s to engine failures. The heavy going in the sand within the pine forest proved tough on both man and machine.

 

SMU Racing’s Matt Hanson pushed out to a solid six-minute-plus lead heading into the final two laps, but unfortunately blew a power steering pump, which made the vehicle near impossible to manoeuvre through the forest. He put in a massive effort despite this and continued on.

 

Owen Racing’s Tyler Owen caught up to Matt, and once passed put his head down and pushed hard to make up time after seeing Matt in trouble. Tyler made up the time and crossed the line first on the road. After timing checks, it was discovered that he had beaten Matt Hanson for first place by just five seconds! This earnt Tyler his first ever outright victory, following in the footsteps of both his grandfather and uncle who have both won this event over its 40 year history.

 

The Mickey Thompson tyres performed faultlessly over the weekend and once again proved their toughness and reliability. Many teams not only race on them but also have them on their transport and everyday vehicles.

 

 

 

ARB ORRS ROUND 5 – Albins ARB Goondiwini 400

18 - 21st August 2017

ARB Albins Goondiwindi 400 was held on the weekend of August 18^th. It was the 40^th year of the event and round 5 of the ARB Australian Off-Road Racing Series.

 

The turnout by competitors was again a testament to the success of the ARB series with nearly 100 vehicles lining up for the 400km event.

 

Saturday was an early start with a prologue over an 8km course to set starting positions. The top ten then went into a shootout with Team Mickey Thompson’s Troy Duff taking the honours in his Ace Concreting Pro Lite machine. Team Mickey held six out of the top ten positions.

 

A one lap dash, 80km, was then held Saturday afternoon which left four laps to be completed on Sunday. Team Mickey’s Aaron James finished on top and was in a great position for Sunday’s laps.

 

The wear and tear rate for this event is huge with the terrain being one of the toughest in Australia. Sand beds, hard pack and melon holes were just some of the obstacles teams had to overcome, not to mention the trees that seem to just jump out at the most inconvenient of times.

 

Michael Denham struck out on this one

 

After the four laps on Sunday Team Mickey came out 1^st and 3^rd outright, with Aaron James taking the victory and Michael Collins claiming 3^rd.

 

The Goondiwindi Motorsport Association excelled this year in the organisation of the event and we must congratulate them. If you would like to see Life Off Road’s coverage of this round click here. 

 

The final round of the ARB Australian Off Road Racing Series will be held in Millicent SA September 22 -24 and the outright results can still be anyone’s with no less than four teams with the opportunity to take out the series.

 

TMT’s Results:

 

Outright

1^st Aaron James/Peter Luckraft

3^rd Michael Collins/Jae Collins

 

Class 1

1^st Jason Richards/Dave Smith

2^nd Sam Egan/Adam Gilkinson

3^rd Troy Duff/Daniel Mansfield

 

Class 2

1^st Daniel Wells/Leigh Wells

2^nd Bodie Tickner/Graham Tickner

 

Class 4

3^rd Peter Sibson/Dee Farr

 

Class 7

Sandy Bowman/Daniel Hardman

ARB ORRS ROUND 4 – Waikerie Riverland Enduro

21 - 23rd JUly 2017

The Waikerie Off Roaders Club again put on a fabulous event at the Waikerie Hotel ARB Riverland Enduro in the Riverland of SA.

 

With a field of 100 vehicles lining up to tackle the 400 km course it was going to be an epic weekend. Team Mickey Thompson made up over 30% of the field.

 

Saturday started with the prologue and top ten shootout with ARB’s Danny Brown topping the time sheets closely followed by Team Mickey’s Scott Schiller, Talbot Cox and Aaron Haby.

 

Great results were seen in the classes for Team Mickey with Daniel Wells fastest in Class 2, Bernie Clohesy in Class 5, Sandy Bowman Class 7 and Owen Ward Class 8.

 

On Sunday the teams headed out to complete four laps of the course. Early on lap 1 Aaron Haby suffered brake failure but completed the lap only 10 seconds slower that leader Jack Rhodes, Haby then came in early for his hour break to repair the issue. This would leave him 3 full laps with no stops or tyre change, luckily his Mickey Thompson MTZ P3’s can go the distance.

 

Conditions were tough with the track chopping up quickly after some rain, which exposed some tyre-shredding limestone base rock.

 

At the end of the four laps Haby crossed the line first but had an agonising wait to see if he made enough time up to get ahead of Rhodes. Once Rhodes crossed the line he had beaten Haby by only ten seconds. It was an amazing drive by Haby considering the loss of brakes on lap 1 and for the second time on the last lap. Many tyres did not last 3 laps having to be changed after just two, but Haby stated that his Mickeys gave him the confidence to push on knowing they would not let him down.

 

A great result for Team Mickey Thompson.

 

Outright:

• Aaron Haby 2^nd
• Aaron james 3^rd
• Raana Horan 5^th
• Carl Haby 6^th
• Troy Duff 8^th

 

Pro Class:

• Aaron Haby 2^nd
• Aaron James 3^rd
• Raana Horan 4^th
• Troy Schoen 6^th
• Marty Scott 7^th

 

Winners - Classes:

• Class 1: Troy Duff 2^nd
• Class 2: Daniel Wells 1^st  & Bodie Tickner 3^rd
• Class 4: Carl Haby 2^nd  & Peter Sibson 3^rd
• Class 5: Darran Van Der Woude 1^st
• Class 7: Sandy Bowman 3^rd
• Class 8: Owen Ward 2^nd

 

 

ARB ORRS ROUND 3 – hAEUSLER'S mALLEE rALLY arb 400

9 - 11th June 2017

Aaron Haby launching the Element into the air at Sealake. 

 

Round 3 of the ARB Australian Off Road Racing Series was on from the 9^th to the 11^th of June this year. Team Mickey was strong on the field for round three, with approximately 35% of the field running on Mickey Thompson Tires; 34 of the 98 starters. 

 

No Mickeys were damaged over the weekend, so no spares were needed. 

 

Aaron Haby (pictured above) said that the tyres delivered too much grip turning turtle in the prologue. Starting in 11^th place, Haby surged the Element into 3^rd outright at the finish.

 

Winners - Outright:

• 3^rd  Aaron Haby
• 5^th  Luke Erceg
• 6^th Jason Richards
• 9^th  Jason Coreless

 

Winners - Classes:

• Unlimited – Aaron Haby
• Prolite – 2^nd and 3^rd  Luke Erceg/Jason Richards
• Class 2 – 1^st and 2^nd  Simon Leech/Daniel Wells
• Class 4 – 1^st and 2^nd Peter Sibson/Damian Nicol
• Class 5 – 1^st and 2^nd Peter Godwin/Stephen Watkins
• Class 7 – 1^st and 3^rd Sandy Bowman/Brett Salau-Foster
• Class 10 – 2^nd Leigh Wells

 

 

TATTS FINKE DESERT RACE

9 - 11th June 2017

Team Mickey Thompson at Finke 2017

 

At the recent running of the Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs, teams running the Mickey Thompson Tires found out why they are considered the best 4wd tyre on the market.

 

This year was one of the toughest with only 72 teams classed as finishers out of 138 starters. Many competitors had tyre issues, that prevented them from finishing the race. Luckily for Team Mickey Thompson, not one of those issues were caused by a Mickey.

 

Team Mickey had finishers in every class. Three of our teams succumbed to mechanical issues early, Matt Hanson (Fuel Pump), Mark Burrows (Tree) and Glen Owen (overheating), but as they say there is always next year. Congratulations to all the winners.

 

 

ARB ORRS ROUND 2 – ARB SUNRAYSIA 400

21 - 23rd April 2017

Round 2 of the ARB Off-Road Racing Series is the Sunraysia 400, which was held from April 21-23 in Mildura, Vic. 

 

After a heavy downpour prior to the event small changes had to be made to the track. With mud patches and water laying in areas the teams running the Mickey MTZ P3’s certainly could see an advantage.

 

Aaron Haby once again proved his ability piloting the Element to 2^nd outright mixing it up with the twin turbos and 6 of the top ten overall placing were on Mickey. Team Mickey also took the most trophies away for the weekend across all classes.

 

 

Of the top ten outright placings 6 were racing on MT

2^nd Aaron Haby

4^th Tyler Owen

5^th Chris Wilson

6^th Troy Duff

9^th James Lochert

10^th Nathan Monk

 

Class results

Unlimited – 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, 7^th and 10^th

Aaron Haby

Tyler Owen

Chris Wilson

Nathan Monk

Mark Burrows

Raana Horan

 

Pro Lite – 2^nd and 3^rd

Troy Duff

James Lochert         

 

Class 2 – 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th

Declan Cummins

Aaron Heemskerk

Bodie Tickner

 

Class 4 – 3^rd

Darren Mott

 

Class 5 – 1^st and 2^nd

Darran Vanderwoude

Stephen Watkins

 

Class 7 – 1^st

Sandy Bowman

 

 

ARB ORRS ROUND 1 – ARB TOWN AND COUNTRY TYRES STACKPOOLE 400

17 - 19th March 2017

 

Round 1 of the ARB Off-Road Racing Series kicked off mid-March with the ARB/Town and Country Tyres Stackpoole 400, held in Griffith, NSW.

 

Prologue was held Saturday morning with property owner and Team M/T newcomer Andy Ryan who topped the times, 12 seconds ahead of Glenn Owen with Andy Brown.

 

The Griffith Off-Road Racing Club trialled a new format for this event by running Classes 2, 3, 5, 6, 66, 7, 8 and 10 on the Saturday and Classes Unlimited, 1 and 4 on the Sunday.

 

Andy Ryan took out the win with a massive 6+ minute lead on Talbot Cox in second place and Dale Martin in third place.

 

Andy stated (as published in issue 1707 of Auto Action) that he owed his winning off-road racing performance to the change to Mickey Thompson tyres, saying that they have better grip and lasted longer than his previous ones.

 

TIP - Andy drives on 35x12.5R15 MTZ P3 tyres, not race specific tyres, as many others use.

 

Team Mickey dominated the field at Stackpoole 400. 

 

Team Mickey also had great success in the other classes.

 

• 2^nd place in Class 1 to Jason Richards
• 1^st place in Class 2 to local Peter Hunt
• 2^nd place in Class 4 to Michael Denham
• 1^st place in Class 5 to Darren Vanderwoude
• 2^nd place in Class 5 to Victorian Sandy Bowman

 

The terrain and dust proved very difficult for many competitors with only 48 of the starting 89 starting vehicles being classed as finishers.