The 2015 Queensland Rally Championship comes to a conclusion this Saturday with the running of the P3 Solutions Benarkin Rally.
The fast and technical roads of the Benarkin and Yaraman state forests just 1.5 hours North West of Brisbane are the perfect place for a final round battle between Ian Menzies and Wayne Menzies - no relation to each other.
At this stage Ian Menzies from Brisbane (driving a Lancer Evo 6) is 27 points ahead of the Rockhampton flyer Wayne Menzies (driving his immaculate Mitsubishi Evo 8) meaning that whoever finishes in front at Benarkin will take out the Drivers championship.
In the Co-driver championship, Ian's navigator Bob McGowan has an unassailable lead over Wayne's co-driver Chris Baxter. Bob, one of the true gentlemen of the sport, has a lot of experience in the UK and Australia, and this will add a second state title to his previous WA title.
Apparently Bob has been eyeing off the championship for 7 years, so it will have been a well earned victory.
There is a total of 28 competitors in the QRC round, and 7 competitors in the pace-noted version of the event.
One particularly interesting competitor is a friendly farmer called Tristan Carrigan. He is an ex QRC champion, known for his giant killing performances in a Ford Laser. He's finally crossed over to the 4WD side, and is competing in an Evo 9 for the first time.
Chris Black is looking to take out the 2WD QRC in his nicely prepared Nissan Stanza
Kim Ackworth will be out in her immaculate Subaru Legacy (presented in Colin McRae colours). She may have just won her class at Rally Australia, but she will need to watch her mirrors for Melinda Bergman, who is also quick in another Subaru Liberty.
Todd Webster will keep the ladies honest in his Subaru Impreza, which just turned in a fine fourth place outright at the Border Ranges Rally.
There's a great variety of cars competing including:
Ian Reddiex's 1983 Peugeot 205 Gti - entering as a shakedown prior to the Alpine Rally (starts 27 Nov in Lakes Entrance Victoria) - with driver and co-driver boasting a combined 100 years or more of rallying experience.
Brad Hurford's XR6 Falcon is covering off the Australian car contingent (It's been totally rebuilt since an incident in IRoQ earlier this year)
Jamie Yule (Mitsubishi Mirage), Tim Dillon (Hyundai Lantra), and newcomer Lachlan McKenna (Suzuki Swift) plus many others, all adding to the interest.
If you are keen to watch, or to check out the service park - which is the main hub for the event - make your way to Benarkin State School. The start of the rally is from 12 midday on Saturday.
Food is available courtesy of the Benarkin State School PNC association.
There are 3 spectator points - 2 are within a 10 minute drive of the main service park. The final one is in Yarraman - 25 minutes from the service park (See the Brisbane Sporting Car Club's website for spectator instructions)
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