A number of regular AORC stars have entered the Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) season opener in the hopes of getting their 2023 season underway on a high.
Taking place in Charters Towers, the Markwell Group Gold City 450 will see crews complete nine laps of the challenging 50-kilometre course over three sections.
Click here to enter the Markwell Group Gold City 450.
High-profile names already entered in the event include SXS Pro contenders Glenn Brinkmann and Glen Akroyd, Prolite stars Luke Erceg and Andrew Mowles and one of the most recent entries in reigning champion, Ryan Taylor.
A stellar campaign in 2022 saw Taylor claim the title courtesy of podiums in St George and Kalgoorlie and a maiden event win at the Pooncarie Desert Dash.
Taylor and navigator Kye Floyd’s title also saw the duo achieve a goal that had been a long-time in the making for Team Taylor as whole, a journey that was started by the late great Nev Taylor many years ago.
In 2023, it will be a different feeling for Taylor, who will go into a season with the #1 plate for the first time ever and with a target on his back as the benchmark of the competition.
And with Charters Towers offering a completely new environment for the Queenslander and the rest of the competition, it was a challenge Taylor was looking forward to.
“We are pretty keen to get back behind the wheel in Charters Towers and begin our title defence,” Taylor said.
“We are also really looking forward to seeing our off road family again, so hopefully it will be a good turnout. I know it’s a long way for everyone to travel and even further for all the southerners, but it would be good to see entries pop up this week so we have a big field.
“As for us, we plan to throw everything at it because back-to-back titles would be amazing, and it would prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.
“Although we didn’t want to change too much on what turned out to be a winning recipe, we made some improvements to the car over the off season, including the engine and transmission, which hopefully can make us faster.
“I think it will have benefits and being the first round, we want to get into the groove of things and have a good start to our title defence.
“Last year, there were a few places we knew very little about, including Pooncarie where we won, so we are going into this event blind and with no expectation, which I have no problems with.
“We have plenty to back up from last year including an event win and championship win so we’re just looking forward to getting started for the year.”
Less than a week remains until entries for the 2023 season opener close.
Entries for the 2023 AORC season opener close on Saturday 18 February and crews can enter here.
The Markwell Group Gold City 450 takes place in Charters Towers on 10-12 March.
Feature Photo: Dakar Press Team Australia
