The best Motorkhana drivers in the country are back in action this week as they head to Victoria for the 2019 NGK CAMS Australian Motorkhana Championship.
The 53 competitors, ranging from debuting teenagers to 20-year-veterans will compete across 12 different challenges testing both their skill and pace to determine who will be champion of Australia.
At the top of the food chain is reigning champion Corinne East Johnstone, with the 49-year-old leading the huge field in her Honda Special after claiming a thrilling victory in 2018.
The three-time champion has been in the top end of the championship for more than a decade, enjoying a healthy rivalry with Scott Bennett for much that time - a man who has tasted the ultimate success multiple times himself.
After claiming four consecutive titles between 2014-2017, a rare error from Bennett on the third test of last year’s event cost him his seventh crown - the Western Australian falling to a disappointing seventh place.
Ahead of the 2019 championship, Bennett was confident he could overturn last year's fortunes and is aware of what he needs to do to avoid a similar fate.
“I’m feeling pretty good ahead of tomorrow but I just need to focus on doing my best and not hitting anything,” Bennett said.
“I got red flagged in one test last year and at the national level, you can’t get away with that. You don’t get away with many errors so the aim is to be clean and fast.
“It’s a really strong competition and I am happy for everyone to have a clean day and then you see where you end up but as soon as you make an error, you’re out of contention.
“I have the same car. It’s constantly evolved but at the end of the day, you have years where you drive well and you get beaten and then you have years when everyone makes mistakes.
“It’s a fine line at national level. You need to focus on your own performance because the margin for error is so small, you can’t make any mistakes. But with that said, we really just compete to have fun.”
The competition for national glory will be fierce this year with Bennett and East-Johnstone at the forefront, while the emergence of other stars such as Aaron Wuillemin and Tony Wallis will also make the fight interesting.
On top of the standard 12 tests to take place, this year’s edition of the championship will also feature a special shootout at the conclusion of the event for the championship’s top ten drivers.
With the Bendigo Car Club hosting the championship this year, Clerk of Course Peter Valentine was excited for the challenge.
“We have 53 entries coming from most states in Australia featuring a great range competitors and the weather is looking good, so we’re really looking forward to it,” Valentine said.
“It’s a great opportunity to host the national championship. We see hosting as a little bit of a feather in our cap. There is a bit of pressure on us to make sure that it does go right.
“We’ve done one before and we have a reasonable reputation for running events like this, so it was a bit of honour to be selected by the Victorian motorkhana committee. We just need to make sure it all goes to plan.
“We are hoping to run all 12 tests and the extra little competition involving the best 10 drivers, who will compete in a different test altogether.
“It will allow some of the competitors who didn’t win the outright championship to have a crack for bragging rights and for a little prestige. It’s something to give those competitors a buzz.”
The 2019 NGK CAMS Australian Motorkhana Championship kicks off at the Bendigo Livestock Exchange from 9:30am on Saturday 5 October.