Chris and Colin Johnsons have won a thrilling battle against Matt Curtis and Bradley Traynor to claim the Clive Dubois Memorial Short Course.

 

As 30 off road crews took on the five sections in harsh South Australian weather conditions, it was the two pro-lite crews who dominated the field, trading section wins.

 

Curtis and Traynor drew first blood, finishing the first heat seven seconds faster before the Johnsons regained the lead with a 15 second section win.

Barely anything could separate the two crews in the third section as Curtis and Traynor crossed the last just one hundredth of a second ahead of the Johnsons, but it meant nothing as the Johnsons claimed a 28 second win on the following section to all but end the entertaining dual.

 

Despite Curtis winning the last heat, it was too little too late as the Johnsons ended the weekend with a 32 second win.  Super 1650 class winners Mick Surfield and Craig Matthews comfortably sealed third.

Other notable results included Matthew and Sean Waye taking out the Extreme 4WD class and sixth place outright. Finishing just one place behind them on the outright standings were Extreme 2WD class winners John Smith and Grant Manion.

In the SXS Turbo class, Peri and Joe Guidolin’s consistency saw them win the class over 2018 CAMS BFGoodrich Australian Off Road Championship runner-up Toby Whateley, who failed to finish the event.

Whateley was just one of 14 to fall victim to the unforgiving conditions as fellow national competitors Alan Dixon, David Hall and Jeff Loader all ended the event on the sidelines.

It was a frustrating day for a number of crews as both Hall in the Pro-Lite and Whateley in his famous yellow SXS challenged for top spot in the event’s early stages.

 

However as is the case in motor sport, finishing is key for success and for the consistent Johnsons, their good work in the later stages was rewarded with a well deserved victory.