As we come to the end of 2018 we’d like to take a moment to reflect on our achievements throughout the year.
Our Achievements
The 2018 WAORRA committee worked so hard to ensure that the club continued to move forward in leaps and bounds. Thank you to the outgoing committee Kim Yaxley, Shane Yaxley, Mick Davis, Mark Jarrett, Danielle Joyce, Stephen Phillips, Elsie Schoen, Shelley Howe, Emma Howe, Blake Pugh, and Celeste Baxter, and welcome to the new 2019 committee!
Our event organising teams put in a huge effort to pull off four great events, led by Blake Pugh for the Kids Ride Day, Stephen Phillips, Mick Davis and Glen Humphries for the Dryandra Chase, Andrew Sawyer for the Bencubbin 400, Russ Cullen for the Mid-West Challenge, and a joint collaboration between WAORRA, ORRWA and WDR to keep the Three Springs 360 event alive (and a crowd pleasing favourite) on the WA off-road calendar.
We also represented the off-road community at show and shine events – the Hot Rod and Street Machine Spectacular and the Targa West display at Langley Park – generating interest in the sport and picking up some new members along the way.
This club thrives on its many great volunteers, the officials, track markers and especially our event organisers who give up so much of their time for the club. The only negative note coming out of this year was that we need more event volunteers to do small jobs to spread the load. We will be looking at ways to improve this in 2019 – by increasing event volunteer numbers and managing tasks better – team work makes the dream work!
Our Champions
Our membership base continues to grow steadily each year. With over 165 members in 2018, WAORRA continues to be the best in the west, and it’s our passionate members that keep this ship afloat. Congratulations to Russ Cullen for winning the Club Person of the Year Award (voted by members as the individual who did the most for the club in 2018), and Charlie Edwards for winning the President’s Award (for his work behind the scenes at all of our events, as well as the significant drainage work at Three Springs to keep the cliffs area dry).
Congratulations to Jerilyn Dark for winning the Schoen Encouragement Award this year. Jerilyn epitomises the future of our club and the sport of off-road – she is young, enthusiastic, and with a bright future ahead of her, is likely to have a positive impact on the sport in the future. We wish Jerylin all the very best for her off-road endeavours in 2019 and beyond.
2018 WAORRA Champions:
First Outright Driver – Darren Agrella
Second Outright Driver – Harleigh Uren
Third Outright Driver – Colin Doney
First Outright Navigator – Ryan Barton
Second Outright Navigator – Blake Pugh
Third Outright Navigator – Peter Doney
Club Member of the Year – Russ Cullen
Lynn Hutchinson Memorial President’s Award – Charlie Edwards
Schoen Encouragement Award – Jerilyn Dark
Two Wheel Drive Champion – Harleigh Uren
Four Wheel Drive Champion – Brad Krepp
Buggy Champion – Darren Agrela
Navigator of the Year – Ryan Barton
Check out our full list of class champions on the Honour Board page.
Thank You
Thank you to all the sponsors that made our events possible, especially our major sponsors:
Duke of York Hotel
Marsue Transport
Cochrane’s Transport
Inland Mechanical
Westside Insurance Specialists
We’d also like to thank the families – to the wives, the partners, mums, dads and kids who sacrifice their long weekends and hours and hours of shed time for this sport – WAORRA wouldn’t be what it is today without your love and support, so thank you!
Wishing you all a very merry xmas filled with yummy food and memorable family time, and a happy and prosperous new year. Take care over the holidays and enjoy the break – we certainly will!
Here’s to 2019… another great year with the WAORRA family!
Photo: Glen Humphries