Super 1650 Preview – Three Springs 360
The Super 1650 class will see a field of 3 buggies taking on the Carnarvon Motel Three Springs 360. It should be an evenly matched competition between the 3 rivals as they look to gain and edge in the back half of the 2017 CAMS Carnarvon Motel Three Springs 360
232 – Peter Mellington is back for his second run of 2017 in his PKR Racing Tiger Buggy. The #232 is a former WAORC class championship winning machine and has the pedigree to run with the best in its class. Keep an eye out on the Billet Engineering sponsored machine
253 – Dirty Girl Racings John Flynn is one of the quickest 1650 pedallers in the state! His little red rocket has the speed to match it with his rivals and will be one to watch over the course of the weekend
271 – Charlie Edwards is contesting his second event of the year after an eventful run at the Mid West Challenge. Whilst electrical dramas hampered his progress there, Charlie and Elaina can cause an upset in this class if they have a consistent run over the 360kms of this event
Superlite Preview – Three Springs 360
The 5th round of the 2017 CAMS Carnarvon Motel WAORC sees 3 Superlites, each from a different manufacturer entered. In the naturally aspirated Superlite A class we have a Yamaha, whilst Superlite B will see the Can Am vs Polaris rival continue
6627 -Mark Wainwright from Wedgetail Racing made his debut at the most recent event as a navigator and now is swapping vehicles to his Yamaha YXZ and is ready to take the wheel. The 1000cc naturally aspirated rocket will be hoping to take it up to the Superlite B competitors who are running with the aid of turbos
674 – Chris Unstead will be looking for a consistent run at the Carnarvon Motel Three Springs 360. Arguably the quickest of the 3 Superlites, Unstead has had a number of small teething issues as he has been upgrading and chasing performance out of his Can Am X3. If these issues have been resolved, Unstead will be the favorite to take out the UTV battle
699 – Ash Sudholz is strolling away with the class championship after strong results at Bencubbin and the Mid West Challenge. Sudholz is an expert at judging the conditions and maximizing the results that his Polaris RZR can achieve and Three Springs should be no different
Percival continues to lead the points race!
Heading into Round 5 of the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC Jared Percival holds a small lead in this years points race over Prolite rival Mal Yeardley. The Carnarvon Motel Three Springs 360 is going to pivotal not only for these 2 competitors, but also throughout the field with their own individual class championships
Outright – Jared Percival leads Mal Yeardley with Mark Cramer moving up into 3rd outright. Mark Jarret and Colin Doney round out the top 5, whilst the last 2 event winners Harleigh Uren and Nathaniel Edwards are making a late season charge as they move into the top 10
Pro Buggy – Mark Cramer and Harleigh Uren appear to be locked in a tight tussle for the Pro buggy class championship. Marcus Wells sits 3rd, with Brad Cooper lurking in 4th as we head into the last 2 events of the season
Prolite – Jared Percival and Mal Yeardley are also battling for class honours, but need to be wary of the angry pack right behind them. Mark Jarrett, Nathaniel Edwards and George Metaxas all sit within striking distance
Super 1650 – Daniel Allen holds a strong lead in the Super 1650 class, but wont be comfortable with the points lead with 2 rounds to go. John Flynn, Peter Mellington and Charlie Edwards have all entered Three Springs and with a good result could catapult themselves into contention
Extreme 2wd – Colin Doney leads the points from Greg Pickersgill as the pair have cleared out from the chasing field over the first 4 events. Three Springs will be pivotal in deciding this class championship
Performance 2wd – WA Off Road Junior Development Program driver Matthew Beck has been a revelation in season 2017. As he has continued to rack up the race km’s and experience, he has also collected a swag full of points which season him lead the class ahead of Jordan Russell and Mik French
Production 4wd – The Production 4wd class sees a pair of Toyota’s way out in front. Graeme Bentink leads Steven Baxter with the barely anything seperating the duo. Of the chasing pack, only Ben Armstrong and CHris May remain a mathematical chance of taking out the championship
Extreme 4wd – Brad Krepp, Mark Murray and Mitchell Davies will all be looking for points at Three Springs as they duke it out for the Extreme 4wd championship. With the points so close throughout the field, all competitors who have entered Three Springs are a mathematical chance of taking the class for 2017
Superlite – Ashley Sudholz has made the most of his consistency to lead to Superlite class heading into the final 2 rounds. Chris Unstead is chasing hard, but will need 2 strong finishes to topple the current leader
Sportslite – Wayne Holt holds the class lead for Sportslite, but will be a nervous spectator over the Three Springs weekend as Peter Barrett looks to reel him in in his Carnarvon Motel buggy
Points can be found here
Steve Knowles wins Intense Industries Prize
Steve Knowles in his #115 Prolite buggy has won the Intense Industries contingency prize. Knowles put in a mammoth effort at the Mid West Challenge to get his Raptor Prolite around the track and achieved his strongest result so far and will be looking to continue that run for the remainder of the season.
Thanks for Intense Industries for their ongoing support of the WAORC and events such as the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge.
Charlie Edwards wins Oricom UHF CB Prize
Charlie Edwards won the Oricom UHF CB Contingency prize at Round 4 of the 2017 CAMS Carnarvon Motel WAORC. Edwards displayed a never say die attitude as he battled the course in his Super 1650 buggy which had some gremlins over the course of the weekend. It was a good weekend overall for the Edwards family, with Charlies son Nathaniel taking the event outright
Thanks for Oricom UHF Cb for their ongoing support of the WAORC and events such as the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge. Oricom UHF’s have a range of products suitable for off road racing through to casual 4wding
Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge – Race Report
Round 4 of the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC has been run and won, with excitement from start to finish a hallmark of this incredibly tough event. Friday night and early Saturday morning would see scrutineering with the field of over 30 cars ready to be put through their paces. Light rain made way for clear skies and as the competitors finished their reconnaissance runs it became apparent that the sandy track which wound through the mid west valleys was going to live up to its name in being a challenge. All eyes were on the battle between the current points leaders, Jared Percival and Mal Yeardley as they continued to duke it out for the WAORC honours
Prologue saw a unique format by starting in seed order, rather than the traditional class based system. Darren Agrela in his #39 Jimco would clock the fastest time, scorching his way around the track to beat Harleigh Uren by 1.4 seconds. Third was Nathaniel Edwards with Stephen Hall and Colin Doney rounding out the top 5. The class leaders after prologue were; Pro Buggy – Darren Agrela, Prolite – Nathaniel Edwards, Extreme 2wd – Colin Doney, Performance 2wd – Mathew Beck, Production 4wd – Graeme Bentink, Extreme 4wd – Mark Murray & Superlite – Chris Unstead
Saturday afternoon would see the field take on 2 laps of the 33km course. Agrela lead the field away, but his lead would be shortlived after succumbing to hub issues. Uren took over the lead and pulled a small gap over the now second placed Edwards. Mark Cramer charged hard through the field to move up into 3rd outright with young gun Steve Hall slotting into 4th. Unfortunately his race would be over after discovering terminal damage at the finish of the section. Mal Yeardley made a strong start to the event, revelling in the sandy conditions to put himself in a strong position to bank championship points in his battle with Jared Percival who was an uncharacteristic 7th. Darryl Hardman assumed the lead in Extreme 2wd, whilst Mark Murray’s turbo diesel patrol was making light work of the sandy conditions. Graeme Bentink maintained his Production 4wd lead whilst Ashley Sudholz moved into the Superlite lead after Chris Unstead punctured a tyre. Charlie Edwards lead the Super 1650 class, whilst Mathew Beck in the WA Off Road Junior Development car put in a huge effort to be quickest Performance 2wd
Day 2 would see clear skies and perfect conditions for racing. The sandy terrain ensured no dust, however on the flip side created ever-changing conditions which put the competitors through their paces. Uren & Edwards continued their battle and by the end of the section the #77 machine had created a 52 second lead with just 2 laps left to run. Cramer again clocked in 3rd quickest whilst Brad Cooper rocketed his way to 4th quickest. In what could be a championship changing moment, Mal Yeardley rolled his Westside Insurance Specialists Prolite. After getting the #171 back onto all 4 wheels, Yeardley drove hard to minimize the lost time, but dropped back through the pack and handing a significant advantage to his championship rival Jared Percival. Mark Murray and Graeme Bentink continued the diesel domination of the 4wd classes, whilst Chris Unstead clocked in quickest in the Superlite class. Karl Richardson was the quickest Extreme 2wd whilst Mathew Beck continued to lead Performance 2wd
The final 2 laps of the Mid West Challenge would throw up many twists and turns. Uren held a slender lead which quickly dissipated as engine gremlins meant that he would have to drive conservatively in order to make it to the finish. Nathaniel Edwards took full advantage, blasting his way into the lead on road and to his first ever WAORC outright victory. Uren slipped to 4th on road, but managed a quick enough time to hang on to 2nd outright. Mark Cramer was pressured by Brad Cooper all the way, but completed the podium in his Southern Cross Pro Buggy. Mark Jarret was a strong 5th outright and 2nd in class. In another twist for the championship points race, Jared Percival bogged his prolite, losing significant time. This allowed Mal Yeardley to leapfrog him into 6th outright. With the track chopping up and only 12 competitors completing the full race distance, the class winners were; Pro Buggy – Harleigh Uren, Prolite – Nathaniel Edwards, Performance 2wd – Mathew Beck, Production 4wd – Graeme Bentink Extreme 4wd – Daniel Fahey & Superlite – Ashley Sudholz. Results can be found here
The brand new venue for the Cochranes Transport, Mid West Challenge threw up some spectacular racing and the mountains of work which the volunteers from WAORRA put in prior to the event certainly paid off. Thanks must go to the property owners, event organisers and sponsors. Next up is the 5th round of the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC to be held at Three Springs. This event is a competitor and fan favorite and one to certainly mark on the calendar
Pro Buggy Class Preview – Mid West Challenge
The big guns are ready to put on a show at the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge. Whilst there are only 4 Pro Buggies on the entry list, they are all very evenly matched and it will be hard to pick a winner from this quartet
39 – Darren Agrela makes his first start for the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC. Whilst it may be his first run in WA this year, the Undecided Racing Crew have been busy, tackling Finke and coming home with a strong finish in a star studded field. If that form is anything to go by then you should be watching the #39 Jimco closely because it is a strong chance for a win!
77 – Harleigh Uren is in a rich vein of form at the moment. Outright wins at his last 2 events should serve as a warning as to what this team is capable of. The #77 machine is quick, but with the Mid West Challenge track significantly different to the most recent events, Harleigh will have his work cut out for him
932 – Mark Cramer in his spectacular looking Fuelburna Racing Team Pro Buggy will be looking for a consistent weekend to deliver him the goods. With event organizers WAORRA promising that this will be a tough event, expect Cramer to move towards the pointy end the tougher is gets
968 – Brad Cooper is one of the most experienced competitors in the field and will be looking to use that to his advantage at the Mid West Challenge. After sitting out the last event to tackle the Sea Lake Mallee Rally in Victoria, Cooper will be refreshed and ready to throw down against the best competitors in WA
Extreme 4wd Class Preview – Mid West Challenge
The Extreme 4wd class has put on some spectacular racing so far in the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC. As we look forward to the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge, lets check the form guide
802 – Daniel “Fluffy” Fahey is stepping out of the shadow of Big Russ Cullen and taking the wheel for his first steer at a WAORC event. With Sean Beck sitting alongside, this young duo will be hoping for a clean run and to see the checkered flag on Sunday afternoon
814 – Leigh Cooper will be looking for a solid run in his Cochranes Racing Pajero. Cooper has had less seat time in 2017 than he did in 2016, but dont be fooled into thinking he has lost any of his pace. Keep an eye out on the green machine as it charges through the field
832 – Nicholas Van Geest is one of the hardest charging drivers in the class. His immaculate Blue GQ Ute had its maiden run at the first round of the WAORC and “Banger” will be hoping that he can follow that up with a strong result this weekend
848 – Mitchell Davies has been a revelation in season 2017. The second generation racer has been involved in some epic battles with the #866 crew and will be hoping that he can get the upper hand at the Mid West Challenge
855 – Greg Crook returns to the WAORC with a new vehicle and a renewed vigor. Whilst Crook hasn’t had a lot of time behind the wheel recently, dont be surprised if he winds up the wick and pushes his way through the field as the weekend wears on
866 – Mark Murray is ready for another tough battle and whilst he will have one eye on his class rivals, he will also be looking at pushing his way past some of the buggies in the field. The Turbo Diesel patrol has proven to be very quick this season and goes into the Mid West Challenge as the class favorite
Prolite Class Preview – Mid West Challenge
The Prolite field always turn on some exciting racing, but in 2017 the racing has gone to another level! A field of 9 N/A rockets are ready to light up the time sheets at the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge
112 – Peter Lindeboom is a dark horse of the Prolite field. Quick and consistent and usually up the pointy end of the field when it counts. Keep an eye on this beautifully presented machine over the course of the weekend
115 – Steve Knowles will be hoping that the time is right for a clean run in his #115 machine. Whilst a series of minor issues have prevented him from seeing the checkered flag recently, Knowles has spent some time in the shed getting the buggy ready and will have his fingers crossed that this is the race that it pays off!
119 – Jared Percival is the man they are all chasing. Percival is leading the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel WAORC outright and whilst he would love to bag a class win, if we know Jared we think he will have one eye on the points situation throughout the race. Expect a calculated drive, but one where Percival will turn up the heat if required
161 – Nathaniel Edwards only knows 1 speed. Flat Out!!! The #161 machine is a proven race and championship winner and Edwards has been building to a big result. Could the Mid West Challenge be Edwards breakthrough race?
168 – Mark Jarrett is another one of the event organizers who has spent a lot of time preparing and grooming this brand new track. If Jarrett can use this track knowledge to his advantage he could spring a surprise on the rest of the Prolite field
171 – Mal Yeardley will be fired up and gunning for a big result at the Cochranes Transport Mid West Challenge. Sitting second in the outright points chase, Yeardley will need a strong prologue to get his weekend off to a flying start and deliver the results he needs to overhaul current leader Percival
181 – Stephen Hall has been the surprise packet of the field in 2017. Blisteringly quick, he has notched up some very impressive times and will be looking to convert that into a result at the end of the weekend. Dont be surprised to see the #181 Slowlite Racing buggy punching above its weight
195 – George Metaxas has spent the break in between WAORC rounds to head east and tackle the grueling Waikerie Riverland Enduro. With a strong finish in the bag, George will be hoping that this extra seat time will give him an edge this weekend
198 – Marcus Wells has jumped behind the wheel of the Wells Racing Prolite for the Mid West Challenge. Wells will be hoping that he can return to the form he showed at Perenjori where he finished in the top 3 outright
Production 4wd Class Preview – Mid West Challenge
Round 4 of the 2017 CAMS, Carnarvon Motel is going to be a battle between 2 Toyota’s in the Production 4wd class. Whilst both vehicles are coming from the same manufacturer, they are both very different and it will be interesting to see where the strength and weaknesses of each will come into play
727 – Steven Baxter is back out to play in his beautifully presented Toyota 80 Series Landcruiser. The #727 machine is due for a big result as the crew continue to develop their package with every race that goes past
790 – Graeme Bentink’s diesel powered Toyota 79 Series Landcruiser is definitely one of the quickest vehicles in the Production 4wd field and is tough to beat everywhere he goes. Can he extract all the power from his Gturbo Diesel powered machine to take out the class win?
Western Australian Off Road Racing Championship 