Rance claims first WAORC
The 2024 WAORC has been run and won, with the final round at Kalgoorlie proving to be decisive in crowning this years winner. Keith Rance entered the event sitting 11th outright on points, despite a DNF in the AORC component of the event, locked in a solid 7th outright. This would land him enough points to vault to the top of the leaderboard. Having started his campaign off with a DNF at Bencubbin, Rance roared back into contention with 5th outright at Three Springs before sealing the deal at Kalgoorlie. Navigator Luke Candy, also claiming enough points to take out his first outright WAORC title. Having led the points heading into Kalgoorlie, Matt Dec would not be able to muster a points paying position, leaving him 2 points shy of the hard charging Rance. This result still a spectacular one for Dec who started his season in a CanAm Maverick X3, before upgrading to a Maverick R mid season. In 3rd place would be Troy Schoen after 2 storming drives at both Three Springs and Kalgoorlie. Early issues at both events left him working his way back through the field. 2nd Outright in the navigators would go to Troy’s navigator Deb Schoen. 3rd outright in the navigators was Jayden Ainsworth, 2 fantastic results alongside his driver Chris Unstead
Pro Buggy was also the domain of Keith Rance and Luke Candy, the Pro Buggy duo running out victors in class. Schoen and Cooper were ineligible due to not starting in 3 events but both put up strong results through the season
Prolite belonged to Michael Davis and Mathew Duncan. The White #104 Zarco buggy showing strong reliability and consistent speed netting them the Prolite class championship
CJ Green topped off a memorable season with the Sportslite class championship. Whilst Lee Marsh pushed him all the way, it was green who would come up trumps, a tenacious effort at Kalgoorlie which included a rollover saw the #1042 take out the class
In Super 1650 Josh Chapman and Jonty Cavazzi claimed a first class championship in their rookie season. With De Wit and Pacey not entering enough events to be eligible, it was the first time competitors who claimed the class championship at their first attempt
Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt would run out class winners after a storming drive at Kalgoorlie. Whilst they didn’t compete in enough WAORC events to be crowned champions, their 2024 season was remarkable with many notable wins and a strong AORC campaign
Performance 2wd again did not have any competitors start enough events to be crowned champions, but it was deadlocked for the class winners. Blake Pugh and Mathew Beck each locked on 630 points and unable to be split forcing a tie. Navigator Lindon House competed in different vehicles throughout the year, which enable him to break the deadlock amongst the navigators to be the class winner
Andrew Bell who etched his name into the history books with an outright win at Three Springs took out the hotly contested SXS Pro class. Bell’s results proved that the Maverick X3 in the right hands is still a match for the newly released Maverick R. A navigator swap for Kalgoorlie however would swing the SXS Pro navigator championship in Brett Funnemans favor. Funneman enjoyed an up and down season alongside Dave Bush, but claimed enough points to take out the navigators championship
Production 4wd was another class where no competitor started 3 events and therefore the class winner would be crowned to the highest points scorer. Glen Taylor and Trinity Stacey in their flying purple GU Patrol taking out the class win
Aaron Cassidy and Adam Lanigan waged war with the WA Junior Development Program all season and ended up taking out the Extreme 4wd WAORC Championship. This hotly contested class went down to the wire, with the results in the final section at Kalgoorlie ultimately deciding the championship
Peer Horn and Samuel Horn were the Extreme 4wd Buggy class winners with highest points in their bright orange machine
SXS Sport would see Rob Clarke and Paul Tavani crowned class champions. Whilst Jason Stone and Sophie Visser would outscore them, they were ineligible due to not starting 3 events in the season
The WA Off Road Championship is aware of the complications caused by the regulations in 2024 which stipulated a competitor had to start 3 events in order to be eligible to win a championship. In good news for 2025, this regulation will be relaxed ensuring that the competitor who claims the most points over the course of the season regardless of how many races they compete in will be the Class or Outright Champion. The regulations providing for a competitors worst round to be dropped would also be retained
The final points score can be found here
In more exciting news, the WAORC will host its own stand alone awards night to celebrate our 2024 Outright Champions, Class Champions and Class Winners. This will be held on February 1st and more information and details will be made available soon