Harleigh Uren has put on a masterclass in Brookton to dominate the 2019 Racegear Western Australia Brookton King of the Hill.
The Extreme 2WD pilot was in brilliant form during the Western Australia Off Road Association’s multi-club Championship’s first round of the year, claiming all three section wins over the 17 other competitors.
Dusty conditions played a major role in the event, as just seven crews managed to complete all three sections, making Uren’s seven-minute comfortable victory even more special.
Coming in at second place was Brad Cooper alongside Aaron Smithson, while 2018 CAMS Western Australian Off Road Champion Jared Percival and Jess Percival rounded out the top three.
Key start
Uren was in a league of his own throughout the event and it all begun in the first section when he crossed the line two minutes ahead of the second placed Stephen Ketteridge-Hall and three and a half minutes ahead of Cooper.
It was a slow start for Percival and his Pro-lite as he finished the section even further behind, also placing behind the Pro-Buggy of Steven Phillips and SXS Turbo pilot Gavin Rodgers.
The first section effectively set the tone for the remainder of the event as Percival sat more than four minutes behind Uren who hadn’t put a foot wrong in his big trophy truck.
At the end of the first section, only three drivers were unable to cross the line with Marcus Wells, Gary Howe and Joe Hawkins all out before the could finish the section.
Hall’s Heartbreak Hill
You would be forgiven for assuming that Uren had no challengers within striking distance based on the final outright results and how good he was, but in those first two sections, Ketteridge-Hall was applying all sorts of pressure.
The Pro-lite driver was the clear best of the rest as he finished a minute and a half ahead of the third-placed Cooper in both sections. While he couldn’t beat Uren, he improved drastically as the day went on, finishing less than 40 seconds behind Uren in the second section after losing the first by a minute and a half.
With just three minutes separating the two ahead of the third section, it looked set for a thrilling final section, but unfortunately, Ketteridge-Hall fell victim to the event and was unable to finish, ending his solid outing.
Ketteridge-Hall wasn’t the only top end driver to fall short, with Gavin Rogers also missing the final section. Rogers had finished fifth and third ahead of Percival in the opening two sections and was in with a chance to finish on the podium before he also saw his day end prematurely.
Patience pays off
Two crew’s pain is another two’s pleasure and with both Ketteridge-Hall and Rogers going down, it opened up the door for Cooper and Percival to comfortably secure the remaining podium positions.
Cooper had finished third and fourth in section one and two, while Percival had struggled a little bit more, settling for sixth and fifth outright which was enough.
However, at the end of the day, the two drivers managed to complete the event and they were rewarded with places on the podium.
The closest competitor to Percival came in the form of fellow Pro-lite rival David Rowett who finished more than eight minutes behind him.
