Doney takes out Perenjori 2020

Posted on March 1, 2020 Updated on March 1, 2020

Day 2 of 2020 GTurbo Rod Hatter Memorial has been an exciting one with changes for the lead and close racing on track. Harleigh Uren started as overnight leader however very early on in the mornings section developed brake issues with the Pro 2 hampered to the extent that he dropped out of the top 10 for the section. Colin Doney took over the race lead and pushed his beetle to the fastest section time. Gavin Rodgers was flying in his CanAm X3 until he ran short of fuel just 5kms from the finish line. Jake Clucas was on a mission in his 110 single seat prolite, powering through to 2^nd for the section and 3^rd outright on corrected times. Jarrad Percival was consistent as ever and moved into 2^nd outright clocking in the 3^rd quickest time for the section. There was also carnage throughout the field, with WA #2 Mat Birnie breaking a driveshaft, whilst Ben Hodge put his Polaris Turbo S upside down and out of the race. With 2 more laps to run in the afternoon the scene was set for a big finale to the opening race of the 2020 Western Australian Off Road Racing Championship

Colin Doney was first off the line, with his clutch all but gone; it was going to be a struggle to retain the lead of the race. Jake Clucas knew that to have any chance of moving up the podium spots he would need to push hard and that he did. Overtaking Doney late on lap 1 and pushing out to a big lead. Doney kept battling on, despite Percival also breathing down his neck. As the crossed the line it was Clucas, Doney and then Percival with small gaps between. Clucas would end up settling for 3^rd outright, just 1 minute behind Percival who was the winner in Prolite. Colin Doney took a well deserved 1^st outright and the Extreme 2wd class win. Paul Nappy had looked set for 4^th outright until engine issues forced the Pro buggy out of the race. Sean Fitzpatrick moving himself up into 4^th outright and 1^st in the SXS Turbo class. One of the drives of the day went to Harleigh Uren, who blitzed the field in the final section, moving from 15^th to 5^th on road in an awesome display of pace. Murray Kifer who lost time in section 2 showed just how quick his SXS Turbo is by being 2^nd quickest on the final section

Throughout the classes Haydn Hamilton, Karl Richardson and Deon Visage all enjoyed class wins. Aaron Griffiths brought his Toyota Prado home for first in Production 4wd whilst Peer Horn enjoyed a strong win in Extreme 4wd to start his class title defence off the right way. The race was ultimately one of attrition with just 16 competitors finishing all 6 laps and the new Perenjori track has certainly sorted out who has what it takes

Full results available here https://my.raceresult.com/147120/results?lang=en

Attention now turns to the Gascoyne Dash at Easter which is sure to see some fantastic racing as WA’s best duke it out during the 2^nd round of the 2020 Western Australian Off Road Racing Championship