2013 AORC Round 3 - Flinders 450
Held over the weekend of July 27 & 28, round 3 took place at the iconic Baroota track, north of Port Pirie in South Australia. Despite the long heritage of this location hosting off-road racing, this year's Flinders 450 was the Rentsches first taste of the track!
Conditions were almost perfect for racing at Baroota, with rain in the week before the race, then showers on Saturday night helping to keep dust to a minimum, especially with a breeze blowing in from across the Spencer Gulf towards the picturesque Flinders Ranges.
After taking a conservative approach on Saturday's first 130km section (two laps of the 65km Baroota course), Shannon Rentsch then wound up the wick, hauling in early lead of Hanson/Wells and ensuring he would start first on the road - and out of the dust - for Sunday morning's second leg of 195kms. After starting in front, Rentsch ensured he stayed in front, winning both the 195km section two and 130km section three to take the outright win in 4hr 45min 03sec. Runner-up was Hayden Bentley in the #18 Pro class buggy, followed by the #410 Extreme 2WD Trophy Truck of Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings.
"It is really different with all those berms, we've never raced on anything like that before," Shannon Rentsch said after the victory. "We started to get the hang of it on the second lap on Saturday and a bit more today. It's a great little track, really challenging, you are pretty busy behind the wheel and with only a handful of spots to get into fifth [gear], you don't get much of a break."
Hayden Bentley piloted his #18 buggy solo, so was exhausted after the 2-day, 450km+ race, but not just from the competition. Bentley also juggled the mammoth task of organising the event, which is held on his Baroota property.
"It is difficult circumstances trying to run the event and race, so I was happy to do that and not wreck the car. I had a lot of fun, but I am looking forward to bed in the next few days. This track has a bit of everything and the cars are really working around there, but when you have a car that works it is just awesome." Hayden said at the finish line.
Starting sixth after a huge jump sent him off course during the top ten shoot out, Bentley moved quickly into podium contention on Saturday afternoon and motored home on Sunday to finish 13min 7sec behind Rentsch.
Nailing down third outright and the Extreme 2WD Class win was the big #410 Ford Trophy Truck of Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings in a time of 5hr 07min 08secs. Gartner was locked in a close battle with the Robinson, Gallard and Geddes trucks all weekend, but charged home in the final section.
"We just decided to have a crack in the final couple of laps and put the car through what we thought it could do and it held together - we are rapt," said Gartner. "We've done a lot of work to it since it debuted at Finke and it has paid off."
Fourth outright was Matt Hanson and Leigh Wells in the #1 Snap SMU Jimco Pro buggy. Hanson was in outright contention for most of the weekend, until brake failure in the final 130km section saw him overshoot a corner and get bogged, then roll just 4km from the finish while on a charge to make up the lost time.
Having won the event when it was a SA state round in 2010, Andrew Mowles and Matthew Ryan drew on their Baroota experience to take the Prolite honours and fifth outright in the Australian-built #135 Razorback. They dominated the Prolite class, winning all three sections and setting themselves up for a charge at the AORC Prolite Class championship.
After withstanding the torrential assaults from the trophy trucks of Gartner and Gallard all weekend, Billy Geddes and Jamie Ward were dealt a cruel blow in the final stages of the race. A blocked air filter started to sap all the power from the V8 in their #441 Geiser Bros. Trophy Truck, forcing them to pull over and clean it, costing valuable time. Relegating them to sixth outright and second in class.
Gary and Amanda Simpson drove their Alumicraft to seventh outright and second in Prolite, ahead of the Super 1650 Class winner, Matthew Salt and Leon Hawke. Mal Yeardley and Jorden Russel were the final team to finish all seven laps of the 65km course and were rewarded with ninth outright and third in Prolite.
ROUND 4
The AORC now heads to NSW for the 'Coffs Coast Offroad', round four of the Australian Off Road Championship. This round will be part of the Coates Hire Rally Australia 2013, the Aussie round of the FIA World Rally Championship. AORC round 4 will also combine with the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship at Rally Australia.
Over four days, the off road vehicles will compete in the heart of Coffs Harbour as well as the Glenugie state forest, with sections reminiscent of the great Kempsey off road races.
For more information visit www.aorc.com.au
Images: Courtesy of Randall Kilner, AORC media liaison
