Danny Brown and George Apted have returned to the top step of the Albins ARB 4×4 Accessories Goondiwindi 400 podium today, winning the fifth round of the ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championshipin their #1 Milwaukee Tools Australia Alumi Craft Race Cars in a time of 4hr 27min 51sec.
Debuting the V8 powered Alumicraft he campaigned in the USA and sporting the #1 numberplate, Brown started 5th on the grid and maintained his position on the road during Saturday afternoons single lap blast. Sunday mornings first two laps saw a three way tussle for the lead break out between #1 Danny Brown, #45 Andy Brown and #120 Brent Martin, with the overnight leader #16 Talbot Cox forced to limp into the pits with a broken shock bolt and the #138 Chenowth of Fehlhaber & Howell rolling.
Heading into the service break #45 Andy Brown held a slender lead over his son, Danny, with Brent Martin snapping at their heels. However a solid charge on the last lap by Danny Brown & George Apted, where they sliced 43 seconds off Andys lead, rewarded them with their third Gundy 400 win alongside their outright wins in 2015 & 2016. Andy Brown with navigator Ross McNab were forced to settle for second outright, finishing 27 seconds behind Danny in the #45 Milwaukee Tools Australia ARB 4×4 Accessories Sabre.
Brent Martin and Jimmy Boyle continued their exceptional ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championship form with another podium finish, putting the #120 Martin Motorsports Jimco Racing Inc into third outright in an overall time of 4hr 30min 26sec. Queenslanders, #105 Les Marshall and Glenys Rose took second in Class 1, ahead of #119 Jason and Kristy Richards who overcame front suspension issues on Saturday afternoon to finish 3rd on class.
It was a clean sweep of the Class 6 Turbo SXS Class for Can Am. Jeff McNiven and Andrew Reid dominated from the outset in their #603 JSW CanAm Maverick, finishing 4th outright and taking the Class win. While #652 Sybrand De Klerk and Marinda De Klerk locked in second, with #602 Michael Schneider and Dan Czislowski in third.
Winning the Goondiwindi Tyre Service Top Ten Shoot Out and looking at one with the rough and tumble of Goondiwindi on the opening lap, Talbot Cox and Andy North charged back through the field after fixing the broken shock bolt in the #16 Tropic Petroleum Racer to finish fifth outright.
Bouncing back from a roo strike early on Sunday morning, Jamie Knight and Lachlan Brosnan brought the popular #439 Chevy Truck home in sixth and took the Class 4 win. Ivan Robertson looked to have a stranglehold on the class win in the #471 Robertson Racing Micklefab Truck until engine issues forced his retirement late in the day. NZ’s John and David Morgan locked in 7th in the #54 Kaizer Bass Jimco.
Rhett Standen and Ben Langford claimed the Class 2 honours and 8th outright in their #225 Rivmasta. Trailing #201 Daniel Wells and Leigh Wells for most of the day, Standen snatched the lead and didn’t look back when the #201 Bunderson suffered a rear hub failure on lap 4, forcing Wells to settle for 2nd in class. #292 Dale Standen & Craig Baul wrapped up the class podium in third.
Bernie Clohesy and Errol Stacey leapt out of the blocks hard on Saturday afternoon in the #570 Triton to take the early Class 5 lead. On Sunday the Victorians consolidated their position, before posting their quickest lap time of the weekend on their final pass to seal the class win and lock in 9th outright. #501 Stephen and Teagan Watkins were second in class, ahead of #507 Michael Ranson and Kingsley Smith in third.
Steve Kildey and Chris Jones were never challenged on their way to 10th outright and the Class 8 Super 4wd win. Cementing their position out in the front on Saturday, Killed never looked back as he powered the #812 Killa Kustom Kables Silverado home to a 10 minute win over their nearest rivals #840 Joshua Nurrish and Ben Jones in second and #801 Owen Ward and Curtis Laidlaw in third.
Going toe to toe with #6626 Brayden Misfud during the first two sections of the race, Allan and Courtney Muir piloted their #6633 Burdekin Motorcycles Yamaha YXZ 1000R to a 33 minute win in the naturally aspirated SXS Class. Brayden Misfud and Tara Czislowski became sidelined with power steering issues on lap 4, however they recovered to finish second in the class ahead of the #6680 Yamaha of Chris and Dennis Land.
Jason Keane and Brett Baker tamed the Goondiwindi rollercoaster in their #722 Jeep Wrangler, taking the Stock 4wd Class 7 win by 24 minutes from #774 Jason Forssman and Del Palmer. #725 Ethan Murray and Jarrod Biegel completed three laps in their Pajero to secure 3rd in class.
It was a tough weekend at the office for the Class 3 buggies. Aaron and Wayne Merchant finished on top of the class leaderboard in their #396 Rivmasta, ahead of #364 Taylor and Anita Teichman. While #1096 Rohan Merchant and Shannon Camac covered the most ground amongst the Class 10 buggies to take the class win. 26 cars completed to the entire race distance.
Congratulations to the Goondiwindi Motorsport Association on another successful event.
Photos by Randall Kilner and Nathan Kilner. Full competitor gallery to follow soon…