Under the Hood: Mark Thomas and His Infamous Winch Truck

Published on 14 April 2026

It’s not the kind of vehicle you expect to see lining up in a burnout comp or rolling onto Rockhampton’s historic Quay Street in preparation to lay down a slick time for a quarter pass. With 40-inch tyres, towering suspension and a build designed for mud, rocks and recovery, not bitumen, Mark Thomas’ GQ winch truck looks wildly out of place at first glance. And that’s exactly the point.

At Rare Spares and Repco Rockynats, where immaculately polished show cars and purpose-built, high-horsepower drag machines often steal the spotlight, Mark’s heavily modified Nissan GQ Patrol stands as a reminder that you don’t need a perfect prize-winning show car to find your place at Queensland’s biggest car and bike festival.

“I just like to show people that it doesn’t matter what car you have or what it was originally built for,” Mark says. “At the end of the day, it’s about having fun and doing what you love.”

That mindset didn’t start at Rockynats. It was forged decades earlier as a young Mark first discovered his love for all things off-road while growing up on a cattle property in Western Queensland. He spent his early years chasing pigs through the bush, getting bogged, breaking things and learning how to get himself back out again. 

“That’s where my love for four-wheel driving all began,” he reflects. “It was the perfect way to learn as I was always around different machines, motorbikes and utes. One thing led to another, and I eventually discovered off-road racing. I saw a few videos of people doing it as a sport, I thought, ‘I’ve gotta get into this.’”

Now calling Yeppoon home, Mark first brought his unique winch truck to Rockynats on the recommendation of a good friend and fellow 4WD enthusiast, Dave Casey, who encouraged him to show the truck at the event’s 4x4 display. 

“I wasn’t so sure at first,” Mark admits. “I mean, it’s clearly not your typical ‘car show’ style car but Dave assured me it was something that would resonate with people and he was dead right, everyone loved it!” 

Since then, Mark and his truck have become a fan-favourited fixture in the burnouts, drags, and 4WD displays, earning a reputation for defying expectations.

“People don’t expect to see this sort of car do what it does,” Mark laughs. “It’s got 40-inch tyres—pretty big for any car scene—and doesn’t look like a car that should be anywhere near bitumen. But it’s got a decent motor and big running gear underneath, so it can do burnouts and go fast in the drags. It’s obviously not designed for it, it’s built for off-road racing, but I love showing people that it doesn’t matter what type of car you have you can still have a crack.”

While Rockynats is where many people first encounter Mark and his unmistakable winch truck, the reality is that the truck is much more at home in a harsher environment, with Mark and his wife Bianca regularly travelling up and down the East Coast to compete at off-road racing events under the banner of ‘Swamp Donkeez Racing’.

“It’s been about 21 years now,” he says. “Back when we started, the sport wasn’t really in the media. But I love what we do. It’s fun, and I like being an advocate for it where I can.”

Competing so regularly at such a high level is a full-scale commitment, with Mark, Bianca and their team travelling to six or seven off-road racing events each year, often spending days away from home at a time. Day-to-day, Mark’s wife Bianca is his backbone, while his off-road crew help make race day possible.

‘Bianca is incredibly supportive and I’m lucky in that we run our own business, and I've got an auto electrician and fitter who work for me. So, when its race time it's like, come on boys, you're coming whether you like it or not,” he laughs.

Mark is quick to add that he could never do what he does without the input of his trusted navigators who know the pace, pressure and physical demands of off-road. 

“Luke’s been navigating with me for years, and lately I’ve had a young gun, Hayden, in with me as well,” Mark says. “They’re both legends. You’ve got to have someone you can trust, who’s fit, energetic and totally committed sitting in that seat. I couldn’t do it without them.”

The racing is high stakes and the Swamp Donkeez Racing team lay it all on the line at every event, with the latest one being a prime example of how it doesn’t always go to plan. 

“We had a big race at the end of last year and we were fighting hard the whole time,” Mark explains. “There was a lot of contact…contact with trees, rocks, other cars and by the end of it we’d made a fair mess of the truck. It hadn’t been rebuilt for four or five years, so it was the perfect time to give it a bit of an upgrade.”

From the firewall back, the vehicle has been completely reimagined, and Mark is the final stages of finishing the rebuild in preparation for its redebut at Rockynats 06. The remaining traces of its original GQ chassis are gone, replaced by a full tube setup, with suspension and shock placement inspired by trophy trucks. 

“It’ll be a lot tougher,” Mark says. “And it should perform a lot better too, so I’m keen to see how it goes.”

For Mark, Rockynats isn’t just a weekend of speed and spectacle, it’s a chance to celebrate what makes motorsport fun, inclusive, and community-orientated.

“Without a doubt the best part of Rockynats is the atmosphere,” Mark says without hesitation. “It’s family-friendly and nothing is over the top. There are so many different precincts and events you can get around and enjoy and the cars that show up, man, they’re unbelievable.”

It’s that energy and atmosphere that keeps Mark coming back to Rockynats year after year, even as off-road racing continues to dominate his calendar. For one weekend, the tough truck trades rocks and ruts for rubber and bitumen, and Mark wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Keen to see Mark put his new and improved winch truck through its paces? With just three days left until Rare Spares and Repco Rockynats 06 kicks off on Friday April 17, general admission passes can be purchased online before the event at https://www.rockynats.com.au/Tickets or at the gate across the weekend.