“The Wettest February in History” was the news headlines. CACA headlines read “History making full Field 2 weeks out from the event”. What a way to start the 2010 with a full field pre booked.

The entry list had a real family feel with the McCredie and Boesel families fielding 4 members each. It was good to see Stuart Hughes finally having a run himself as Ben has been competing in his Falcon for sometime. Ben shows everyone how to throw his car around and from the way Dad Stuart drove we can see where he talent came from.

Another notable entry was Bob Lumley, original member number 50, who booked in 8 “Come and Try” competitors from the Central Coast.

The rain never effects a day on the Skidpan as it actually improves the water coverage making it more consistant.

Eight tests from the Motorkhana handbook were selected and two new tests were added to finish off the day – The Cross and Dyslexic’s Dilemma.

Motorkhana’s are a front wheel drives territory and the skidpan can sometimes allow the rear drive vehicles a little more grip. David Oliver proved this by logging fastest time in his 1600 on the first test. A fresh set of tyres that gripped did the trick and made the car handle completely differently from previous events. David’s runs were good viewing all day.

Bob Hancock in his rear wheel drive Clubman was the quickest on “Oh What a Feeling” The grip of the Clubman was apparent on the circular test that requires speed and a smooth hand.

The Ladies Class had the best number of entries for many years. It was very competitive with Julie Boesel winning over Jen Pennington by just 3 seconds. Both hit a flag each so it all came down to the last test with Julie was 3 seconds quicker on an unseen and untried test. We will miss Jen’s competitive driving while she is away working.

All classes had starters which sets the Darby Motorkhana series up for a great year.

Daniel Walker did a great job in his Class D (Celica front wheel drive), finishing 9^th outright in a very competitive top 10. Daniel has natural speed and is a smooth controlled driver who has been improving with each event.

Six competitors made up the Junior Class with 2009 Junior Champion Jordan Boesel winning the class and finishing fifth outright. Jordan was able to put it together at this event with consistent runs. Last year he showed some speed but let himself down however his consistency has improved.

Second and third in the Junior Class was James Meredith and Laura Pennington. Laura was her normal focussed self all day, pushing a little hard and over shooting the garage on the last test. Laura was just one second behind James at the end of the days competition - excellent to see.

Just one off a podium finish was Eddie Du Pont in his Integra, great effort with mate Nick Crow finishing 8^th outright in the same car. All ways best to let the owner win.

Peter Noakes swapped his Swift for the Mazda 3 and his aggressive driving style was rewarded with a third outright.

In 2009 we watch brother and brother in law, Brad Glasson and Mark Boesel fight it out at the front of the field and this year was no different with Brad finishing 12 seconds clear of Mark. Mark was driving his wife’s Echo and also coaching his second son Joshua to drive.

These two went at it from the start with Mark quicker than Brad twice during the course of the day, incredibly the little Echo was only 0.09 seconds behind the more powerful purpose built Clubman on “Oh What a Feeling”.

Though it was Brad in his Zebra (Mazda 121) that took the day, other competitors who want to improve their skills just need to watch how Brad sets up for each corner. Never rushed or untidy he is Mr Smooth and Consistency which is what makes him so quick. Congratulations Brad on your win.

Rounding our the Top 10 was John McCredie in a borrowed Evo 8. John found it hard to drive having not driven the car until the start of the event. John was good watch when he finally came to grips with the car. Oh well back to the mighty 1.6 Applause next event for John.

As far as the family award it goes to the Boesel family with dad Mark, son Jordan and mum Julie all finishing in the Top 10 – a very competitive family.

 The Banning’s have upgraded to a rear wheel drive Celica rally car. It was it’s first run and a few mechanical bits will need to be sorted out before the next event. It should be ready for the Khanacross in March at Cataract.

Overall a great day with the weather not dampening the competitive spirit of the day or hamper the interaction of the competitors with many swapping their suggestions on the best way to tackle the courses or excuses of why they didn’t do well – generally blamed on mechanical faults.

I would like to thank the Officials for standing around in the rain all day and the paperwork team Rosie and Kerry, thank you for all your hard work.

See you at the next event on March 27^th for the Khanacross at Cataract Scout Park.

Event Director – Peter Harris