The new Comiskey Mining Services Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) season is upon us, and with it, so are the players for the Pooncarie Desert Dash taking place on 10-12 April in South-West New South Wales.
The major headline for the season opener, which begins the 45th year of the Championship, is the omission of reigning AORC Champions Travis Robinson and Paul Currie, not among the the list of entries for the opening round.
The two-time champion will feature twice this year in the Extreme 4WD class. Firstly, in the Finke Desert Race on the King’s Birthday Weekend from 6-8 June, and then in the closing round in the Kalgoorlie Desert Race during 23-25 October.
Other notable list inclusions for the Extreme 4WD field include Brent Smoothy in his Mason Aussie Special, Brett Comiskey with Corey Cooper, Darran Wright with Scott Brown, and Philip Lovett paired with Luke Stanley in the #897 Racer 1.
Beau Robinson and navigator Shane Hutt, however, will be present at Pooncarie again competing in the Extreme 2WD line-up in their Mason Gen 2 Spec Trophy Truck.
Check out the full list of 2026 Pooncarie Desert Dash entries.
They join a juicy cohort of Extreme 2WD entries, boasting competitors such as rising off road star, class runner-up and Kiwi Boston Morgan-Horan alongside trusty navigator Will Haddock. South Australia’s Hannah Bentley and Scott Gould make their way to the course in their Trophy Truck, and podium finishers Nicholas and Alex Burt, joined by Josh Abbott ready up for a good season start at Pooncarie.
In the Pro Buggy category, Paul Tuck-Lee will get the first crack at the early season points with reigning champion Jared Percival not among the entries for Pooncarie. 2025 podium finisher Cooper Western will shuffle over to the navigator role, supporting SXS Pro driver Robert Knight.
2025 Production 4WD winner Norman Parker is back for another year, going into the weekend as part of a three-person outfit alongside navigator duo Paul McCulloch and Mark Robertson. He’ll go head-to-head with fellow class competitors Geoffrey Pickering and Colin Pond.
Check out the full list of 2026 Pooncarie Desert Dash entries.
Alan Dixon and Prolite navigator Kris Boyle return to commence their title win from 2025 at Pooncarie, while none of the three podium-getters in the Sportslite category from last year will be on the start line for Round 1. This offers a chance for new faces such as John Wisse, Adrian Gardiner, David Skinner and David Adams a chance to collect a win this weekend in South-West New South Wales.
SXS Pro and SXS Sport competitors will be out in force once again with 31 vehicle entries locked in for the Pooncarie Desert Dash.
Among the machines includes the incomparable Glen Ackroyd and navigator Michael Price driving the #601 SXS Pro entry to begin their class championship title defence.
Class runner-up Lachlan Bailey and seat mate Jordan Zollo will pair up for this week, while third-place finisher Gregory Campbell again lines up in the hotly-contested field with a navigator yet to be determined at the time of this publication.
The lone SXS Sport entry at Pooncarie will be run as Tasmania’s John White and Jack Briggs in the #6634 roof-fin.
Check out the full list of 2026 Pooncarie Desert Dash entries.
The class of 2026 will gather at the Coomealla Club Show n Shine from Friday 10 April at 3pm AEST. Competition will begin in earnest on Saturday 11 April, with Method Race Wheels Prologue from 11am AEST.
