Can Cooper go one better?

Posted on February 29, 2016 Updated on February 29, 2016

At the inaugural race at Perenjori in 2014 Brad Cooper was battling with Shane Elphinstone at the front of the field when disaster struck in the form of a clutch failure. Last year despite an inspired drive in the last section, Cooper narrowly missed out on overhauling eventual race winner Dave McShane, but managed to take out the class victory. In 2016 the question is, can Cooper go one better? There is a large Pro Buggy field for the Rod Hatter Memorial, Duel in the Dirt, Perenjori 360 which will all be hoping to deny the multiple times Outright WAORC champion and current Pro Buggy class WAORC champion. Lets have a look through the field of competitors:

15 -Hugh Piercy and Kiera Mann-Piercy will be sharing the driving of the PRT Pro Buggy. The team have made massive changes over the off season, turning to a strong aerodynamic package to look to gain an advantage. The vehicle is already a favorite with the kids, looking more like something from a hot wheels collection, but don’t let the looks fool you, come race end the #15 will be fancying themselves to upset a few of the more seasoned Pro Buggy Competitors

39 – Darren Agrela and his team have at their disposal an absolute weapon of a buggy! Having debuted the new machine at the CCR Hoses & Fittings Mogumber 240 in 2015, the crew have since worked tirelessly to get the Undecided Racing Buggy to driver Darrens liking. On their day this team has the potential to be unstoppable!

42 – Peter Barrett comes into the Perenjori event as a bit of an unknown quantity. Having competed in the ex Eric Phillips “Wedge” Prolite Buggy for the past few years, Barrett has taken the step up with a new A-Arm Bullet Buggy. If Barrett and navigator Craig Carson can have a clean run the Carnarvon duo have all of the tools at their disposal to surprise us all with a top 10 outright result

44 – The Elphinstone Racing duo of Shane and Curt Elphinstone didn’t take to the track much in Western Australia in 2015, but don’t think they have been sitting around doing nothing! Always fast and with one of the hottest looking buggies in Australia the #44 Pro Buggy are a red hot tip for the outright podium!

52 – Former drift prodigy and now off road gun Adam Trewhella has been slowly but steadily getting to grips with the immaculately presented Rimco Buggy. With a few solid runs to end the 2015 season Trewhella has the pace and the skills to match it with any other Pro Buggy competitors. You will know when the #52 Pro Buggy is coming, because you will hear this V8 screaming from a mile away!!!

54 – Keith Rance is another competitor with massive potential. Having prologued and run in the top 3 outright on numerous occasions, Rance and his team just need a little luck to go their way and they will surely collect a hard earned result which has been a long time coming. Be sure to have a good look at this unique buggy too, one of the talking points ius the impressive 8 into 1 collector on the exhaust which produces a wicked note!

68 – Justin Steadman has been out of the seat for a while, but in his last run out at Mogumber in 2015 he proved that it hasn’t slowed him down at all. The #68 Bat Buggy is a race winning package and with Steadman at the wheel is most certainly capable of taking the battle up to anyone.

98 – Marcus Wells is one of the young guns of the sport. After his first drive at the short course Narrogin Chase in 2015, it left no doubt that this son of a gun has all the skills to compete with the more seasoned competitors. The only question mark will be on how Wells keeps pace in the night section as night racing has the potential to expose any shortcomings in an inexperienced crew

932 – Mark Cramer has been steadily improving over the past 12 months, gaining a lot of experience in racing AORC rounds 2 & 3 last year, before coming back to the WAORC and showing impressive pace. With SS Racetech making improvements and prepping the buggy over the off season, Cramer is looking good for a top 5 finish come races end

968 – We have already mentioned Brad Coopers impressive pace at Perenjori in the past, the question will still remain about whether or not the Bat Buggy will go all the way this year. You don’t become a multiple times WAORC champion by resting on your laurels and there is no doubt that Cooper will be looking to use Perenjori as a launchpad for another successful title tilt

996 – Steven Phillips has matured as a driver immensely in the past few seasons and if his impressive run at Three Springs last year is anything to go by, he most certainly has the pace to break this race wide open. The twin turbo V8 buggy is not shy of ponies and Phillips knows how to peddle it. Keep an eye on the #996 buggy all weekend!