Khanacross & Autocross Combined Highlights

Colo Driver Training, Khanacross & Autocross Weekend  July 2023

The weekend started with Driver Training with seven people learning some new skills. Participants in the training were aged from 12 upwards, with a great cross section of skills from kids having their very first go at driving to younger adults driving on dirt for the first time, adding to their driving resume. 

Thank you to all the people involved in making the Driver Training happen. The officials, the trainers that jumped in the cars with the learners, and Brad, who put so much time and effort into setting up all the courses for the Driver Training and Khanacross event.

It’s great to see how the Driver Training participants learn new skills and become more confident over the course of the day.

A break for lunch, with John Aouchen looking after the Bar-B-Q, getting everyone fed and ready for the next part of the day.

The Khanacross was held on 6 different tracks, with two runs on each. Times in Khanacross are usually pretty tight - this event was no exception. Competition in each of the classes was hard fought throughout the afternoon with close times making for a great day of competition for all. 

Marty Dal-Santo (Subaru Impreza H6) took out the fastest time in the Khanacross with Stuart Fell (Yamaha YXZ1000 SXS) 2nd fastest, with Paddy Boylan (Yamaha YXZ1000 SXS) very close in 3rd. 

Marty took the Modified 2wd 4WD Production Vehicles Class and Stuart the SXS Class. Pete Sallows (Subaru Impreza 2.5L) won G Class Naturally Aspirated, with Shane McIlvenna (Subaru WRX 2.5 ) the G Class Turbo winner.

Ruby Martin (Subaru Impreza 2L) cleared away from her Junior All wheel drive class competitors to take the win in that class. Dave Noble (Toyota Corolla 1800) the victor in C Class,1600-2000cc. He was followed in by Adam Panetta (Mazda 323 1800), then Russel West (Nissan 2L Pulsar) 2nd & 3rd respectively. 

Kip Frost (Ford Fiesta 1600) took home the gold in B class (1300-1600cc) with Jason Moore (Holden Rodeo 3600) the winner in the over 3000cc Class E. 

The Ladies class (and it was a Classy Class) was won by Frances Tolhurst (Subaru Impreza 2L), with Sharyn Lee-Robins (Toyota RAV4 2L) 2nd and Juliette Gibney-Quinteros (Subaru Impreza 2L) picking up 3rd. 

Great to see all the juniors in the mix. Ruby Martin, finishing the best of the Junior AWD class, with Daniel Aouchen (Subaru Impreza 2L) 2nd. Lucas Frost (Ford Fiesta) took out 1st place in the Junior 2WD class, with Liam Murray (Subaru Impreza 2L) 2nd and Jessie Watman (Mitsubishi Lancer 1500) in 3rd.

A couple of the entrants had minor altercations with shrubbery, others had different dramas to keep their day interesting. One of which, was a black Subie who completed their Saturday racing, then misplaced the key for their car. A trip home to see if they could find the spare key, to no avail, and then Sunday spent trying to get car going in some way, the steering lock had now come into play to complicate things a little more, making it even more difficult to get it onto the trailer.

A big, BIG thank you to all the Officials, timers, and helpers for all your work that helped make this event work so well.

The Presentation of Trophies for the Saturdays Khanacross was held at the conclusion of the event, followed by the Pizza guys arriving to feed us all. What more could you ask for to top off a great day of racing.

Sundays Toyosport Autocross event on the Dirt Circuit at Georges Camp was a change for competitors, the fun began again with more close racing amongst all classes. 35 starters fronted for the fray - it all started in earnest at 9am with a good number of the cars backing up from the day before.

At this point it would be remiss of me not to thank Frances Tolhurst for the great idea of combining the two Clubs to create this combined event and to both Toyosport & SORRA for taking up that initiative and making it happen.

See below for Results and Toyosport’s Shane McIlvenna’s story with his thoughts on the weekend’s events.