2014 NQ KHANACROSS SERIES weekend 4th, 5th October 2014
The Douglas Shire Motor Sports Association hosted the fourth and final
round of the NQ Khanacross Series last weekend at The Reef and
Rainforest Track at North Mossman.
The two-day event attracted competitors from Mossman, Cairns,
Townsville and Mackay and was proudly supported by the Douglas Shire
Council via funding through the Community Support Program.
Representing the club in the series were the father and daughter duo of
Shane and Kara North driving their Burmack sponsored Ford Laser, both
of whom were keen to do well at their home track. “I’m planning to push
it really hard for the first couple of runs” Northy said “Hopefully I
can get a bit of a jump on the other competitors with a bit of local
track knowledge”
Also included in the line up were eight local drivers who although were
not part of the series were still keen to test their skills against the
best khanacross drivers the north has to offer.
The weekend began with a meet and greet and counter meal on Friday
night at the Exchange Hotel. It gave the series competitors a chance to
catch up and the local drivers a chance to sus out the competition.
Saturday morning saw the start of the event with drivers racing the
clock over fourteen tracks. Competition over the day was fierce with
often less than a second separating driver’s times.
Despite incurring a ten second penalty on his last run Rowan Trewick
held a 33 second lead over his fellow competitors by the end of
competition on Saturday. Rowans turbo charged Toyota Celica proving to
fast for his rivals. The race for second place was on with only one
second separating the Hyundai of Mackay driver Tim Hall and the Toyota
Camry of Andrew Horn.
Racing continued again on Sunday morning with drivers competing over a
further six tracks with the battle for outright and place wins just as
fierce as the previous day.
Nobody could catch Rowan though as he continued to stretch his lead to
over 41 seconds and win the event on a time of 20 minutes neat. Tim
Hall and Andrew Horn continued their battle for second place with Tim
eventually taking the spot on a time of 20 min 41sec, three seconds
ahead of Andrew.
With some gallant driving in his under powered Ford Laser Shane North
finished third in the under 1600 class and sixth outright, while Kara
was second in the junior class behind Christopher Dwyer and second in
the Ladies class.
Local sixteen-year-old junior drivers Drew Van Dyk and Krystal Secker
also did well competing for the first time without an instructor in the
car with them.
Rowans win in Mossman also meant that he won the championship and he
was crowned the North Queensland Khanacross Champ for 2014 on 30
points. Second was Tim Hall on 26 points and third Andrew Horn 23
points. Mark Horder and Warren Morton rounded out the top five.
Kara North was crowned the junior Champion and was also second in the
ladies class, while Shane finished third in class and eight outright.
Club President Bob Errey said that it had been a very successful event
with all drivers liking the challenging Mossman track. “Our track is
unique in that it is the only one that is on the side of a hill so it
gives the southern drivers something different. They are used to just
racing on a flat track,” he said.
Mr Errey also wished to thank the Douglas Shire Council for their
support. “The grant certainly helped the club prepare for and run the
event,” he said
The Associations next event is a club day on the 19th October. Details
are on the club’s website dsmsa.com.au
