Lotto Powerball winner Trev off to US

NEED FOR SPEED: Powerball winner Trevor Cooper is up and racing.

A broken thumb is no impediment to Lotto Powerball winner Trevor Cooper, who has the US offroad racing scene in his sights.

The 34-year-old, who won $26 million in Lotto's biggest prize draw for years, raced in Nelson at the weekend, contesting the the 2012 Supercheap-The Rock FM NZ Endurance Championship.

The event covered 500 kilometres, with drivers racing 250km a day to complete the race. He finished seventh on debut, after racing as high as third.

Driving his Cougar Honda turbo single-seater, he ran in the top four through the first day but crashed down a steep bank on the fifth of seven laps.

"We'd been wrestling with understeer all day but stayed in touch with the leaders which is what we had aimed for, but the car ended up well down a bank and that meant it wasn't possible to complete the full day's distance," he said afterwards.

He broke his thumb getting out of the car when it came to rest, but returned to race on Sunday with it taped up and was one of the leading drivers.

"It takes more than that to stop me!"

He is now planning to fly to the United States to contest a Pro2 offroad race meeting in one of two Geiser Brothers-prepared Ford race trucks he owns.

"It's a tight schedule, but this race was fantastic.''

- © Fairfax NZ News