Round 3 of the BF Goodrich Australian Off Road Championship was repeat of their success at the second round – the Finke Desert Race.
Behind the Extreme 4WD and Extreme 2WD Trophy Trucks, third place went to Grant Smoothy and Garry Olsen in their Pro Buggy for an all-West Australian outright podium.
A surprise fastest in the Prologue were John Towers and Bruce Young in a Prolite, ahead of Toby Whateley and Max Pietrolaj (Ext 2WD) and Wes Cowie and Jarod Barke (Pro Buggy).
The first of four sections was won by the sixth quickest qualifier New Zealander Boston Morgan-Horan and Fergus Crabb. They looked set to take out the second until the final lap. Their Ext 2WD Trophy Truck overshot a corner and were beached on raised earth between the front and rear axles.
That gave the section and the lead to Travis Robinson. Despite the mishap Morgan-Horan held second ahead of Beau Robinson. Brenton Forsyth (Pro Buggy), Smoothy, Roydn Bailey/Simon Herrmann/Mel Brandle (Pro Buggy) and Cowie Barke (Pro Buggy) ensued.
The attrition rate was high with more than 20 in trouble and included Towers and Whateley.
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The final two sections were dominated by Robinson/Currie. They extended their 28-second overnight lead to 14 minutes and increased their championship points margin.
Morgan-Horan continued in second place until the last lap of Section 4 where they went out with a broken driveshaft. Meanwhile Smoothy’s third was his first in the current vehicle and his first-ever event finish.
In the SXS Championship, Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price battled throughout with Lachlan Bailey and Zollo throughout. Ackroyd took the win and fourth outright after the Bailey suffered a flat tyre and resumed for seventh behind Jared Percival/Matt Gallasch (Pro Buggy) and Hayden and Sam Bentley (Ext 4WD).
Round four of the BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship is the St George 399 in Queensland on August 22-24.
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