Round 4 2016 NQ Khanacross Series 15th and 16th October

The Douglas Shire Motor Sport Association hosted the fourth and final round of the 2016 NQ Khanacross Series over the weekend of 15th and 16th October.

Twenty drivers from Mossman, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay lined up for the two-day event.

Cairns driver Andrew Horn came into the round leading the series by just one point over fellow competitor Steve Van der Brug with both drivers basically needing to win the round to clinch the series.

Also in the mix were Trevor Thompson who was lying third in the series, former rally champ, Ross Dunkerton and local junior driver, Heath Barry.

The morning was grey and overcast with the threat of rain very real, but a bold prediction by event director, Bob Errey that it would not rain proved to be more or less correct with only a couple of very light showers hitting the track and having little effect on drivers times.

Heath started well claiming fastest times on five of the first seven runs but some uncharacteristic mistakes saw him hit several markers and loose twenty seconds in penalties.

Steve Van der Brug also recorded some fastest times but by the end of Saturdays racing it was Ross Dunkerton who had built up a eight second lead over Heath, with Steve a further two seconds adrift in third spot.

The fact that Andrew Horn was only a second behind Steve in fourth place and Trevor Thompson another two seconds behind meant that it would all come down to the final days racing on Sunday.

Local drivers Shane and Kara North were in sixth an seventh spot. While sibling rivalry was alive and well with only two seconds separating brothers Aaron and Flynn Dunkerton.

The drivers woke Sunday morning to the sound of rain. A total of 34 mm had fallen over night turning the once dusty track into a mud bath. A quick track inspection confirmed that the track was unusable and so the decision was reluctantly made to abandon the event.

This meant that Saturday’s results would be the final results for the event.

The series points were tallied up, resulting in a tie for first place between Steve and Andrew. On a count back Andrew was crowned the 2016 champion and Steve second. Trevor Thompson finished in third, just ahead of Shane North.

Kara took out the Ladies class with Heath winning the juniors class.

Congratulations to all the winners.