The Comiskey Mining Services Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship is officially underway for 2026, following an event-filled opener at the Wentworth Shire Pooncarie Desert Dash last weekend.
Victorians Dale Martin and navigator Mark Degruchy took the event by the horns, taking out the Method Race Wheels Prologue before a dominant performance across sections one and two.
Heading into the highly anticipated second round of the AORC, the 50th anniversary of the Finke Desert Race, here are five things we learned from the opener at Pooncarie.
1. You can’t win an event on the first section, but you sure can lose it
The complexion of the Pooncarie Desert Dash changed quite dramatically in the opening section, when AORC title favourites Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt succumbed to an engine problem and pulled out of the event altogether.
The pair and their Mason Trophy Truck had already navigated dusting issues in the earlier Method Race Wheels Prologue that morning, only for the issue to haunt them once again later in the day.
It was a similar theme on Sunday, when Kiwi firebrand Boston Morgan-Horan and navigator Will Haddock were forced to pull to the side of the track just 69 kilometres into section two following a separate mechanical gremlin that cruelled them of a strong run home.
In the end, more than 20 different competitors were unable to finish the Pooncarie event, owed to a combination of crashes, mechanical problems or just plain bad luck.
2. Never discount the SXS class
They are the diminutive machines that punch well above their weight. The SXS has come a long way in the past decade, and Pooncarie is a perfect case in point.
Even on a track as gnarly as what we saw in south-west NSW, with thick bulldust, intimidating ruts and open high-speed stretches, there were four side-by-side machines inside the top 10 by the end of play on Sunday.
The new era of SXS machines, headed by the likes of the Can-Am Maverick R, are allowing competitors to turn up at a national event and do incredible things with a turn-key package. Those who are honing their package even further – think reigning champion Lachlan Bailey and evergreen competitor Glen Ackroyd – are regularly in the top outright competitors.
3. The kids are all right
The next generation of off-road racers are making a big statement.
In the Pooncarie Desert Dash, the talents of the up and comers was present to all to see.
The biggest of them was 16-year-old Logan Gill. The West Australian not only won the SXS class at Pooncarie on debut, but his result was also good enough for fifth outright in the event. It’s a formidable feat considering the conditions.
Elsewhere, the AORC is playing host to a generation of talented drivers and navigators. Samuel Commins is chief among them, doing special things in his Maverick R SXS, and regularly keeping the field on notice.
Hannah Bentley is another who is one to watch. At 24, she is turning heads in the trophy truck field and extends a long family legacy in the sport.
4. Dust is the enemy
This may seem like an obvious one to anyone who has experienced off road racing, but the dust in Pooncarie was savage on a couple of fronts.
First of all, it wasn’t kind to engines.
Among the major culprits on the weekend was championship front runners Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt. Dust unfortunately cost them the race, plus the better part of a rebuild to the engine of their Mason trophy truck.
Elsewhere, the dusty conditions forced Kye Camilleri to sit out the final section after infiltrating the air filter of his Pro Buggy. Although the damage wasn’t terminal, the young driver thought it better to sit out the remainder and turn his eyes to Finke.
The other big issue posed by dust was that of vision. Thankfully for competitors, a strong, persistent breeze mitigated the issue somewhat – ensuring the ethereal orange clouds moved quickly from the track.
5. The AORC title chase is heating up, fast
The four-stop Comiskey Mining Services Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship is quickly separating the pretenders from the contenders after Pooncarie.
With one less round to build points, front runners have acknowledged they need to be unwaveringly consistent throughout the year. It helps explain why defending AORC SXS champions Lachlan Bailey and Jordan Zollo were so satisfied with second in class following their opening hit-out.
Competitors won’t have to wait long before dusting off their entries again. The upcoming Finke Desert Race – celebrating its 50th anniversary – is only a matter of weeks away.
