A new name has been added to the BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) history books at the Loveday 400, with Kiwi Boston Morgan-Horan and navigator David Morgan securing their first AORC victory.
Sunday was the day for the Extreme 2WD competitors, with trophy trucks locking out the podium in what was a tense battle all day.
Brett Comiskey and Corey Cooper finished the Loveday event in second, just 24 seconds behind Horan, while Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt claimed valuable Championship points rounding out the podium in third – four minutes behind the round winners.
Horan put on a show on Sunday, with consistency across the day’s 200km of running ultimately proving to be decisive, despite heading into Sunday with a big gap to claw back.
“It was pretty rough out there, I just had to baby the car the last few laps there,” Morgan-Horan said.
“I think it worked in our favour starting in the first Heat, because we started up the front there and got clear air. It was good to follow some cars before the track cut up.”
The win held extra significance for the Horan family, with Boston’s brother passing away in New Zealand earlier this year.
“At the start of the year I didn’t think I was going to race again, due to my brother passing away to motorsport – but here I am, and I’m glad I came back with a win.” Morgan-Horan said.
In a story of what could have been, Aaron Haby was left in the pits and out of contention after entering Sunday’s final day of action more than four minutes in the lead.
With a significant margin in hand, Haby effectively had one hand on the winner’s trophy heading into Sunday, but engine dramas would force the South Australian into the pits and out of the race in the day’s opening section.
In one of the closest class battles of the day, the Transportable Shade Sheds SXS Motorsport Australia Championship went down to the wire. James Mogford and Michael Mogford would be declared winners of the popular SXS class with the pair finishing just 3.8 seconds ahead of nearest SXS rivals in Lachlan Bailey and Nathan Sracek. Glen Ackroyd and Michael Price rounding out the SXS podium in third.
“We laid everything on the track, we had nothing left, so we had to wait around to see the boys come in. 3.8 seconds behind me and Lachy [Bailey] at the finish – that’s good racing,” Mogford said.
“Next round’s Charters Towers so we’re looking forward to that, and heading into Kalgoorlie. There’s some fast people up the front, and we’re really looking forward to competitive racing.”
View the full results from the Loveday 400
In the other classes, there were plenty of exciting battles up and down the field, as well as a number of high-profile retirements which could have implications on the AORC title battle with just two rounds remaining.
Ultimately, the following crews would win their class for the weekend:
Pro Buggy: Roydn Bailey and Dean Ellbourne (5th outright)
Prolite: Mel Brandle and Liam Brandle (4th outright)
Sportslite: Paul Tinga and William Daniel Kelsey (28th outright)
Extreme 2WD: Boston Morgan-Horan and David Morgan (1st outright)
Performance 2WD: Michael Shipton and Paul Chorlton (17th outright)
SXS Pro: James Mogford and Michael Mogford (6th outright)
Production 4WD: Norman Parker and Mark Robinson (23rd outright)
Extreme 4WD: Philip Lovett and Luke Stanley (29th outright)
View the class results from the Loveday 400
The full AORC points tally will be available on aorc.com.au shortly following the finalisation of results.
The BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship heads north to Charters Towers in Queensland for its penultimate round of 2024, the Markwell Group Gold City 450 on 30 August – 1 September.
Photos: Tony Donoghue Photography
