Action returned to SEAC Park for a combined Khanacross, Round 2 of the “local” series and Round 1 of the state series at the Megaw Road complex.
Heading the list of entries, Dale Cagney was presented with the impressive State Khanacross trophy for his effort in winning the series in 2022 held at SEAC Park, Mid Murray Motorplex and Walky Park.
His effort was made even more impressive when he had not competed at the other two race tracks prior to the Khanacross rounds.
The entry list for 2023 included past champions Michael and Bradley Clements, who have held this trophy for many, many years between them.
Director for the first round Paul Height had his son Murray as his assistant, setting the scene for “family” action at SEAC with seven entries being father/son or father/daughter pairings – 14 of 27 starters for the day’s activities.
After the driver’s briefing, Bruce Hamilton led the pack into competition being awarded the coveted number one position for the day.
An interesting track had been worked through the maze of ground at SEAC Park, using a combination of grassy unused areas and a little of the prepared race surfaces, to give the day a challenge worthy of a state round.
Past champion Bradley Clements set the pace in the family Subaru WRX, with father Michael just behind, Sam Humphries a further two seconds behind and Dale Cagney, struggling for grip in his Evo VI another two seconds further back in fourth spot.
Steven Leo made contact with a track marker in his yellow Honda Civic, costing him a five second penalty and pulling him back two spots to fifth in the very quick front wheel drive.
Jason Sims put in a good lap in the family Celica to get home in the sixth position, closely followed by Bradley Harry in the tidy Toyota Starlet in seventh, Dillan Young in his Nissan Pulsar in eighth, 0.04 seconds behind.
Matthew Kirby slotted in next in the shared Celica another 0.04 seconds behind for ninth and Bruce Hamilton made 10th, a further 0.07 seconds back.
That made it five positions separated by 0.2 of a second.
The second attempt at the layout resulted in the same first three finishers, B. Clements, M. Clements and Humphries.
Steven Leo this time missed all of the track markers getting fourth spot from Dale Cagney in fifth, Jason Sims sixth, with another tidy run from Bradley Harry getting seventh spot again from Dillan Young in eighth, Wayne Casey ninth improving on his previous outing to hold out a charge from junior Ollie Pohlner in the Subaru Liberty in 10th spot.
The same track was then driven in the reverse direction and Bradley Clements again set the pace well clear of an improving Cagney some four seconds behind, Sam Humphries in third from Leo’s Civic, Michael Clements next after a track marker penalty pushed him back a couple of spots to fifth, Sims again in sixth from a hard-charging Dillan Young in seventh less than 0.2 seconds behind.
Curtis Boyd found a quick line in the Celica to get home in eighth, with Geoff Wilson having a bit of a go in the Magna getting home in ninth spot a few tenths of a second behind and Matthew Kirby rounding out the top 10 another half a second.
The same layout was then raced again in reverse direction, with the Clements again at the top, Bradley a second and a half in front of Michael, with an extremely quick Civic in the hands of Steven Leo a half of a second behind in third spot, with a tidy run.
Dale Cagney ran a similar time to his previous run but had to settle for fourth and a second clear of Sam Humphries in fifth in his black Subaru WRX Wagon.
Damien Wilson, not having the best day out, managed to avoid all the track markers for his best run and got a sixth, 0.05 seconds in front of the Sims’ family Celica driven well by Jason for seventh spot, Matthew Kirby pushed hard in the Boyd Celica locking in eighth with another tidy run 0.06 seconds ahead of Dillan Young in ninth and junior Kyle Johnson scoring the 10th spot in the immaculate Datsun 1600 that he has restored with some help from dad Ian less than half a second further back.
After a lunch break, the next track layout on offer was a combination of a couple of longish runs in the grass, with some technical combination turns at each end.
That circuit saw B. Clements from M. Clements in positions one and two, Cagney third from another quick run in his Evo, Leo fourth, Damien Wilson fifth from Geoff Wilson enjoying the pace of the Magna on the open areas getting him home for the sixth spot, Matthew Kirby next with Bruno Vadori also enjoying a bit of straight track in eighth, Dillan Young’s effort in the Pulsar was good enough for ninth and Sam Humphries rounded out the top 10 with his time including a pair of track marker penalties.
The same test in the same direction had M. Clements stealing the show from Sam Humphries, B. Clements third, Cagney fourth, Leo fifth, Damien Wilson sixth, Dillan Young seventh, with Jason Sims improving on his previous run for eighth spot.
Geoff Wilson also did more and bettered his first go but had to settle for ninth, with Wayne Casey also having a much better run to round out the top 10 a couple of tenths away.
The last change for the day was the same layout, but driven in the opposite direction.
Bradley Clements again set the pace from Sam Humphries, Steven Leo, Michael Clements, Dale Cagney, Wayne Casey sixth, Dillan Young seventh, Justin Devlin found the track to his liking, making it home in the shared Commodore in eighth spot with a good drive, Bruce Hamilton also enjoyed a bit of room to push the Falcon about, next home half a second back and 0.3 seconds in front of Geoff Wilson in 10th spot.
The same test in the same direction had Bradley Clements in front of Michael Clements, Dale Cagney next with Leo’s Civic close behind in fourth, Humphries fifth, Damien Wilson sixth, Jason Sims had a much better finish on this run for seventh, Bruno Vadori eighth, Wayne Casey ninth and Bruce Hamilton finished off a good day in 10th.
Paul Height and his team of officials were thanked for putting together an enjoyable day of racing.
The next event will be a Motorkhana at the Glenburnie Saleyards Complex on April 16, while Khanacross continues with the next round at Burrungule on May 28.
