Finals Fever Hits the AORC at
Goondiwindi
The Australian Off Road Championship rolls
into Goondiwindi for the final round of the season on October 14th –
16th. The season to date has taken the offroaders to all corners of the
country, from the wheat fields of WA to the red desert sands of Alice Springs,
through to the Spencer Gulf at the base of the Flinders Ranges and the tall
pine forests of Millicent in South Australia. Now it’s Queenslands turn to test
man and machine at the seasons grand finale, the Albins Goondiwindi 400.
The reigning Australian
champions, David Fellows and Mark Bergamin have dominated the 2011 season,
winning three out of the four rounds in their twin turbo charged V6 Peter
Kittle Motorsport Jimco. However with extra championship points on offer at the
final round, Fellows needs to finish sixth place or better to shut the door
completely on the #2 Jimco of Dan Auricht and Grant Connelly. Auricht currently
trails Fellows by 23 points, but with 30 points on offer for the event win,
Auricht could potentially leap frog Fellows if he took victory on the Sunday
afternoon. Ensuring an interesting game of cat and mouse plays out over the
400km race as different strategies play out.
While Fellows and Auricht
focus on the championship outcome, the race to greet the chequered flag first
at the Albins Goondiwindi 400 has never been hotter, with a number of teams
heading to Queensland with the goal of an outright win first and foremost.
Leading the pack of Proclass buggies will be Sydney’s Brad Prout, who is fresh
from victories at the Taupo 1000 in New Zealand and the Milbrodale Mountain
Classic in his single seater V8 Jimco. Warialda 200 winner Buddy Crowe is also
in fine form in the Jimco Champion, as is Terry Rose who went toe to toe with
Crowe at his home event just a few weeks ago. After leading the Pines Enduro in
September, Matt Hanson will be another driver to watch carefully in his new SMU
Racing Jimco. While local hopes will be pinned on Goondiwindi’s Joe Bulmer and
Mick Napier, who will be drawing on their local knowledge to keep the southerners
at bay.
The contenders for the
outright win are not limited to the Pro Buggies with South Australia’s Brad
Gallard bringing the ground pounding Monster Energy V8 Trophy Truck north of
the border to tackle the giant melon holes and whoops for which Goondiwindi is
famous. Gallard ran second outright in his last appearance at Goondiwindi in
2008 and won’t hold back in an attempt to go one place better. While the first
man to win the Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race in a truck, Greg Gartner will
return to Goondiwindi in his V8 F-150 Trophy Truck for the first time since
2004. Currently sitting in third outright on the AORC leaderboard and on top of
the Extreme 2WD Class championship, Gartner could potentially finish as high as
second outright with a good result at Goondiwindi. But he will need to keep an
eye on the mirror as Chris Western will be pushing to close the gap on the
Extreme 2WD Class Championship.
The field of over 50 cars will
include some exciting class battles. The Prolites have provided some of the
most entertaining racing of the season and watching James, Cowie, Watt,
Fehlaber and company go toe to toe will be one of the highlights of the
weekend. Zettl, Smith and Melville will lock horns again for the Super 1650
honours, while Ballantine looks set to have it all his own way in the Sportsman
Class. The Performance 2WD honours will be played out between the two Victorian
teams of Weaire and Osinski.
With a huge lead in the
Production 4WD Class, Geoff Pickering will focus on reclaiming the coveted #701
number relinquished to Clayton Chapman in 2010. While the Extreme 4WD Class
championship will go right down to the wire with Western Australia’s Russell
Cullen heading to Goondiwindi with a healthy, but not insurmountable 712 point
lead over seven time Extreme 4WD Champion, Colin Hunter. Clayton Chapman will
be another to watch, after showing blistering speed in his Mitsubishi Pajero
throughout the season.
The Albins Goondiwindi 400 will launch on
Friday night at the Goondiwindi Showgrounds from 4pm, with scrutineering and a
show and shine until 8pm. Held in a festival atmosphere, it will be a great
opportunity to meet the drivers and grab an autograph before they hit the dirt.
Racing commences on Saturday morning 20 km from Goondiwindi at Lofty’s Lair just
off the Cunningham Hwy. The venue provides an unrivalled perspective of
Malypunyah Run, one of the most exciting pieces of offroad racetrack on the
planet. With live commentary and refreshments on sale, spectators will be able
to sit back and watch the race for the championship unfold.
The green flag will drop at 10am on
Saturday morning for the prologue and top ten shoot out which will get the
blood pumping before the big desert racers stretch their legs that afternoon
with two laps of the long course. Racing kicks off again at 8am on Sunday
morning, which will see the race cars tackle another 3 laps of the 80km course.
At the conclusion of which, the 2011 Australian Champion will be crowned.
Australian
Offroad Racing Championship Media enquiries:
available across the race weekend at www.offroadracing.com.au
