Sideways and Smiling: Our Trip to Lithgow’s Khanacross

What a great way to spend a Sunday! The rally.benefi.com.au team—that’s Mick and myself—loaded up and headed out to the Lithgow District Car Club (LDCC) Yvonne Martyn Memorial Motorsport Park for some low-pressure, high-fun khanacross action.

Getting the Seat Time In

The format for the day was excellent: two runs at three different tests. This gave us both plenty of time behind the wheel, honing our skills on the tight cones and getting a much-needed injection of seat time. The tests were well-designed, demanding fast hands and quick thinking, which is exactly the kind of workout we love.

In short, we had an absolute blast! We drove hard, got a little bit sideways, and enjoyed every minute of the competitive yet incredibly friendly atmosphere. We can happily confirm that we finished the day full of adrenaline and went home with big smiles on our faces. Khanacross is easily one of the most accessible and fun forms of motorsport out there!

Kudos to the LDCC Team

A massive congratulations goes out to Adam and the entire Lithgow District Car Club team for running a superb event. Everything ran smoothly, the setup was brilliant, and the atmosphere was welcoming. Thanks for a successful day—we can’t wait to be back!

Our Next Gear: Junior Development

Seeing the energy at Lithgow got us more excited than ever about the future of our sport.

Our next goal is to get the North Shore Sporting Car Club (NSSCC) involved in a joint event with the LDCC to help relaunch a dedicated junior development program. Khanacross is the perfect, safe training ground for young drivers to learn car control. We want to help foster the next generation of rally talent!

Stay tuned for more updates as we get this exciting initiative off the ground.

Great job by Team Benefi for finishing today’s Coffs Coast Rally 2024. The Holden Commodore VY Ute had no service issues and I found myself on window cleaning and refuelling duties during service – maybe a nap on the grass after 4 hours sleep too. Mick needed a few lollies to to kick his sugar levels on service – might help to start 9 stages with more than just a shot of coffee downtown. Nige might also want to not drive over one of the toolboxes entering service too

The roads were much like the Banana Coast – BENT – TOP speed 160kmh and there were humps. The rain held off. Unfortunately Nige caught a stick on a TURN HARD LEFT from a main road to a secondary road (lodging between the rear left brake caliper and rim) and this took more than 15 minutes to dislodge. Then Nige found himself electrical taping his fancy Ferrari racing boots as the soles fell off…we`re all class here. It matched the poor XXXX cane toad beers Mick managed to obtain from the rugby club – we assume by dubious methods.

All in all a top day after 15 years – thanks to Kick ASS for the hats. We’ve cleaned up and ready to head to Coffs Jetty to celebrate

Due to the heavy rains during the preceding 36 hours the organisers found themselves with no choice but to cancel the event at the 11th hour.

Knowing what goes into organising an event I am sure this decision wasn’t taken lightly, was correct, in our best interests and a last resort!

Not to be beaten and whilst drowning our sorrows on Saturday night the bar manager at the Royal Hotel , Blaney suggested we take coffee at Carcoar before heading home.

Although the car remained on the trailer all weekend this unplanned detour made our weekend. If you are on Facebook, read all about it in Pacanin’s post https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160188034753313&id=634053312

Until next time we plan to do some skids and throw rocks.

With very few events on offer so far this year both Mick and I were delighted that this event appeared on the AMSAG calendar.

I’m not familiar with the area, but from the information provided it is about 30 minutes west of Bathurst.

Now all we need is for the weather to hold off, with the forecast for Sunday being for some light rain.

Event information is available from the AMSAG website – https://www.amsag.com.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=1201496

..what a sensational day at the Armidale Rally Sprint at Echidna Gully. Thanks to the New England Sporting Car Club and the function centre with its barn bar, steak sandwich from local cattle and roaring fireplace in between service. One of the best set ups in the calendar! Team Bland/Rourke ran well, pictured with the aptly named coke Boss and Diva cans allocated during lunch break. The Holden Ute VY sailed throughout the six stages, shame we filled the tyres with the air compressor and knocked the battery terminal off so it wouldn’t start before Stage 1. Nigel additionally negotiated a hole in Stage 2 and Mick ended up in his lap. We are ecstatic it did not involve exit with the Westpac Helicopter. Removing the caked mud from the tyres from the last rally at Nabiac seemed to stop the vibration as well. We’re stepping up our game after a big night out…only 5th in our class – 6th last this round!

The weekend of May 29th sees the team head north to Echidna Gully (east of Armidale NSW) for the Regional Australia Bank Armidale Rallysprint which is Round 2 of the Midstate Freight Rallysprint Series.

The event will consist of two stages, the first stage equalling 7.2 kilometres the second stage equalling 13.1km with a total of 13.52km of transport between service stops. There will be three repeat loops of the course in the same direction providing a total event distance of 96.66km and 56.10km competitive.

Unfortunately this format does not allow for double entering, which is our preference so Mick will call the notes and Nigel will take the wheel.

Watch for the next update following the event.