OFF ROADERS IN THE FOREST

Off Roaders in the Forest – Photo: Supplied

MILLICENT, ON South Australia’s Limestone Coast comes alive on September 20-22, with over 80 of Australia’s top Off Road racers hitting the track for the Teagle Excavations ARB Pines Enduro.

Held amongst the tall pine trees of the Tantanoola Pine Forest and based out of the stadium-style arena at Teagle’s Quarry, the event is the third and final round of the 2019 ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championship.

Leading the charge will be three-time Pines winner, Matt Hanson who will be targeting back-to-back victories in his Jimco, while homegrown favourite, Garry Turnbull will debut his new V8-powered Jimco.

Sitting on top of the leader board is North Queensland’s Talbot Cox in his Toyota V8-powered Racer. Hot on his heels will be Aaron Haby aboard his the twin turbo V6 Element, fresh from a second outright at the Gundy 400, and Dean Meginley in his Class Ten Tatum.

The pressure will be on with a talented pack of Unlimited and Class 1 drivers including Aaron James, Clayton Chapman, Craig Martin, Raana Horan and 2018 ARB AORRC Champion Brent Martin. Meanwhile, the V8-powered Class 4 trucks piloted by Greg Gartner, Luke Hall and Damien Nicol will be aiming to keep the buggies on their toes.

Andy Murdock and Todd Lehmann will also be flying the flag high for the locals. Since making the switch to his new Element Buggy, Murdock has notched up two outright victories, and Lehmann will hit the track in his Jimco as the defending South Australian Champion.

Brent Martin, Rhett Standen, Steven Orr, Paul Grant, Bernie Clohesy, Phil Lovett, Sandy Bowman, Stuart Chapman and Daniel Wells will all be aiming to lock down their respective class championships.

Saturday’s format starts at Teagle’s Quarry for the prologue over big jumps and sweeping bends to determine the starting order. Short course racing follows where the stadium-style arena hosts the four lap heats.

On Sunday morning with a unique reverse-grid format, they set off on six laps of the 60km course through the Tantanoola Pine Forest, starting two at a time for an initial drag race, followed by fast tree lined straights and blind crests.

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