The final national Auto Test and Speed Championship will take place in Victoria this year, with the Motorsport Australia Khanacross Championship making its way to the Bendigo region.
The Bendigo Car Club will again host the National Championship event for the first time in 11 years this Saturday and Sunday. It is also the first time the event returns to Victorian soil since 2017 when Pakenham Auto Club hosted the Championship.
Event Secretary Craig Button expressed the club’s excitement at holding the Australian Khanacross Championship after more than a decade.
“The feeling around the club is very positive right now,” Button said.
“The majority of their crew are pretty experienced and used to big events, so we’re pretty confident we’ve got the setup right and we’re really looking forward to it.”
The Championship will take place over two separate venues, offering two types of courses for competitors to navigate over both days with Day 1 to be held at the Bendigo Saleyards, and Day 2’s action to grace the Bagshot Motorsport Complex.
Total entries for the event sit at over 50, with 11 classes on offer for competitors to come away with silverware, excluding the outright results, which will crown the 2025 Australian Champion.
Among the competitors will be defending champion Barry Nowell, who will be in search of his third event win after claiming his first in 2022 driving his Baztec 23.
Brad Hall will be looking to challenge for the outright win driving his Subaru WRX, where he challenged Nowell at Bagshot as part of a round of the Victorian Khanacross Championship. Youngster Henry Moorhead will be looking to gain a positive result in his Hayabusa Buggy after strong showings in New Zealand this year.
Jeff Salmon and his Subaru STi has also been in fine form this year, Samuel Humphries has potential to come away with the win in his Mazda 3, and a competitive MP2 class featuring 20 entrants will provide for superb times at both venues, which each boast unique characteristics.
“The Saleyards is a short, quick burst of a course with a hot mixed surface. A little bit dusty with it still being an operating saleyard, so we do our best to clean it up, but it’s a bitumen surface that usually sees 40-45 second runs, and hopefully, they’re flowing fast enough,” Button added.
“And then with Bagshot on Sunday, a good flowing track which gets fast in places. It’s very challenging and if weather holds out, it’ll be dusty, but if it does forecast rain late in the day Sunday, it could make it very interesting for anybody on road tyres.”
The full entry list, event information, schedule and Supplementary Regulations, can be found on the Motorsport Australia website.
