The New England Sporting Car Club ran its first motorkhana for 2020 on the weekend with junior driver Josh Goodwin taking out the 14-test event in dramatic fashion.
Run at the Armidale Traffic Education Centre’s dedicated skidpan course on Sunday, 13 drivers from both within the club and other regions battled it out for top honours, but it was Goodwin who would eventually take the victory thanks to thrilling final stage.
Giving the 17-year-old his biggest challenge over the course of the event was club president Matt Carey, with only seconds separating the pair for much of the day.
While both Carey and Goodwin enjoyed stints as competition leader at different stages of the event, Goodwin got off to the better start with five of the opening six test wins, but a poor ninth test gave Carey the lead.
Carey then held onto the lead for the next few stages and was in prime position to take out the outright victory before faltering on the penultimate stage.
Any hope of victory for the club president was over by the final test as an error opened up the door for Goodwin to make his move and the teenager made no mistake, posting a faster time and claiming a three-second victory.
Despite not winning the motorkhana, Carey was thrilled with the event as a whole and was proud of Goodwin’s performance.
“It was probably one of the best motorkhanas we have had in ages. Admittedly the weather let us down a little bit, but we had a good field of people and a variety of cars, so it was a nice day,” Carey said.
“What was also a great surprise was that we had a lot of people from outside Armidale in attendance. We had a few come from Grafton and a big group from Tamworth, which was pleasing.
“As one of our own members, Josh has been doing motorkhanas since when he was 12-years-old and he has a come a long way from where he was five years ago to be where he is now.
“He has become super competitive and has a car that will put him in a position to fight for wins, so it was great to see a him win the event, albeit at my expense.
“It was actually interesting to watch the times between the two of us as there was very little separating us. To be honest, I have never been in a position like this before, so it was a shame to hit dramas on the last test, but I’m fine losing to a worthy winner.”
A fair distance behind the top two was a battle even more entertaining, with only one second separating Daniel Kemenyvary, James Clark and John Price for the final podium spot.
In what was a nail-biting finish, K eventually took out third spot by seven tenths after posting a time nine tenths faster than Clark on the final test to secure third place.