Crocker enjoys perfect run in SXS

Monday 17 May, 2021

Photos: Felicity Thompson

Cody Crocker has made it two wins from two outings in the 2021 Kincrome SXS Motorsport Australia Championship after taking out a thrilling victory in the third round at Kooralbyn.

In a round that had huge ramifications on the championship standings, Crocker and co-driver Greg Foletta battled hard throughout both 100km races – their consistency eventually rewarded with a 40 second victory over Zac Marsh and Travis Rosewarn.

Both crews were the only two out of the 14 crews to complete 18 laps across the day, with Crocker’s second race the key in securing the round’s top honours.

In the first race though, it was Simon Evans and co-driver Ryan Preston who went fastest overall and the 2018 champion was on track to claim his first victory of the 2021 season before a loose throttle connection in the second race saw him lose valuable time.

Dropping down the field on the time sheets after having to pull over and quickly fix his issues, Evans recovered nicely to come away with a podium place and a good haul of points.

As a result of his third place, Evans now sits second on the standings, just two points behind Championship leader Stephen Henry, who finished the round in fourth place, completing the same number of laps as Evans.

Although Crocker sits in seventh place on the standings and a fair way off Evans and Henry on the standings, was thrilled with his position and believed a solid strategy helped him win.

“I have to be pretty happy with that result because only four rounds count of the seven and to have two wins from our two races puts us in a very good position,” Crocker said.

“Looking at the leading board now, it might not look like we are, but we’re possibly in the best position to be in. It’s funny because we were only going to do one round as a shakedown, although now it looks like we’re going to do at least five rounds and we’re in the hunt for the title.

“As for the weekend, we were part of the second group and in the first race, the track had been smashed by the likes of Simon and Jackson Evans, and had become much slower, which put us at a disadvantage.

“In the second race, It was good to be in the second group as we noticed a fair few drivers were getting flat tyres in similar sports, so we were able to take note and to know where we could be careful. Although the track was much better.

“We didn’t get complacent or take it easy, but we just didn’t take unnecessary risks and with Greg being an experienced co-driver, we had really good pace notes and knew where we were at in terms of timings too.

“I learnt that from Dean Herridge. Put your best foot forward, don’t ease up because it cost you and that’s what got us the win during the second race. Going at comfortable speed without damaging the car.”

As Crocker, Henry and Evans all enjoyed productive weekends, the same couldn’t unfortunately be said for first-year driver Trevor Finck and 2019 reigning champion Jackson Evans dropped below Evans on the standings after both only finished 10 laps – a mistake in the second race for the latter costing him dearly.

The duo weren’t the only high profile names to have dramas during the round with 2019 SXS Sport champion Tim Liston and co-driver Pat Kelly finishing 12th, just one place behind BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) teenager Josh Wiedman and his co-driver Matthew Davidson.

Another AORC crew to have a difficult day was the 14th placed Kye Floyd and Ally Hodge after the pair were only able to finish five laps.

It’s a two month break for the Kincrome SXS Motorsport Australia Championship now with the next round to take place in St Helens, Tasmania on 7 August.