Loveday calling for AORC Central

After twice being postponed this year, the Can-Am Loveday 400 will finally get underway this weekend with 32 crews entered in the BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Cup – Central.

Taking place at the Loveday 4×4 Adventure Park, the event was originally scheduled to take place in July before postponing to September to combat border restrictions.

The event was once again postponed to follow the Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race in a last ditch attempt to keep the season going, however not long after, the 2021 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) was called off.

And while the event won’t be running as a national Championship event, it will still welcome a number of national stars, as well as some talented individuals who have had a unique lead up.

Headlining the entry list is off road veteran Greg Gartner, who sat in third place on the AORC standings after the two completed rounds and 2018 AORC runner-up Toby Whateley.

There are three drivers making their way across the WA border just five days after competing in the Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race – event winner Nick Hicks, Luke Erceg and Gavin Chant. 

The other high profile driver entered for Loveday is South Australian gun, Hayden Bentley.

Click here to view the entry list. 

After coming second in last year’s Can-Am Loveday 400 and his most recent event in Port Germein, the former AORC champion was looking forward to a stress-free weekend with his family.

“We’re very fortunate to be able to go racing and I’m extremely proud to have my son Sam competing in the Bentley Motorsports Sportslite and my daughter Hannah sitting in the navigator seat for me,” Bentley said.

“My old navigator Ben Chivell is also back out of retirement and will sit alongside Sam, which will be really helpful to him, especially after Sam continues to get valuable seat time.

 

“This weekend, our aim is just to have fun, but we’re looking forward to racing against the likes of Greg (Gartner) and Toby (Whateley) and some of the other quick cars for bragging rights.

“Realistically it’s a bit of a shakedown for us as it’s looking like we’ll be running a three-car team next year and this weekend gives us the opportunity to test all our cars on an AORC course in readiness for next year.

“It’s also a chance to give our sponsors some love in a year of low racing, so that’s good. We’re there to have fun on a low-pressure weekend, but we are also treating it seriously.

“We came second last year, so it’d be good to go one better.”

The event will run in the same format as it did last year, starting with Prologue on Saturday morning, where crews will complete a seven-kilometre course.

The remainder of the event will see crews tackle the 40km course across 10 laps spread across five two-lap sections

On Saturday afternoon, crews complete the first two sets before completing the remaining six laps on Sunday.

Click here for more information on the event. 

The Can-Am Loveday 400 and BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Cup – Central takes place at Loveday Adventure 4×4 Park on 29-31 October.