2018 - NQ - Khanacross Championships - Round 4 Results
The Douglas Shire Motor Sports Association hosted the fourth and final round of the 2018 NQ Khanacross Championship last weekend.
A strong contingent of drivers entered the two day khanacross from all around the North and from as far south as Mackay.
Despite 70 mm of rain having fallen at the track the previous weekend the track was in good shape, if a little dusty.
Mossman driver, Heath Barry entered the event holding a slender lead in the series points and needing a good result to secure the win.
Also in contention were Cairns drivers Rick Ranscombe and Kevin Durose.
Local driver, Shane North set the early pace on Saturday morning recording fastest times on the first two tracks, while Barry’s championship hopes took a dive as he hit a garage marker on his first run. The resulting ten second penalty pushed him back to third last.
Ranscombe was the quiet achiever of day one in his Nissan Pulsar. Despite only setting one fastest time, he managed to top the time sheet at the end of Saturday by consistently posting fast and error free times.
North pushed his Hyundai Excel to the limit to finish day one in second spot while Cairns driver Steve Van der Brug rounded out the top three.
Barry responded to his early set back by posting eight fastest times, five of them in a row to claw his way back up to fourth at the end racing on Saturday, while Durose rounded out the top five.
Saturday night was spent sitting around the small campfire eating Dawn and Northy’s great tucker, enjoying a quiet drink and telling anyone who would listen just how fast we used to be.
Much to the relief of the drivers, Sunday dawned fine and sunny and after a quick breakfast it was back to racing.
The fierce battle at the top of the time sheet continued with Ranscombe, Barry and Van der Brug all posting fastest times.
Ranscombe was able to hold onto the top spot to win the event by just two seconds ahead of the fast charging Barry.
Much to every ones surprise, especially his own, North’s Excel survived and made it to the finish line in third spot ahead of Van der Brug.
A wild last two runs by Durose saw him loose time and drop a spot allowing Tony Cristaudo to sneak into the top five.
Barry’s second place was enough to see him win the championship on 39 points. It is the first time a Mossman driver has won, and not a bad effort considering that he is still only sixteen years old.
Ranscombe finished second in the championship on 36 points ahead of Durose 34 and North 29.
Barry’s win caps off a successful year for the club after we won the Interclub Challenge.
