The opening day of the 2025 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship has finished in a nail-biter at the Wentworth Shire Pooncarie Desert Dash.
In warm, dry and dusty conditions, New Zealand driver Boston Morgan-Horan and navigator Will Haddock prevailed as the fastest crew on the opening 104.1km section, edging out fellow Extreme 2WD rivals Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt by an incredibly close margin.
Phenomenally, just 1.7 seconds separated the two after 57 minutes of running, according to provisional timing – handing Morgan-Horan the advantage of starting from the front in dusty conditions on Sunday.
“It felt really good, I struggled with the dust but I’m happy. But it’s a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” said Morgan-Horan.
“It was very close with Beau in the end. My plan for Sunday is to cruise. I’m not going to go as hard as I did today, I just want to be smart and cruise.
Robinson initially held the upper hand on Saturday in Pooncarie, taking out Prologue ahead of Pro Buggy driver Aaron James to start Section One – a solitary 104.1km lap – with clear air ahead of him.
The West Australian driver and his navigator Shane Hutt methodically covered the Pooncarie course with an emphasis on conserving their car for day two, which will comprise the 312km, three lap Section two.
Robinson and Hutt were first home, but their lead lasted barely five minutes when Morgan-Horan stormed through the dust and over the finish line.
“It’s good to have a bit of a fight, young Boston did good and it was such a juggle – you see certain sections of track where it pays do back off and save your car,” said Robinson.
“At the moment, Boston’s full gas but at the end of the day, second for us today is a lot better than where we were last year – back in eighth.”
Dale Martin, who won the Pooncarie Desert Dash outright in 2024, rounded out the top three on Saturday aboard his Pro Buggy with a time of 58:28mins – 67 seconds behind Morgan-Horan.
Martin was gifted clear air about 70km into Section one, after Aaron James withdrew due to a mechanical issue.
Further back, Danny Brown and Travis Robinson finished the day in fourth and fifth place outright respectively, having been seeded 13th and 14th after missing Prologue due to separate mechanical issues.
In the SXS championship, it was Lachlan Bailey who proved the man to beat on day one in Pooncarie.
Debuting a new Maverick R SXS machine at the south-west NSW event, Bailey started the opening Section from a credible 11th on Saturday, edging ahead of many faster Trophy Trucks and Pro Buggy machines.
The South Australian managed to work up a 17-second buffer to the next-closest SXS rival, Glen Ackroyd, by the end of the first section.
“It was really fun, I enjoyed that section and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Bailey said.
“The track’s going to get a lot rougher, so the bigger cars are going to come up a little bit, but I’m really happy with where we’re sitting.”
Greg and Tori Campbell sit a steady third in SXS Pro, just over four minutes behind the class leaders and a slender 18 seconds ahead of fourth placed Keith McReynolds
As well as being warm, dry and dusty, the 104.1km Pooncarie course has the added challenge of being reversed for 2025 – meaning usual markers and bearings are out the window for drivers and navigators.
The course reversal was unanimously welcomed by drivers and navigators, who said it made the flow of the circuit more natural.
“Being lap one today meant the course was a bit hard to read – and there were crests and other moments where we know we can hit things harder – but we should be proud of ourselves for getting back in one piece,” said Beau Robinson.
Section Two in Pooncarie will comprise three laps of the gruelling 104.1km course. The first two laps will run consecutively, with competitors then taking a 45-minute service break, following by a third lap of the course.
Section Two will commence from 8.30am AEST.
After the first section of action, the following crews lead the way in their respective classes:
Pro Buggy: Dale Martin and Adrian Rowe
Prolite: John Towers and Bruce Young
Super 1650: Tyler Owen and Max Owen
Sportslite: Sam Bentley and Jay Mitchell
Extreme 2WD: Boston Morgan-Horan and Will Haddock
Production 4WD: Norman Parker and Tyson Parker
SXS Pro: Lachlan Bailey and Nathan Sracek
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