Acerni takes another win at this years King of the Valleys.
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
If you haven’t heard, King of the Hammers (KOH) is a bit of a big deal here in the States. So much so, 4-wheel drive clubs from around the world are creating their own versions of this epic competition, bringing this intense endurance style racing, with a little added home style flare, closer to home. Enter King of the Valleys, a KOH inspired race lead by Neil Whitford & the All Wheel Drive Club. Taking place in Walters Arena motorsport complex near Glyn Neath, South Wales, this years race promised a challenging 80+ mile, multi-lap, multi-day course, with nearly 50 teams from all over the world battling on a very challenging course. Lessons learned from our trip overseas: the Belgians know their beer, an English breakfast is quite fulfilling, and Neil Whitford & the All Wheel Drive Club can put on one hell of a race.
Photographed here is Italy’s Pier Acerni, who is no stranger to racing. He has already made the trip out to King of the Hammers, and had won last year’s King of the Valleys. He’d repeat that again this year, taking another win at last weekend’s King of the Valleys. His prize is not only a cash payout, but a paid trip back to King of the Hammers in 2014. A huge congrats to Pier for what amounted to be nothing short of an incredibly consistent style of racing, for two days straight.
As we mentioned above, teams from around the world competed in this years King of the Valleys. This included our very own Levi Shirley, who despite battling winch and new terrain blues, secured a 3rd place finish by weekend’s end. He and his spotter Terry Madden battled it out relentlessly till the end, and did an absolutely amazing job representing us here in the States. Their World Tour is not yet over, as Levi preps his Spider 9 powered rig for the upcoming King of Portugal. Seeing a trend here with these “King of” events? Yes, it’s going to be big.
We have plenty of photos to share from last weekend’s race, and we’ll get on that starting today. Of course, we’re off again for more racing, this weekend in fact, at Ultra4s @ Superlift in Hot Springs, AR. Looking forward to seeing all of our east coast friends (and many west coast friends as well) this weekend. Till then, hope you enjoy the photos we’ll be posting up from King of the Valleys, and we’ll see you at the next race.
|
1 |
Pier Acerni |
3:56:45 |
0:05:00 |
4:01:45 |
|
19 |
Stephane Zosso |
4:28:40 |
4:27:40 |
|
|
81 |
Levi Shirley |
4:46:58 |
0:11:00 |
4:57:58 |
|
69 |
Jim Marsden |
5:17:23 |
0:12:00 |
5:29:23 |
|
22 |
Kevin Mallia |
5:30:15 |
0:15:00 |
5:45:15 |
|
12 |
Axel Bürmann |
6:10:56 |
0:06:00 |
6:16:56 |
|
17 |
Mike Robertson |
6:15:53 |
0:03:00 |
6:18:53 |
|
2 |
Rob Butler |
7:32:37 |
0:11:00 |
7:43:37 |
|
11 |
Hendrik De Nijs |
8:12:36 |
0:00:30 |
8:13:06 |
|
3 |
Nick Anderson |
8:21:19 |
0:01:00 |
8:22:19 |
|
41 |
Bob Smith |
8:16:46 |
0:06:00 |
8:22:46 |
|
16 |
Neville Ciantar |
8:01:00 |
0:24:00 |
8:25:00 |
|
5 |
Jerry Hunt |
8:32:01 |
0:01:00 |
8:33:01 |
|
15 |
Marc Govaerts |
8:16:46 |
0:19:00 |
8:35:46 |
|
21 |
Chris Kelly |
8:40:20 |
0:01:00 |
8:41:20 |
|
44 |
Craig Little |
8:45:46 |
8:45:46 |
|
|
9 |
Nicolas Montador |
8:14:05 |
0:42:30 |
8:56:35 |
|
50 |
Philon Parpottas |
8:36:21 |
0:23:00 |
8:59:21 |
|
27 |
Chris Bowler |
9:06:01 |
0:01:00 |
9:07:01 |
|
14 |
Walter Philippo |
9:12:39 |
0:12:00 |
9:24:39 |
|
23 |
Daniel Roderick |
9:47:13 |
9:47:13 |
|
|
29 |
Paul Lundstrom |
9:42:48 |
0:05:00 |
9:47:48 |
|
4 |
Maurice Ferrugia |
9:47:52 |
9:47:52 |
|
|
25 |
Richard Nicolson |
9:48:43 |
9:48:43 |
|
|
26 |
Kevin Pocock |
9:49:04 |
9:49:04 |
|
|
6 |
Paul Church |
9:47:17 |
0:02:00 |
9:49:17 |
|
18 |
Geoffrey Pulis |
9:49:50 |
9:49:50 |
|
|
34 |
Peter Jackson |
9:50:08 |
0:01:00 |
9:51:08 |
|
30 |
James Blakey |
9:51:30 |
9:51:30 |
|
|
24 |
John Sales |
9:52:55 |
9:52:55 |
|
|
32 |
Andrew Smith |
9:52:56 |
9:52:56 |
|
|
28 |
John Lawn |
9:48:24 |
0:07:00 |
9:55:24 |
|
36 |
Will Overton |
9:55:20 |
0:01:00 |
9:56:20 |
|
37 |
John Norton |
9:55:15 |
0:02:00 |
9:57:15 |
|
10 |
Marc Gielkins |
9:55:27 |
0:07:00 |
10:02:27 |
|
48 |
Wez Beynon |
10:02:35 |
10:02:35 |
|
|
43 |
Paul Acketts |
10:03:11 |
10:03:11 |
|
|
7 |
Chris Abel |
9:35:39 |
0:29:00 |
10:04:39 |
|
13 |
Jaap Betsema |
10:03:33 |
0:02:00 |
10:05:33 |
|
33 |
Tim Platt |
10:04:00 |
0:02:00 |
10:06:00 |
Source: Ultra4Racing.com