PENOLA off-road racer Greg Gartner put in an impressive performance in his Trophy Truck on the weekend to claim the Riverland Enduro 300.
Just 12 months after debuting his new racer at the same event, Gartner again teamed up with Jamie Jennings to return and claim the outright win at the 40th edition of the race.
In the hunt from the outset, Gartner battled with the buggies of Aaron James and Scott Schiller before stepping in to the outright lead on lap four.
Aaron James then charged back on the final lap, before tangling with another buggy just a few kilometres from the finish, to leave Gartner to power home for the outright win in an overall time of three hours, seven minutes and 33 seconds.
Gartner said he was pleased with the result after a faultless run.
“We are really happy to be back on top of the podium,” he said.
“The Geiser Bros truck is just powering from strength to strength.
“We did not have any major issues or problems, apart from the dust, which goes with the territory.”
However, leading into the event Gartner had to wait for his engine to be built by Craig Carrison after the recent Finke desert event.
“We only got the engine back the Tuesday before Waikerie,” he said.
“Craig Carrison worked tirelessly to get the V8 built after Finke and fortunately the parts came from the USA on time.
“It was a really big effort to get here and I’d really like to thank Craig, Michael and the rest of the team for getting it all together while I was away on business.
“It just ran flawlessly.”
Last year’s event saw Gartner finish in fourth place and said his truck worked well at the Wakerie track.
“It’s the kind of place that you need to choose carefully where to push hard, as you could easily tear the truck up,” he said.
“We’re stoked with the truck and I’m getting more confidence every drive.”
After scrutineering on Friday night and a frosty start to proceedings during Saturday morning’s track reconnaissance, a new prologue format allowed drivers to take a second run.
“We had two runs at the prologue,” Gartner said.
“We tested the 39 inch Toyo’s on the first run and were happy with them, but for the second run we switched back to the 37’s, which loosened the truck up a bit.
“Unfortunately we ran out of brakes and nearly put it on to the road, which was not ideal.
“However we still managed to cut some time off and finished fifth and we were happy with that.”
After testing the two tyre sizes, Gartner opted for the 37’s to start the race to gain a feel for the track.
“We did not push too hard and looked after the tyres,” he said.
“On the second lap we started to push, sending it off the road jump and snapping it through the gears on the fast straights, while remaining cautious about what the rear tyres would be like with the rocks.
“We came in at the end of the third lap for our one-hour service and the rear tyres were destroyed.
“We fuelled it, put the 39’s on and got going ready for the last two laps.”
From there Gartner needed to step up the pace, with Schiller leading and James close behind.
“We had to be patient, go fast where we could and be a bit steadier through the thick dust and slower vehicles,” he said.
“The 39’s were great and hooked up really well.
“We had to make 30 seconds up on Aaron James in the last half of the final lap, but unfortunately it looked like Aaron hit another buggy 3km from home.
“We were lucky enough to get through and make it to the finish line in first spot.
“Thanks to all involved who have worked tirelessly to put the event on.
“The 40th Riverland Enduro was fantastic and we’re looking forward to next year already.”
