Paul Tuck-Lee loves racing.
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While he might not be a familiar name in the Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) game Tuck-Lee, who owns Mudgee Cranes, nevertheless enjoyed a solid year.
Behind the wheel of his single-seater Mudgee Cranes sponsored pro buggy, Tuck-Lee has proven himself worthy of recognition, earning a number of solid finishes throughout the year as well as ticking a major item off his bucket list, racing in the celebrated Finke Desert Race in June.
Paul started racing in 1990 before taking a long break in 2011 when, as he put it, 'his accountant said to stop racing for a while' after purchasing the cranes business.
"I've only just recently got back into it. I used to do the state rounds before but this year I've done the national," Tuck-Lee said.
"I bought the business and my accountant said I couldn't go racing for 10 years... to save some money and to get the business going. I just never had the time.
"I was going to build another buggy, but I ended up buying one, a second-hand one because I thought by the time I build one, I'll be too old."
Tuck-Lee was previously 3rd in class for the 2023 Polaris Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship, but he admitted it isn't a cheap hobby.
"It's been good. But it's a lot of travelling because we've done 20,000 kilometers just getting to the races and back," Tuck-Lee said.
We take a semi-trailer, so it costs me twnty-something-thousand dollars in diesel probably.
Tuck-Lee, while an accomplished driver, says he does it for the fun and not for a place on the podium - though they're nice too.
"It's a good atmosphere... we're only out there for fun," he said.
"We're sort of budget compared to a lot of these other people... they're spending like millions of dollars. We can't afford that, but we're there to have fun."
