Chris Sollitt has gone back-to-back in the North Queensland Offroad Racing Association’s Pato 7 Hour over the weekend after claiming a thrilling victory alongside new teammate Peter Nunns.

 

With competitors split into teams of two and attempting to record as many laps as they can of the 18km course over seven hours, Sollitt once again completed the most laps out of the any competing drivers with 16 in total.

 

His teammate Nunns also added a decent haul with 12 laps, taking the duo’s total to 28 and giving them a decent run to the victory having won prologue earlier in the day.

 

However it was no cakewalk for Sollitt and Nunns as the second placed team of Wes and Robert Turner, Cooper Matthews and Gavin Markwell also completed 28 laps, although the they fell agonisingly short of the leaders. 

With Matthews navigating for Rob and Markwell alongside Wes, it was the latter pairing who delivered the competition’s second highest number of laps with 15 in total, taking the contest right down the final stages of the endurance event.

Rounding out the podium was another four-person team with Jaycob McDonald and Craig Wild in one car and Simon Ievers and Craig Kimber in the other.

 

With Ievers guiding his vehicle to 13 laps and McDonald to 12, the team ended the event with 25 completed laps – just one more than the fourth placed pairings of Samantha and Brad Hancock and Gordon Fletcher and Angela Walker.

 

Following on from the enduro, organiser and club president Don Young was thankful to all those who helped the club put on another event.

 

“We were very fortunate as we had fantastic racing conditions on the weekend, made up of crisp clear blue skies and a nice steady breeze to keep the dust away,” Young said.

 

“The complex looked absolutely stunning, so a big thanks to the those who helped us get another three grants, Markwell Demolitions for machinery and the Turner family along with some great Club Members for their hard work in getting us to the stage we are at.

 

“The track has been widened even more from last year and is in fantastic condition. I am confident the complex will only get better in the near future.”