The 4x4 Manawahe Madness National Finals are being held in the Eastern Bay for the first time in 10 and class leaders Paul and Danielle Taylor are looking forward to showing off their driving skills in their hometown.

The day-long family friendly competition, which is open to the public, takes place from 9am at 50 Symond Road, off Braemar Road.

There will be food trucks on site, and a tight race is expected with the top three contenders in the overall competition separated by only three points.

After competing at the Hawkes Bay, Huntly, Rangiwahia, Fielding and Te Puke, the Edgecumbe father-daughter team are sitting top of the table after five rounds and have as-good-as secured the New Zealand title in F-Class.

Paul has been four-wheel driving since joining the Eastern Bay Twin Diff Club (EBTDC) in 1991 and has participated in competitions for two decades between 1995 and 2015.

He returned to the sport in 2020 and regained the New Zealand title, then took another break – until his 17-year-old Danielle became old enough to co-drive in competitions.

Danielle was born into four-wheel driving. When she was 18 months old, Paul adjusted his truck to accommodate a child’s seat so toddler Danielle could peek out the front of the truck.

“I took her for tiki tours in a proper kid's seat. I made my truck bigger to compensate for her. And now we’re driving together,” he said.

He said it was different driving with Danielle than with his previous co-drivers, who included his friends and his wife, Jo.

“I feel like I’ve got to look after her, but then she’s in the co-driver seat yelling at me to go harder,” he said.

Danielle said her first competition season has been “really good”.

“I’ve wanted to do it since I was little, and I’ve always wanted to do nationals with Dad,” she said.

They have performed incredibly against the rest of New Zealand, and their only goal going into the finale is to “go hard”.

The final result is decided by competitors’ top five results, and with Paul and Danielle having won five out of six rounds already, a win is assured. This means no pressure and some leeway to try some new tricks.

“We’ve already got our result, so now we can go hard and really push it,” he said.

“We still want to finish good.”

Three other local teams are competing in Saturday’s event, which will feature 15 obstacles in the morning and 15 in the afternoon.

They are EBTDC members Wayne Weatherly and his daughter, Tayla Weatherly, who are sitting 17th in D Class and 19th overall; Rhys O’Brien and co-driver Clary Vazey, who are fourth in C Class and 14th overall; and Gary West with co-driver Carl Morris, who are ninth in D Class and 12th overall.

“Everyone is doing really well for this season so far,” Paul said.

EBTDC is in second place for the Teams Trophy, given out to the top club at the end of nationals.

WHAT: 4x4 Manawahe Madness National Finals

WHEN: Saturday 12 April from 9am

WHERE: 50 Symonds Road, Kawerau

COST: $20 for adults, $10 children under 16, under 5 free. Family pass $40, two adults and three children under 16.