Bathurst son and father combination, Andrew and David Travis claimed the 2018 Classic Outback Trial, taking out the event by more than nine minutes in their 1984 Nissan Gazelle.
The win is their third consecutive triumph at the event and their fourth win from five attempts. The pair won the very first stage on day one and never lost the lead, also winning the final stage on day seven of the 2,400 kilometre event.
The Travis’ faced strong opposition from both local and international crews in 2018 but again put together a masterclass in endurance rallying over seven days and 32 stages.
Adam Kaplan and Aleshia Penney took the challenge to the Travis’, taking the most stage wins throughout the event (14) in their 1985 Mazda RX7. It was not to be however when their run came to a sudden holt on the penultimate day with a broken axle and CV joint.
In the end intelligent driving, consistent times and the bulletproof reliability of the Travis’ Nissan Gazelle was just too good.
International entries completed the podium with the 1972 Tuthill Porsche of Belgians Joost Van Cauwenberge and Jacques Castelein finishing second, while Viking Motorsport’s Jorge Perez Companc and Jose Volta (1978 Escort RS1800) from Argentina bounced back from their retirement in 2016 to take third, 22 minutes behind the winners.
West Australian’s Shane Atwell and David Moir, driving a 1971 Ford Falcon GT, came home fourth, with the 1971 Datsun 1600 entered by Scouts NT and driven by Bryce Fullwood and Lachlan Casburn finishing a very commendable fifth.
Michael Arundel and Simon Healey (Mustang), Pat and Brad Cole (Mercedes), Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy (Datsun), David Hills and Ben Richards (Escort RS1800) and Murray Young and Paul McBean (Datsun) completed the top 10.
In Modern Regularity, event leaders Chris and Blake McCormack suffered a blown clutch in their Magna on day six, leaving the door open for Peter Neal and Craig Whyburn to successfully defended their 2016 victory in their 1998 Subaru WRX, leading home the non-turbo Impreza of Peter Sweeney and Dan Murphy.
