CROOKWELL Off Road Club member, Garry Simpson from Bargo, in his American built race car, has won the Ray Vestey Memorial Christmas Cup on Saturday November 29 at Storrier’s Gravel Pit.
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After purchasing and importing his buggy from America in 2010, Garry then shipped it back over to compete in the Parker 425 in Arizona earlier this year. His third place finish makes him one of the top finishing Australian drivers in US off road racing history. Four teams from Australia made the trip to the 2014 Best in the Desert ‐ Parker 425 and the Simpson team finished with the highest ranking. Not bad for a driver who had never seen the Parker course until race day!
So, now back to our humble little race track in Crookwell.
Ray Vestey was one of the Crookwell Club’s earliest members and always loved coming to town to compete in his V8 powered buggy. After he passed away, the Club decided to name their Club Day at the end of the year in memory of ‘Uncle Ray’ as everyone affectionately knew him.
This year, there were 20 vehicles competing in the one day event which was one of the driest and dustiest there has been in quite a few years. The wind was blowing, but it seemed to be just making the dust swirl in the trees rather than blow it away, making it difficult at times for competitors to see more than a few feet ahead of them.
The event consisted of three races throughout the day, the first being three laps each, finishing up with a tough ten lapper in the afternoon which saw four of the top placed cars bow out due to mechanical issues.
Competitors came from as far away as Warialda, near Moree, with Derek ‘Wheelie’ Rose in car 279, saying he is happy to make the 12 hour trip each way to compete at Crookwell, one of his favourite tracks.
Another couple of well travelled competitors who are new to the sport are Chad Jenkin and Warren Skewes from Tamworth, who made the journey south to compete in one of their first events. They too had a great weekend, finishing and taking home 1st in their class.
The results from the day are as follows:
Pro Buggy Class - 1st Peter Sowter (Taree), 2nd Mick Tori (Wagga), 3rd Scott Davis (Sanctuary Point)
Prolite Buggy Class - 1st Garry Simpson (Bargo), 2nd Steve Taylor (Cattai), 3rd Craig Anderson (Coopernook)
Super 1650cc Buggy Class - 1st Laurence Cripps (Londonderry), 2nd Derek Rose (Warialda),
Sportsman Buggy Class - 1st Grant Walker (Tennyson)
Extreme 2WD Class - 1st Mark-Paul Grant (Llandilo)
Performance 2WD Class - 1st Murray Collins (Tarago)
UTV Class - 1st Bradley Burton (Bangor), 2nd John Wilkinson (Freeman’s Reach), 3rd Nathan Weissel (Worrigee)
Production 4WD Class - 1st Chad Jenkin (Tamworth)
The Best Presented vehicle of the day went to Kevin Ottey from Queanbeyan, who always has his buggy looking clean and tidy when it arrives at the start line, even in the dustiest, muddiest conditions.
Photos from the event can be viewed at www.leonkellysportsphotography.com