The 26th January 2015 Khanacross
The Douglas Shire Motor Sport Association members got their
2015 race season off to a flying start by holding the first
ever Australia Day Khanacross last Monday.
With a late start to the wet season, the small amount of
rain that had fallen at the track made for ideal conditions
for racing.
As many of the junior drivers are turning fourteen in the
next couple of months the event organiser elected to allow
all the juniors to compete on the longer khanacross track,
so for the first time in many years there were no
competitors in the junior motorkhana.
This also meant that of the field of nineteen khanacross
drivers, nine were juniors.
Nerves were a little high for some of the juniors with
several opting to take an instructor with them but by mid
morning most had built up enough confidence to tackle the
1.5 km track on their own.
Greg Erwin driving his nimble little Nissan Micra won the
first run of the day and lead from that point on, winning
the event on a time of 507 seconds.
John Kenna and Krista O’Dell returned to competition after
taking a year off and showed that they had lost none of
their pace. John’s Ford Laser put up a strong challenge to
Greg beating him on several runs but it all came undone on
the seventh run of the day when he suffered a “seniors
moment”, forgetting which way the track went and losing 20
valuable seconds.
This allowed Krista to sneak into second spot for the day,
and gain bragging rights over John. She finished on a time
of 518 seconds ahead of John’s 534.
Justin Van Dyk 539 seconds and Greg Skyring 563 seconds
rounded out the top five.
Young Cairns driver Flynn Dunkerton finished an impressive
6th out right and took out the Junior class ahead of Kara
North and Flynn Erwin.
Greg Skyring took out the newly created rear wheel drive
class, ahead of Anthony Baldwin and Carl Johanson
So after the first event it looks like its going to be a
corker of a year with fast times and close results and
several drivers capable of winning the championship.
The Association is always on the lookout for new members.
Juniors can compete from the age of twelve.
It is an excellent way for children to learn to drive in a
safe and controlled environment under adult supervision.
Here, they can gain confidence behind the wheel and learn
car control skills long before they venture out onto the
roads. The Association has various club cars available for
use by juniors for free.
For more info contact Club President, Bob Errey on
0427029049
