Sunday Dec. 8th – Christmas Breakup Funkhana / BBQ , Kevin Riley?s place (Newborough)

If ever there was a perfect motorkhana site, the grounds at Kevin?s immaculate property near Newborough would be it. However, one almost feels guilty about letting loose 20 wheel-spinning, sliding vehicles onto the beautifully mown lawns that normally serve as Kevin?s front yard; but after running all cars through 3 events there was barely a mark, and certainly nothing that a decent bit of rain and some sunshine couldn?t rectify. Kevin?s place is on the market, so I hope we didn?t do anything to deter potential buyers.

This year, drivers and passengers were tested on their dexterity and their reversing skills, as well as the traction and handling of their chosen vehicles. The first event was our regular flag pick-up and return. It was easily won by the Porsche 911 team of Glenn Campbell with ace flagman Alex Weymouth doing the hard work. The rear engine Porsches are certainly able to capitalise on their traction advantages on an event such as this, but they are a trifle more uncomfortable when going backwards, as in our second event involving forward and reverse gates. The nimble Sprite in the hands of John Fowler showed us how easy it is to manoeuvre through closely spaced flags when you are able to see the extremities of the car so easily. It was a different scenario for Mike Whitford who tried the new Subaru? Forester on this event, perhaps trying to capitalise on its constant 4-wheel drive. Mike demolished at least 2 gates, which required resetting by his passenger before proceeding further. The third event was an extended version of the famous ?Hopkirk? test, which is a regular in serious motorkhana competitions. Allan Richards performed a flawless run on this test in his MG Midget and won it easily from John Fowler and David Richards who were also driving Spridgets.

Our overall winner Locky Fowler in his Datsun 240Z, didn?t win an individual event, but placed strongly and performed consistently in all 3 tests. Locky nudged Allan Richards off the top spot by just 0.2 of a second. Third place went to Glenn Campbell in the 911, another 4 seconds behind.

It was tremendous to see such a varied collection of vehicles competing. To see a Bugatti competing in a motorkhana is, in itself, most unusual. To see it competing against a Fiat Dino, a Y-type MG and Porsche 996 is almost beyond comprehension. It was great to see some of our ladies competing again this year, and congratulations must go to Sandra Goddard in her MGB who placed 6^th outright, and to the all-girl team of Sharon Hatswell and Judy Barnard in the MX5 who showed quite a few males a clean set of wheels.

After the ?khana, competitors and spectators all adjourned to the Pool area for a BBQ dinner cooked on a mobile unit which had been hired from the Warragul Rotary Club by Glenn Campbell and Ian Holdsworth. We also shared in the delicious Christmas cake which was cooked by Jan Fowler and decorated by Lorraine Richards at our November Monthly Meeting. The weather stayed fine all day and everybody seemed to have enjoyed the range of activities that made up end of year extravaganza. A big thankyou to all involved in the running of these events.

Pictures by Phil Barnard

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