Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle have emerged victorious at the Markwell Group Gold City 450, the duo claiming outright honours in the fourth round of the BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC).
 
Brandle was able to capitalise on his strong Saturday, fastest in the first section and maintaining the lead through the second and third sections to finish more than a minute clear.
 
Currently leading the Prolite class as well as holding second place in the outright standings, the Brandle pair enjoyed an issue-free weekend to set up a mouthwatering Championship finale in Kalgoorlie in October after there were mechanical dramas for Championship leaders Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt on Sunday. 

Robinson will lead the Championship heading into the season finale, but the gap has now closed with the Brandles quickly closing in thanks to their Queensland victory. 


 
“Over the moon, we just can’t believe it,” Brandle said following the win.
 
“We got seeded back there at the start of those last couple of laps and we just had to go out there and do our own thing, run our own race, and we got there in the end.
 
“We don’t really try and push for an outright win. Don’t get me wrong, when the helmet goes on, we do our best, but to do it – we’re over the moon.
 
“Consistency, that track out there was definitely what people call a drivers track. I reckon I spent more time sideways out there than I did going forward. There’s a lot of concentration, a lot of hard work that goes in to doing that.”
 
Moving up the leaderboard to complete the course in second outright was Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price, improving their Saturday result by two positions to finish one minute and 36 seconds behind the leaders.
 
The fastest of the SXS Pro class finishers in Charters Towers, Ackroyd and Price made up their ground in Section 2 – finishing the course a second faster than the leaders to contribute to a swift overall time.



The New South Wales crew beat out James Mogford and Michael Mogford to claim Transportable Shade Sheds SXS Championship round honours.
 
Mirroring their Saturday third outright finished, the Mogford’s completed the remaining two sections in impressive form to secure their place on the last step of the podium in Queensland.
 
The locals Charters Towers campaign was bolstered by their strong Section 1 performance, second-only to the Brandles for fastest on the first run of the track.
 
What remained of the top 10 benefitted from multiple DNFs across Sunday’s proceedings, notably Championship leaders Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt – the Trophy Truck driver retiring in Section 2 with converter issues.
 
Despite a strong Saturday showing, Pro Buggy teammates Roydn Bailey and Simon Herrmann also had their campaign cut short with a premature retirement in Section 2 after hitting a tree on Sunday afternoon - the pair walking away uninjured.


 
Fourth and fifth position were claimed by fellow Queensland crews Laurence Svenson and Janelle Svenson, also topping the Pro Buggy class, and Glenn Brinkman and Jaclyn Hughes.
 
Michael Shipton and Paul Chorlton finished first in the Performance 2WD class and seventh overall, while Thomas Stephens and Toby Stephens rounded out the SXS Pro Top 10 finishers.
 
Klaus McGhie and Jason Muchenberg topped the Extreme 2WD class, while Norman Parker and Tyson Park led all day in Production 4WD to finish 10th outright.
 
Declan Cummins and Maxcine Cooney claimed the SportsLite honours, while Ross Newman and Jessica Jackson took out the SXS Sport category.
 
View the full results from the Gold City 450 
 
Pro Buggy:  Laurence Svenson and Janelle Svenson (4th Outright)
Prolite:  Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle (1st Outright)
Sportslite: Declan Cummins and Maxcine Cooney (11th)
Extreme 2WD: Klaus McGhie and Jason Muchenberg (9th Outright)
Performance 2WD: Michael Shipton and Paul Chorlton (7th Outright)
SXS Pro: Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price (2nd Outright)
SXS Sport: Ross Newman and Jessica Jackson (12th Outright)
Production 4WD: Norman Parker and Tyson Park (10th Outright)
 
The full AORC points tally will be available on aorc.com.au shortly following the finalisation of results. 
 
The BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship heads west for the Kalgoorlie Desert Race in Western Australia for what will be a thrilling final round of 2024.