Riverland-locals Aaron Haby and Chelsea Haby have recorded a strong start to their 2024 Loveday 400 campaign, finishing top of the time sheets in today’s Transportable Shade Sheds Prologue.
The father-daughter duo were the only crews to complete the 7km course in under four minutes – their final time clocking in at three minutes and 57 seconds.
As former winners of this event, the Haby’s will be eager to carry the momentum into the remainder of the weekend and recreate the drive that secured them the 2022 victory.
“It was a pretty cool lap, we certainly going very fast. Little bit messy in some spots but overall it was an awesome little Prologue, so very happy,” Aaron Haby said.
“If I can back it up like I did two years ago that’ll be fantastic, but at the end of the day we’re here just to have a bit of fun and do well.”
The next best in an all-Pro Buggy top three was 2023 Loveday 400 winner Shannon Rentsch, the nine-time AORC champion producing a confident lap over just over four minutes to lock up second place – replicating his 2023 position.
Fellow South Australians Roydn Bailey and Dean Ellbourn, and Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle took out third and fourth place respectively, the crews separate by only five tenths of a second.
Currently sitting third in the 2024 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) standings, Brandle will be pleased to have finished the afternoon ahead of 2024 Finke winner Beau Robinson who finished the Transportable Shade Sheds Prologue in seventh – 268 points separate the competitors heading into the Loveday 400.
Reigning 2023 AORC Champion Travis Robinson rounded out the top five a lap time of four minutes and three seconds, the solid start he will have hoped for following his DNF in last month’s Tatts Finke Desert Race.
2023 Loveday 400 Prologue winners Toby Whateley and Simon Hermann took out sixth place, the fastest of the Extreme 2WD entrants to record times at Loveday 4×4 Adventure Park.
Brent Smoothy beat out the other Extreme 4WD competition with an outright finish of eighth and a time of four minutes and six seconds – 18 seconds ahead of the next fastest in class, Philip Lovett and Luke Stanley.
The two Nicks decided the top ten, with Nicholas Commins and Nicholas Hicks separated by two seconds in ninth and tenth position.
The winner of the Transportable Shade Sheds SXS Championship in Prologue was Lachlan Bailey and Nathan Sracek, followed closely behind by Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price.
Other notable class winners include David Adams in Sportslite, Michael Shipton and Paul Chorlton in Performance 2WD, Bradley Geraghty and Heidi Caldow in Super 1650 and Geoff Pickering and Dylan Watson in Production 4WD.
View the full Transportable Shade Sheds Prologue results here.
The Loveday 400 continues tomorrow morning from 8:30am ACST with five laps of the 40km course to be run over two sections.
Fans can keep up to date with the live results on our Live Wall and across our social media channels.
Photos: Tony Donoghue
