Brothers to Fight For National Off Road Title

Brothers to Fight For National Off Road Title.

A campaign to see two brothers share the Off Road National Championship podium will result in a head to head battle in Christchurch over Labour Weekend when Papakura’s Louis and Ash Carlyle wheel out their respective Challenger Class off road racers for the championship final.

Ash Carlyle took 3rd place overall in the ORANZ North Island Championship at Matata in October ahead of brother Louis’s in 4th after a grueling series racing across tracks in Fielding, Woodhill and Whakatane. Both drivers dropped a round each due to budget and engine issues, so Matata promised to be the first true opportunity to pit their skills against each other in a combined short course and enduro environment. Louis Carlyle took the honours on the day although he was hard pressed by his elder brother, who proved a darling of the photographers with some spectacular and hair raising jumps.

The Matata event did not come without issues however with Ash Carlyle dropping a valve before the Enduro race and Louis Carlyle struggling with a slipping clutch before blowing his engine on the closing laps of the 150km race over the rolling East Coast hills.

Both cars are undergoing a frantic rebuild before the National Championship final in Canterbury, with the brothers primed and ready to compete at the local clubs’ purpose built West Melton track. According to Louis Carlyle, “Our team and sponsors have worked hard for this rare opportunity for two brothers to share a podium. We have a crew of 10 travelling to Christchurch and Ash and I know what we have to do to repay that support. I just hope my view is higher than my brothers’.”

Louis Carlyle has proven form in endurance racing having taking out class wins and podium finishes in the 2012 Waikato Enduro and 2014 Stihl Woodhill 100, but Ash Carlyle has proven deceptively fast in the short course events, scoring 2nd place in the 2014 National Short Course Championships. The 2014 ORANZ National Championship final will be the true test of bragging rights for the two fiercely competitive brothers.

ENDS

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