2010 AORC Round 4: Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro

With Millicent's Tantanoola State Forest region receiving abundant rain, this year's Pines looked set to be an even greater challenge, and that proved to be the case, with almost twenty entrants failing to line up for the Sunday's second leg after bogging or waterlogging their vehicles. With the amount of water at dangerous levels, organisers had to reconfigure the course layout to give all competitors a chance of finishing, particularly around the Teagle Quarry exit.

Despite all the dramas, Fellows/Bergamin threaded their Peter Kittle Motorsports Jimco through the pine forests - as well as many bogged race cars - to take victory. The win had all but assured the 2010 championship for the South Australian-based team, but the cancellation of the Goondiwindi AORC finale a week later confirmed it.
Second outright was the giant killing Andrew Mowles in his Australian-made Prolite Razorback buggy. It was Mowles' first AORC podium finish and the fact that he passed the dominant V8 and twin turbo V6-powered machines in his normally aspirated V6 made the result all the more impressive.

Jason Corless and Paul Ward were another team to claim their first AORC podium at the Pines Enduro. The Victorian pair leapt into the top ten during Saturday's prologue and didn't look back from there, greeting the chequered flag in third outright in their 2 litre turbo-powered Rimco. The wet conditions suited the lighter, more powerful machines in Pro and Prolite, with buggys filling the top ten finishing positions. Rob Cowie locked away fourth outright in his Scat-powered Prolite, with Matt Coleman and Shawn Teagle sealing fifth in their Chev V8-powered Alpha Probuggy.

Justin Anderson made a successful return to the AORC in his immaculate Tatum, finishing sixth, while Mark Burrows was in podium contention until a flat tyre on the final lap relegated the former Australian champ to seventh overall. Wayne Bannan, Tony Fehlaber and Alan Geradi locking away eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.
The buggys didn't have it all their own way, though. Shannon Rentsch was out of the race early after his engine ingested water, while out in the forest proper, Glenn Owen rolled after aquaplaning on a puddle, then clipping a tree stump in his #30 Jimco. Dan Auricht was another to take a tumble, cartwheeling through the air after losing control of his #8 Jimco. In a testament to the strength of these cars, both crews walked away unscathed.

In light of the danger presented by the amount of water on the track, the race was red flagged while organisers worked on a solution to the quarry exit section of the circuit. At 1pm the race recommenced for two final laps. When the lights went green, Travis Robinson led the field away, but Fellows soon passed after the West Australian retired with fuel pressure issues. Pole sitter, Brad Prout, was also out with engine issues on the second lap, while Greg Gartner was on the hunt for a podium finish until an excursion into some tree stumps ended his day, too.

On completion of the 3 laps, there were 27 finishers from a field of close to fifty. Geoff Roe won the Extreme 2WD Class in his Chev-powered Geiser Trophy Truck, while Jeff Loader took the Performance 2WD Class win in his Chev powered Navara. Geoff Pickering had a trouble free run in his Pajero to claim the Production 4WD Class. In the Extreme 4WD Class, Colin Hunter recovered from being punted off the track early to win in his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Travis Conrad took the Super 1650 honours in his Honda Southern Cross and Grant Walker was unchallenged for victory in the Sportsman Class. This year's Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro will be remembered as one of the most challenging, action-packed and wet events in many years. The sheer amount of water played havoc with a big part of the field across all classes. Congratulations to David Fellows on securing this year's Australian Off Road Championship, as well as all the class winners.

Goondiwindi AORC finale cancelled

On September 8, a little over a month prior to the scheduled start for the Albins Off Road Gear Goondiwindi 400, Chairman of AORCom, Mr Ben Erceg, confirmed that the AORC season finale was cancelled due to excessive rainfall in the area. The region had already experienced its wettest winter in 15 years, and a further 40mm of rain on the weekend prior to the announcement made the cancellation inevitable.

Emergency consultation by the Goondiwindi Motorsport Association (GMA) with the various private landholders whose properties form the event course confirmed the majority of the track would be impassable given the drenching the region has received, and would remain unusable until after the scheduled event date of October 15 - 17. With much of the region in crop or being harvested over Summer, a rescheduling of the event for later in the year was also impossible.

The decision followed the Brisbane Sporting Car Club's withdrawal from organising duties, which was announced at the Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro. With no hope of running a replacement event in 2010, the GMA are now determined to push ahead with their application to run an event in 2011 and make it the best AORC championship finale ever.