The 2023 KickAss Products Motorsport Australia Queensland Rally Championship (QRC) has officially come to a close, with Ian Menzies and co-driver Robert McGowan finishing a glorious weekend at Imbil as the round three winners and outright champions of the 2023 season. 

This win marks Menzies’ fourth QRC championship title, after winning the 2015, 2018 and 2020 seasons. 

Going into the round tied with Glenn Brinkman on 91-points, the title was anyone’s for the taking. With a supremely talented line-up and a strong fight from Brinkman and co-driver Steven Richardson, Menzies and McGowan were able to star and win all nine stages of the Brisbane Sporting Car Club-run event to claim the title.

While Brinkman and Richardson fought hard to repeat their round one win and end the season victorious, the pair finished just two seconds short of Menzies and McGowan’s time. 

However, Brinkman and Richardson’s runner-up finish was far more desirable than that of fellow Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship regulars Ryan Williams and co-driver Brad Jones, who wouldn’t enjoy atrouble-free event.

Although Williams and Jones were close enough to the frontrunners after two stages to fight for the win, their early pace was short-lived, after a series of incidents and mechanical dramas saw them fall from sixth to 31st.

On the other hand, third place finisher Erik Johnsson, along with co-driver Larisa Biggar, only improved upon their previous 2023 standings. 

Johnsson managed his first podium finish of the year, building from an eighth-place finish in round one and a sixth in round two.

Not only was this Johnsson’s first podium of the season, but his and Biggar’soverall time was so close to Brinkman and Richardson’s that they nearly claimed second place, with less than a second separating the crews. 

Beyond the outright competition, the day also saw a number of impressive class wins for the event, including Thomas Dermody and co-driver Eoin Moynihan’s event victories in both the QRC 2WD Rally Championship and East Coast Classic Series (ECCS) 2WD competitions. 

Michael Baily and Ian Whitehead took out the win for the event’s ECCS 4WD category, while ARC regulars Josh Wiedman and Nick Reid won the Queensland Junior Rally Championship round, Gary Dutton and Ray Priest for the Acworth Recruitment Queensland Clubman Rally Series, and Max Bailey and Stephen Christensen secured the win in the Virtual Security Guard Queensland Novice Rally Series for the rally.