High profile Motorsport Australia Tasmanian Motorkhana Championship competitor Stephen Turner has begun his 2020 season off on a high with a solid victory during the first round.
Going up against another 30 drivers at Symmons Plains, Turner was unbeatable over the course of the day as he posted the fastest time in all of the MG Car Club Of Tasmania run event’s five tests.
With every driver getting two runs at each test and their best time going towards their total score, Turner’s biggest challenge came from outright runner-up Tim Craggs as only 10 seconds separated the two come the end of the event.
While Craggs stayed within striking distance of a near-perfect Turner, his best opportunity came in the first test where he got to within two tenths of a second behind the leader.
However, as day went on, Turner extended the gap to six seconds over Craggs, who needed to pull off something special in the final test, but couldn’t as Turner all but sealed the victory with a four second lead.
Behind the front runners, three drivers were in contention for third place as just one and half seconds separated the trio, but it was Corey Baxter who eventually claimed podium honours.
It was even closer between the other two contenders with Tony Howe pipping Lyndon Kettle on the final stage to grab fourth place and claim the Class E victory by just over one tenth.
Finishing one spot outside the top five was the event’s fastest woman in Sheridan Budsworth, while Cameron Howie was the best of the juniors in 15th overall.
Following on from the motorkhana, event organiser Craig Large was pleased with proceedings and was thankful to all those who took part.
“It was a really good meeting. We had a beautiful clear day, a healthy field of entries and some really good competition amongst the top drivers,” Large said.
“Everyone was really keen to come back to and compete in the motorkhana as it was the first major Tasmanian motorkhana for the year, and it showed with their positive attitudes.
“In regard to Motorsport Australia’s Return To Race document, there wasn’t too much difference to our usual events, but we had a COVID checker and we did all our entry documentation pre-event, which was fantastic for speeding the process up on the day.
“Obviously everyone adhered to social distancing and used hand sanitiser regularly, so I would like to thank competitors and all officials who helped out during the day.
“A big congratulations to Stephen as well for his victory. We’re really looking forward to the next event.”
Symmons Plains will host a smaller motorkhana this weekend before the state competition returns for round two on 12 September.
