South Australian father and son Mel and Liam Brandle have won the 2024 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) after an emotion-charged finale at the Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race on Sunday.

The Prolite entrants held their nerve on sections two and three of the 363km event, finishing third overall at the Kalgoorlie round – enough to seal the five-stop AORC title by 690 points over Pro Buggy pairing Jared Percival and Joshua Howat.

Click here to view the provisional results from the 2024 Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race.

Fellow championship front-runners Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt dropped out of title contention on Sunday morning after suffering a brake issue, ultimately retiring from the event.

In terms of round winners, WA locals and outgoing 2023 AORC Champions Travis Robinson and Andrew Pinto emerged victorious at the Kalgoorlie event ahead of Percival and Howat, who were 51 seconds behind.

“It was sad for my brother to stop, but we ended up turning it up and made sure we got something from this weekend,” said Travis Robinson.

“It was a bit of a wild ride but we got it.”

Mel and Liam Brandle secured third outright in Kalgoorlie to become the first team since 2017 to win the AORC title in a Prolite machine, having resisted the raw speed of Trophy Truck and Pro Buggy entrants all season.

“It feels magnificent,” said Mel.

“What a race. We’ve had it going on all weekend, there’s been dust, there’s been everything. Just out there then, there’s a lot of cars broken down and a lot in the way, so anything really could have happened right to the end. To get in and make it, we’re stoked.”

Liam added: “It’s incredible. I never thought that something like this could happen, but I trust Dad and I trust his driving. He’s amazing, that’s all I will say.”

In an intense opening 10 minutes of section two on Sunday morning, overnight leader Boston Morgan-Horan and navigator Fergus Crabb succumbed to a power steering issue to bow out of the running. They would return for section three but were no longer a factor for overall contention.

Around the same time, then second-placed Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt suffered a braking failure aboard their 2WD Extreme Trophy Truck, forcing them back into the pits for repair. The pair ventured back out on track 15 minutes later determined to make back time.

Their efforts were ultimately in vain, however, with the pair disqualified for receiving outside assistance from their crew during the middle of a lap. Although Robinson and Hutt completed the second section, they went onto retire from the Kalgoorlie event.

“It’s carnage, but this is how it goes in off road racing sometimes. Boston was out and off to the side of the track. As we’ve gone to pass him we just lost all our brakes – had a master cylinder go bad or something,” Robinson said.

In the Transportable Shade Sheds SXS Championship, Glenn Ackroyd put on another impressive display to take out the Kalgoorlie SXS event, but it was James Mogford and Michael Mogford who secured the outright SXS title with a second-place finish.

The result handed the Mogford brothers the SXS championship by 160 points over Ackroyd. WA locals Brent Johnson and Daniel Giles completed the Kalgoorlie SXS podium in third.“I was willing James on to push a bit harder on the third section, and he was conserving the car to get it through. It was a good drive by my brother, he held his calm when he needed to and put his foot down when he needed to,” said Michael Mogford.

Incredibly, Ackroyd finishes the AORC championship in third outright with his impressive Kalgoorlie result, thanks in part to a ‘points and a half’ scoring system.

“That last lap was very, very rough – I’m glad it was the last lap, put it that way,” Ackroyd said.

“It’s great news to get third outright in AORC. They are amazing, the SXS machines: the power-to-weight is amazing. They’re just great.”

The Kalgoorlie weekend draws to a close a memorable five-stop BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship.

Keep an eye out for more information on the 2025 season, including a provisional calendar, in the coming weeks.

2024 Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race class winners:
Pro Buggy: Travis Robinson and Andrew Pinto
Pro Lite: Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle
Super 1650: Brad Geraghty and Nina Kells
Extreme 2WD: Andrew Commins and Anthony Cook
Performance 2WD: Mathew Beck and Lindon House/Sean Beck/Chloe Richardson
SXS Pro: Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price
SXS Sport: Rob Clarke and Paul Tavani
Extreme 4WD: Max Bradley and Sean Beck/Mathew Beck