Strong Start Continues in Pakenham Khanacross
The Pakenham Auto Club has continued its strong start to the 2024 season, with another highly competitive Khanacross entertaining fans on the fringe of Melbourne.
All told, 32 cars faced the starter, with the day contested on an alternate long layout of the complete Pakenham circuit, with cars utilising both sides of the property.
For Clerk of Course Anthony Kealy, the event was another sign of the growth in grassroots motorsport in Melbourne.
“It was fantastic to see so many people here this weekend; we’re truly carrying some momentum into a busy part of the season,” he said.
“Compared to the same point of last year, entries are up 270 per cent, and with the weather continuing to play ball, we should be in great stead as we transition to the motorkhana portion of the calendar later in May.
“The presentation of the grounds is truly a credit to the hard-working army who continue to toil behind the scenes to make constant improvements to the facility.
“A special thanks also have to go out to our volunteers who assisted with the running of the day, everything went very smoothly for us to get six competition runs in.”
Topping the outright classification was Max Christensen, with the second-generation racer showing the field how it was done in his family’s Subaru Liberty.
Gaining confidence throughout the day, Christensen topped the final two tests, which ultimately paved the way to a 9sec victory.
Although not featured in the thick of the final results, Roger Shaw was a star of the show in his remarkable khanacross special and topped the speed charts for the first four runs.
Trevor Douglas was once again one to beat in his impressive Toyota GR Yaris, which was at home on the gravel surface, although he had to settle for second in the final run down.
A dark horse in the overall honours was Richard Allen, who claimed third in his swift Peugeot 306, flying under the radar throughout.
Next home was the freshly rally-specced Ford Fiesta XR4 of Anthony Franks, who just edged out Stuart Reid in his Holden Astra SRI.
Billy Douglas was next and the first of the juniors in his shared Yaris, while Neil Christensen (Subaru Liberty) was seventh.
Rounding out the top ten were the Pulsars of Archie Challis and Derrick Roberts, plus the Mitsubishi Lancer of Ian Matthews.
Nicole Challis (Nissan Pulsar) was the fastest of the seven female competitors, while all told, ten juniors entered the day.
Next up on the schedule for the Pakenham Auto Club’s grounds is the third round of the Victorian Khanacross Championship on March 17th, as organised by the Victorian Mini Club, while the next Pakenham-run event will be a Khanacross on April 7th.
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
