Ryan Taylor wins 2022 Australian Off Road Championship

The 2022 BF Goodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) has been decided, with Ryan Taylor and Kye Floyd securing the title at the final round of the season.

Ryan (the son of off-road racing legend Nev Taylor who passed away in 2020) and Kye came into this year’s finale, the Black Diamond Drilling Kalgoorlie Desert Race on 21-23 October, trailing Jake and Kate Swinglehurst by eight and a half points - 114.5 to 106.

Despite Swinglehurst not winning a round, both he and his fellow Queenslander Taylor (who won the Loveday 400) have been the most consistent finishers all year. But with neither driver having won an AORC title before, the pressure was on for both.

Thanks to additional points on offer at Round 6, Trophy Truck pilots Brent Smoothy and Brett Comiskey were in championship contention, albeit as outside chances, with Mel Brandle (Prolite) and Gary Turnbull (Pro Buggy) mathematical possibilities to take the title, too.

In the Kincrome SxS Motorsport Australia Championship run alongside the AORC, four drivers were in contention for that title, with Greg Campbell, Glenn Brinkman, Glen Ackroyd and championship leader James Cook separated by just seven and a half points.

A total of 93 crews entered the Kalgoorlie event, including a big contingent of WA locals keen to test themselves on the three-lap, 363km course that included a lot of fast corners and free-flowing sections.

Prologue

Action got underway on Friday, 21 October with the Prologue, which would determine the starting order for the first 121km lap on Saturday, with the remaining two completed on Sunday, 23 October.

The early advantage went to Swinglehurst, who completed the Prologue in 7m48.1s – just four tenths of a second ahead of veteran Beau Robinson, who was making his AORC return at this event, partnered by Jake Clucas in the X2WD Trophy Truck.

Taylor was third fastest, six seconds behind Robinson, followed by Shane Elphinstone (Pro Buggy), Dylan Nollas (Pro Buggy), Turnbull, Smoothy and Troy Schoen (Pro Buggy), with James Cook making it into the overall Top Ten and the fastest SxS.

Race Day 1

Robinson, a multiple past winner at this event, finished 11 seconds in arrears, with Taylor a further 1.5 seconds back in third. Smoothy was fourth fastest, with last year’s winners at Kalgoorlie, Nic Hicks and Mark Gater (Pro Buggy) completing the top five.

Swinglehurst’s performance was all the more impressive given he was dealing with torque convertor problems, while Robinson’s early lead was shot when he made a mistake near Lake Perkolilli.

Championship outsiders Brandle and Turnbull finished inside the Top Ten, so were still in touch.

Cook was the fastest SxS and finished just outside the overall Top Ten, but led the rest of the SxS field by three minutes thanks to mechanical problems for Ackroyd and struggles for both Campbell and Brinkman.

Race Day 2

With the course starting to chop up, maintaining pace and finding smooth lines became more challenging on the final day of competition.

Robinson led the field on the opening lap, closely followed by Taylor, but engine issues saw Swinglehurst tumble down the order to eleventh, putting Taylor in the box seat for the third and final lap.

Those engine issues ultimately forced Swinglehurst to retire on the third and final lap, meaning that if Taylor held his position or even finished further down the order, he would win the championship.

Finishing second behind Robinson was more than enough for Taylor and Floyd to take their first BF Goodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship.

“I am speechless. I don’t know what to say,” Taylor said afterwards.

“Thank you to Team Taylor and my whole family who have supported me all through the year. Thanks to dad who got me into this – we have finally got the number one.”

Fifth for Smoothy and navigator Reese Burgess was enough for them to move up to second overall in the AORC and first in X2WD, while Comiskey completed the championship podium after finishing in seventh at Kalgoorlie.

With one hand already on the Kincrome SxS Motorsport Australia Championship trophy going into the final day, Cook could afford to cruise, but was still the fastest SxS competitor, comfortably winning the last two laps.

“I didn’t think it was possible to do this,” the first-time champion said. “We just put our head down and our arse up and we got it done.”

Second overall in the championship went to Brinkman, with Campbell third.