It had been a long time between dirt events for the Albury Wodonga and District Car Club, the rain thwarting any and all efforts to hold events at the traditional venue, Villa Grove. That was until Jake Lucas put his hand up to hold an event on his land at Wooragee, just 15min drive out the Beechworth road from Wodonga.
The morning’s schedule consisted of Motorkhana on the grass near the entrance to the property in the morning, then Kanacross on the dirt track further down the hill in the afternoon. It became a struggle for anyone to get grip on the surface for the Motorkhnana, rendering any big-power cars useless if you couldn’t stay off the throttle. The alternative was just planting it, hoping the car would somehow find grip through wheel speed. Through sustained use, competitors eventually dug through the grass into the marginally gripper dirt – cars suited to rally conditions had a distinct advantage from this point onward.
14-year-old Louise Gouveia took to the wheel of the Datsun shared with her father to rip up the dirt.
A few “wrong directions” early-on, but she soon got the hang of it again!
Louise and her dad weren’t the only family sharing a car for the Sunday – Matt and Peter Grice debuted their Isuzu Bellet. It’s deliberately rough around the edges, just like its owners!
The car ran well during the day, but there was a big “code brown” moment for Peter mid-afternoon while still getting used to the grip levels of the soggy Khanacross track. Oops…
Dave Anstis was at it once again, winning the “who can throw dirt the furthest off the track” award!
Tod Reed and David West took out the Khanacross event in their Evo Lancer and I was fortunate enough to ride as passenger later in the day. The way the Mitsubishi hooks-up on the dirt with rally tyres was incredible, it’s no wonder it came out on top.
I could have watched this thing rip up the track all day!
