The second round of the South Australian State Khanacross Series took place at Burrungule recently, with a strong field of 38 entries.
The Limestone Coast Off Road Club in conjunction with the South Eastern Automobile Club were pleased the event had been so popular and set up a busy set of courses to entertain competitors.
Paul Height was clerk for the round with everything in place for an enjoyable day and only needed some help from the weather Gods to complete preparation.
Mother Nature had made her mind up that we should accept a little moisture in preparation, but an overnight torrential downpour changed everything.
After discussing the problem with drivers at the pre-event briefing, a drive around inspection proved some sections were impassable, so a change to the layout took place and a much shorter course was assembled.
Presented with the “special” number one starting position for the day, Bradley Harry took to the course in his well presented Toyota Starlet to set the pace.
No surprises in finding the four-wheel and all-wheel drive cars were the most nimble around the sloppy surface, with some of the experience gained in “rally” driving over the years.
First test, first run Bradley Clements filled the fastest time slot at 45.9 seconds to hold out a pair of Subaru’s in Nick Doll (SEAC Junior) and Sam Humphries with identical times of 46.17 for equal second.
Damien Wilson put in a clean lap in the Silvia for fourth with his run of 49.22 seconds, followed by Michael Clements with a 49.96 second lap.
Dale Cagney did what he could in his Evo 6 but could only manage a 50.11 second lap for sixth, while Bradley Harry’s opener of 51.19 seconds was good enough for seventh with the yellow Honda Civic of Steven Leo singing it’s own song at full revs doing a 53.38 lap for eighth.
Toyota Celica pilot, John Whitehead also put in a tidy run for a well deserved ninth while junior Oliver Pohlner toured his Subaru Liberty for a lap time of 56.94 seconds for 10th outright.
Michael Clements found the quickest way home on the second pass with a time of 47.93 seconds ahead of Sam Humphries and Cagney close.
Nick Doll made it to fourth, stopping the clock at 52.43 seconds ahead of Steven Leo at 52.52, Dillan Young in the pristine Pulsar for a sixth and Damien Wilson in seventh.
Jason Sims’ lap of 55.80 seconds was good enough for eighth, while Wayne Casey put in a good lap in his Mazda 3 for ninth with a time of 57.85 seconds, finishing just ahead of Michelle Razum in the Hyundai for tenth.
Switching it up to tour the circuit in the reverse direction, some areas of the track were well and truly chewed up, creating some tricky situations for drivers.
Bradley Clements put the Subaru through the gaps between the track markers and found enough grip to set a reasonably quick time of 47.04 seconds to securer top spot ahead of Nick Doll in his Subaru with a 49.57 second lap.
Bradley Harry also found plenty of grip in the Starlet and his opening lap in the greasy conditions for third, stopping the clock at 50.54 seconds to hold Michael Clements out to fourth place with his time of 51.18 in his Subaru.
Continuing his good outing, Damien Wilson held a good line around the course for a 51.21 second slide for fifth with Dillan Young close behind and Dale Cagney struggling to get the Evo to hook up in the sloppy conditions for seventh.
Russell Fisk stopped the clock in eighth to just pip dad, Bill in the same car and Jason Sims rounding out the top 10 with a 55.44 second lap.
Deteriorating areas of the track required some small changes to “fresh” ground, with these changes missed by some, suffering the dreaded “WD” penalty that goes with the error on the track, with seven competitors choosing to follow the “old” marks instead of the reset path that got the thumbs up from the timing hut.
Michael Clements was one that got it correct and set the fastest time from Bradley Clements to finish first and second, with Dillan Young finding a good line in his Pulsar for third spot with a quick 47.50 second time.
Sam Humphries was fourth, Damien Wilson fifth, Steven Leo sixth and Kelvin Humphries punched out a 50.85 second lap in the shared Subaru WRX for seventh place.
Bradley Harry locked in eighth with a 50.93 second run in the Starlet and Nick Doll ninth ahead of Jason Sims in 10th with a 52.69 second tour.
Bradley Clements set the pace on the same circuit for the final run of the day, stopping the clock at 46.82 seconds similar to his previous outing.
Bradley Harry made good of his start position and got home in 51.24 seconds for second, with Bill Fisk rounding out the podium for the run in third.
Michael Clements – well down the starting order on the day – did a good job in the deteriorating conditions to get fourth to hold off young Nick Doll’s last run of 55.37 seconds in fifth spot.
Steven Leo made it around the sloppy track in 56.07 seconds and got points for sixth, ahead of Sam Humphries in seventh, Jason Sims in eighth, Dillan Young in ninth and Dale Cagney rounding out the top 10 in his Evo 6, struggling for grip and getting home in 59.76 seconds.
After the lottery of conditions through the day, Bradley Clements claimed top spot ahead of Michael Clements and Nick Doll rounding out the top three placings. Sam Humphries combined times were good enough for fourth place ahead of Damien Wilson and Bradley Harry, with Dillan Young and Steven Leo in seventh and eighth ahead of Steven Leo, Jason Sims and Kelvin Humphries. These points awards will change when the “State Competitors” and the “SEAC only” competitors are separated into their own points scores. Drivers will not gear up for the South East Automobile Club’s Motorkhana event in August.
