Flinders 400 set for this weekend
Building on the foundations of last year's Flinders 450 (which was a round of the 2011 Australian Off Road Racing Championship), the Baroota Off Road Association has pulled out all stops for this year's event, not only to raise the profile of the sport, but make the second round of the 2012 SA Off Road Championship a fun and family friendly affair.
A highlight of the 2011 event was the 'Longest Leap'. Last year, Hayden Bentley took the chocolates with a leap of 27 metres in his twin turbo V6 racer. The good news is that the Longest Leap is back, sponsored by Performance Metals. With $1,000 on offer just for this section of the event, as part of an impressive $12,000 cash prize pool, the Flinders 400 has attracted teams from far and wide. Headlining the show will be the two car Element Racing team of Aaron and Carl Haby, who were first and second outright respectively in the 2011 SA Championship. Add into the mix the twin turbo V6 Proclass buggies of Andrew Kittle, Hayden Bentley, Jack Rhodes, the Monster Energy Trophy Truck of Brad Gallard and the high tech Dodge Dakota of Colin Hunter and an exciting weekend of offroad racing lies ahead.
The redesign of the Baroota complex last year not only resulted in state-of-the-art pit facilities for competitors, but also one of the best spectator venues in the country. The 65km course embraces the traditional berms and caverns for which the property is famous, and loops its way close to the pits on a number of occasions to provide plenty of entertainment for the spectators, as the offroad racers launch over the jumps and suspension-punishing whoops.
The Exact Mining Bentley's Cabin Park Flinders 400 will commence with scrutineering on Friday, April 27 between 4pm and 9pm at Baroota, before racing kicks off on Saturday with the Prologue at 10am. Following the Performance Metals Longest Leap, as part of the prologue, the top ten drivers will return to the track for the Neill Automotive Baroota Cup Shoot Out to determine the starting order. A Trophy Kart Parade will be held at the conclusion of the Shoot Out to demonstrate the category being developed for juniors to become involved with offroad racing.
Saturday afternoon will provide the first opportunity for the drivers to really stretch the legs of their offroad racing machinery, with two laps of the 65km course. Four more laps of Baroota will be the order of the day on Sunday, with the drivers unleashed on two further 130km sections.
Supported by Extreme Motorsport, Nyrstar, Neill Automotive, ARB and Performance Metals, the Exact Mining Bentleys Cabin Park Flinders 400 has been designed to be a family friendly event. Full catering and a licenced bar will be running all weekend, along with a free jumping castle for the kids and a big fireworks display on Saturday night. A helicopter will also be onsite for those wanting to catch an eagle eye view of the track.
If you don't catch all the action at the track for the Exact Mining Bentley's Cabin Park Flinders 400, the 4WDTV team will be there to capture it all for later broadcasting on Channel 44, Imparja and across the Tasman in New Zealand. Keep your eye out on Channel 74 for an editorial on the sport during Simon Christies 4WDTV Protips.
To keep up to speed with results as the race unfolds visit: http://flinders400.mylaps.com
Images and information courtesy of Randall Kilner
