In their Ultimate class Razorback buggy, powered by a turbo Toyota 2JZ engine, they completed the 300-kilometre in 2:30:51.909. Second were Danny Hughes and Mitch Upton (Ultimate Southern Cross buggy) 4:11.394 away with another 1:33.416 to third placed Brett Comiskey and Corey Cooper (Class 8 AWD Brenthel Trophy Truck).
Billed as the biggest off road race in North Queensland, the Custom Lithium Don River Dash is the only two-day offroad race where bikes, buggies and trophy trucks race entirely along a river bed. It is competed in a reverse grid format, seeded by the organisers as there is no Prologue.
Each day vehicles have a transport stage from the Bowen Showgrounds on the Whitsundays to the river start line. They travel the course of the river for 25kms upstream on the southern side and then turn around at the halfway checkpoint and race back down on the northern side, three times for a total of 150kms.
Hosted by the Burdekin Offroaders Inc, the seventh running had 83 car starters who negotiated sand, trees and at times, water.
Behind Chapman on Day 1 was former two-time winner Talbot Cox (Ultimate Racer Engineering Carbon/Toyota V8) but his second day run was over on the first lap with mechanical issues.
Kye Camilleri crossed the line fourth and just before his Jimco Aussie Special buggy crashed spectacularly. Miraculously it was fixed overnight but like Cox, was out early on Day 2.
Others that figured in the top 10 on Saturday but fell by the wayside on the next day were Steven Kildey (Class 4 Trophy Truck), and Chris Western who handed over to Cooper Western for the second day only to have the power steering pump flame out.
On the other hand, Brent Smoothy (Class 8 Mason Trophy Truck) did not get a lap in on Saturday but was second and just 6.6s slower than Chapman on Sunday.
Fourth outright was Zac Marsh in a Class 6 Can-Am Maverick, ahead of the Ultimates of Kevin Nott (Element Prodigy) and Aaron Phillis (buggy), Class 1 winner and second respectively David Mendham and Anthony Fehlhaber. Then came Rohan Williams (Ultimate Mason Trophy Truck and Robert Wearing (Class 4) in 10th.
Several of the drivers and co-drivers also took part in the bike legs where 191 started. Overall the bike winner was Ivan Long ahead of Levi Stephens.
The event created after Michael Marson and Cox competed in the Baja in 2017. Talbot was flying over the Don River in a chopper and realised just how similar the dry riverbed was to a section of the Mexican track. Together with fellow Burdekin Offroaders club committee members Dave Muir and daughter Courtney, they worked with other members to deliver the inaugural Don River Dash in 2019.
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