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The sixth running of the event was held from September 4-7 and based at the Wentworth Showgrounds on the edge of outback NSW. On each of the four days, the car and bike competitors looped out in different directions and back, with the competitive stages held entirely on private property.
Reliability was on the side of Kaplan as other contenders struck problems with he and Penney able to record a total time of 11:35:05. They finished just under 21mins ahead of rally veteran Dean Herridge with Sam Hill in a Subaru Crosstrek. Only 2:43 behind them were Darren Webster and Cary Seabrook aboard a Mitsubishi Pajero.
Meanwhile on the bikes, Corey Banks (KTM 500) finished just over 4mins ahead of Ben Langford while (KTM 500), 17-year-old Archie Conner was third on a KTM with half the capacity of the first two. Connor finished ahead of Todd Ridley (KTM 500) and Matt Gillespie (KTM 450).
Day 1 finished with Kaplan the leader ahead of Andrew and David Travis in their Holden Ute. Herridge was third in front of Daniel Jones and Bernard Webber (Mitsubishi Triton), Dean George and Lucas Beer (Ford Maverick), Webster, and Will and Gareth Dunn (Nissan Patrol).
The event was a short one for 2023 outright winners Tony Quinn and John Doble with their Nissan Navara hitting a fence post around 10kms into the first stage.
On the next day it was the Travis’ best overall, ahead of Webster, George who won a stage, Kaplan, Herridge and Dunn. Herridge won the first stage on the third day and was second on the next before “silly mistakes” left him seventh.
He finished the day just in front of his dad Rob and Chris Randell (Subaru Forester) while Kaplan took was best over George, Travis, Webster, Todd and Will Smith (Patrol), and Dunn.
On the final day it was Dunns the quickest and they would finish fourth overall. Dean Herridge was second from Kaplan and the Smiths. Travis was out with a blown head gasket and were joined by George. Fifth overall went to Dunn in front of Smith, Rob Herridge, Terry and Matilda Connor (Patrol), and Rally Division winners Richard and Andrew McNay (Holden Ute).
The long and gruelling cross country rally had 20 finisheres while attrition took out 16 other cars. In the bikes there were 25 that completed the race as 15 DNF’d.
