Taking place at the club’s home base in Westmere, Saturday’s come and try day saw nine teenagers attend and learn about car control through a series of motorkhana courses.

 

Under the guidance of club members, the juniors picked up a number of skills and built confidence behind the wheel as they completed the tests, which got more difficult as the day went on.

 

On Sunday, the khanacross got underway as youngster Rebecca Jackson entered the event after completing the come and try day, putting her new skills to the test.

 

With all drivers running five tests, Saturday’s session paid instant dividends for Jackson as she ended up as the fastest junior on the day.

 

At the top of the time sheets was an entertaining duel between Kenneth Rowland in the Subaru Impreza and Ross Batson in the Mitsubishi Mirage, with just two seconds separating the two drivers at the end of the event.

 

After Chris Harwood went fastest on the opening test, Rowland managed the fastest time on the second, extending the gap between the two to more than three seconds before Batson won the third test of the day and slightly reeled the buffer back in.

 

Each driver then picked up a win on the remaining two tests, but the damage had been done as Rowland came away with the overall win.

 

Making the victory even sweeter for Rowland was his son Ken rounding out the podium after getting the better of Simon Routson, Bec Fowler and Pat Meehan in what was a tight contest for third.

 

Harwood, who was also the event organiser, ended up finishing seventh place despite his strong start, but was thrilled with how the event went.

 

“Both the come and try day and the khanacross ran very smoothly and we are stoked with how it all panned,” Harwood said.

 

“We were so blessed and lucky the weather held out on Sunday, to the point that just 45 minutes after we finished, the rain really picked up.

 

“Having nine juniors on Saturday made the event so much better. We don’t usually get that many at one of our events, so it was fantastic to see a lot of passionate people. 

 

“Finally, a big well done to Kenneth for winning the event, as well as getting bragging rights over his son, while I must say thank you to all officials and club members who helped out across the weekend.”