Picking a break in the very ordinary weather that has been on offer over the past couple of weeks is a challenge for Mount Gambier’s activities through the winter months.


Dale Cagney put the director’s hat on for the third round of the SEAC 2024 Autocross Series and worked some magic on the saturated track to provide a surface that gave the 22 entrants something to play with.


It was no surprise the four wheel drives had a distinct advantage around the track and Sam Thomas, Luke Winterfield and Adam Jesse made good use of the extra traction available, sharing the fastest times among themselves over six of the seven heats.


Sam Thomas, using his rally prepped Subaru WRX and experience gained from competition in rally driving, was in a class of his own for the first three heats, four seconds on heat 1, seven seconds on heat 2 and five seconds on heat 3 being the gap to the nearest competitor.


A fuel system problem on heat 4 put paid to what would have been a top day at the park.


Luke Winterfield, enjoying his first season in the Subaru WRX the family has prepared, could not match Thomas in the early runs, having two seconds and a third for the first three runs.


Having more grip from a drying track, Winterfield made the next three runs his with a 1:46.37, 1:46.36 and 1:45.82 good for fastest times.


Jayden Edwards, in his two wheel drive Commodore, showed all watching that even a 2WD can be quick in adverse track conditions, with the car wearing normal road tyres and having speedway experience (and no fear!).


Jayden kept them honest with two thirds and a second in the first three heats continuing to push Winterfield in the next three with the gap about 1.0 to 1.5 seconds and getting the chocolates in the last run by 7/100ths of a second from Winnie, 1:46.67 and 1:46.74 being the times that others had to beat.


Dion Becker has been “working” on the Falcon that he shares with wife Teresa at the Autocross outings and the times these two are running show that his “work” is working.


With slippery conditions early, Dion made fourth, fifth and sixth for the first three then fourth for the next four runs.


Adam Jesse, returning for a drive in a recently acquired Subaru WRX, drove a cautious line to settle in on the first sloppy runs but got into it with a third spot in the fifth, sixth and seventh runs.


Always worth watching when out on the track, Gary Brown’s effort in the Falcon (with street tyres) uses about 50% more road than anyone else and he thoroughly enjoys a skid.


More grip in the later runs had him around sixth fastest for the day, a pretty good time for the big bird.


Others to enjoy the mixed grip levels on offer were Barry Edwards, Kyle Johnson, Jason and Henry Sims (in different cars) and Sean Telford.


An early finish to the day’s activities was a good call by Director Cagney, enabling everything to be packed up and all loaded and gone before the heavens opened again.


Millicent Saleyards is the next venue on the SEAC Calendar with a Khanacross to be held on September 15 and should be an enjoyable day at the wheel if director Paul Height does his normal work.


Thanks must go to all the officials that volunteer their time to stand and watch the competitors enjoying the activity.