Entries for the Wentworth Shire Pooncarie Desert Dash are steadily coming through with a number of big names already committed to the Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) season opener.

Taking place in the middle of April in the New South Wales rural town of Pooncarie, the first AORC event for the year will see crews tackle more than 400 competitive kilometres over the course of the two days.

Headlining the list of entrants already entered is 2022 outright runner-up Brent Smoothy, with the West Australian behind the wheel of his 4WD Mason Aussie Special trophy truck.

Expected to run for the entire 2024 campaign, 2019 AORC runner-up Roydn Bailey has also got his entry in early and will once again run in the Pro Buggy class.

Joining him in the class is 2021 Kalgoorlie Desert Race winner Nicholas Hicks and 2023 Pro Buggy runner-up Paul Tuck Lee.

Other notable entrants include reigning class champions Nicholas Commins (Extreme 2WD) and John White (SXS Sport) and high-profile returnees, 14-time Production 4WD Champion, Geoff Pickering, and Extreme 2WD star Michael Magher.

Entries for the AORC season opener will be open until 11:59pm AEDT on Friday 5 April, with interested crews able to enter the event via the Motorsport Australia Member Portal.

View the Pooncarie Desert Dash Supplementary Regulations.

The Wentworth Shire Pooncarie Desert Dash kicks off the 2024 AORC season in Pooncarie on 19-21 April