N.Z. ‘King of the Road’ announced by Mobil
PA . Wellington Murray Lumsden of Lyttle’s Transport in Ashburton is New Zealand’s “King of the Road.”
Mobil Oil announced Lumsden as winner of the road contest after he produced precise and consistent drives at the Mobil “10-4” trucking contest, in Queenstown.
The third driver to have won the “King of the Road”title twice, Lumsden first won the Mobil contest, held since 1968, in Auckland in 1981.
At Queenstown, he beat the experienced campaigner, Bill Sumner. Sumner, a driver for Transport Nelson, Ltd, also produced good performances in the 1986 Mobil contest, finishing third in the truck-and-trailer section, and firstequal in the written examination.
His consistent scores spearheaded Sumner and his Nelson team of Doug Smith and Derek Price to win the teams’ competition. Equalling Sumner in first place for the written examination was the defending “King of the Road,” Doug Evans, of New Plymouth, who could not reproduce the same performances that won him two of the three driving sections last year. Conditions at the Queenstown course were made demanding when light rain turned some of the open ground into mud patches, testing all of the 38 competitors’ driving skills.
A Thames owner-opera-tor, John Jeffcoat, gave an outstanding driving display to win the truck-and-trailer section, but in the end it was not enough to
tip the “King of the Road” crown from Murray Lumsden. Lumsden finished on 157 points to take the “King of the Road”, Jeffcoat was second on 171, with Southland’s Brian Lowe, of Freight Haulage, third on 186.
Placings in the other sections were:
Written: Doug Evans, Clark and Rogers (New Plymouth) 1, Bill Sumner, Transport Nelson, Ltd (Nelson) 2.
Rigid: Peter Gliddon, Ellesmere Transport (Christchurch) 1, Brian Lowe, Freight Haulage (Southland) 2, Murray Lumsden, Lyttle’s Transport (Ashburton) 3. Articulated: Lumsden 1, Sumner 2, John .Docherty, Waitaki Holdings (Otaeo) 3.
Truck-and-trailer: John Jeffcoat, (Thames) 1, Grant Bambry, Hawkes Bay Farmers Transport (Hawkes Bay) 2, Sumner 3.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19861011.2.151
Bibliographic details
Press, 11 October 1986, Page 31
Word Count
327N.Z. ‘King of the Road’ announced by Mobil Press, 11 October 1986, Page 31
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.