This morning saw the on-track action start at the 2015 Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash with the running of the Prologue, used to determine the start order for day one of racing. Held in fine conditions, the light breeze sweeping across the track helped clear the dust as competitors strived for a dust free run at the front of the field. Over the past few weeks the decision was made to increase the prologue distance to a 19 kilometre course, allowing teams to stretch the legs on their vehicles and iron out any bugs that may be present.
In the Moto section, Cody Upton set a cracking pace on board brought the #2 Honda CRF, stopping the clock in a time of 12:14.3, some 42 second ahead of fellow Honda CRF rider Andy Brack. Rounding out the top three was the #206 Yamaha YZF450 of Daniel Games. Leading the Quad field home was the #50 Yamaha of Ryan Barron, less than two seconds ahead of the #921 KTM of John Iuliano. Rounding out the top three was the #121 Yamaha of Brad Smith. The #27 KTM of Rod Pollard led home the Veterans class, #16 James Doherty was the leading Senior class rider, Devin Brown took out the Masters section with Matthew Hart the leading Class 3 rider.
In the Auto section, an early casualty was the #968 Bat Racing Pro buggy of Brad Cooper & Tony Pitassi, power steering issues putting an early end to their day. The crew will make the necessary repairs this afternoon and will be seeded into tomorrow’s starting order. Shane Elphinstone is looking to make amends for the disappointment of the 2014 event and he has started the event in style, leading home the field in a time of 12:32.7, just under 32 seconds clear of the #52 Rimco Pro buggy of Adam Trewhella & Ethan Lange with the top three rounded out by the #74 Jimco of Brett & Kevin Renton. Mark Murray & Lee Coupe led home the Extreme 4WD field in their #866 Nissan, with the #766 Nissan of Chris May & Luke Stevens the leading Performance 4WD competitor.
Competitors and crews are now packing up their equipment and making the trek inland to the township of Gascoyne Junction where they will setup camp and ready themselves for tomorrow’s 200 kilometres of racing, with action to get underway from 7am.
Stay up to date with the 2015 Gascoyne Dash via http://www.gasdash.com/ or on their facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Gascoyne-Dash