Rentsch Grabs 2009 AORC Crown

The Albins Off Road Gear Goondiwindi 400 lived up to its reputation of providing an exciting finale to the Australian OffRoad Racing season. With the championship aspirants, Rentsch, Fellows and Robinson taking battle in a 400km dog fight through some of Australia’s toughest Off road Racing terrain.

Shannon and Ian Rentsch dominated Saturday's racing to establish a good launching pad for their title defence. The son and father team took their twin turbo V6 Chenowth on a wild ride during the mornings prologue to post the quickest time over the 10km course, and backed it up with an even quicker performance to win the Extreme Motorsports Top Ten Shoot Out by 9 seconds. With no dust to contend with on Saturday afternoons two laps, Rentsch then went on to open up a 2 minute 40 second lead over their main championship rivals, David Fellows and Andrew Kittle.

However, come Sunday morning Rentsch’s lead had been slashed to just 26 seconds after the results for lap 2 on Saturday were scrapped after a start line time out mix up involving the race leaders. While it put Fellows and Robinson back in the game, it sent repercussions back through the rest of the field as many cars were regrouped behind vehicles they had already passed on Saturday.

With the start order sorted, the Goondiwindi Mayor, Graeme Scheu, waved the green flag to start the days racing. As the laps ticked over Shannon and Ian Rentsch capitalised on their dust free run at the front of the field to greet the chequered flag 29 seconds ahead of Fellows and Kittle. It was the Victorians sixth consecutive victory at the event, which allowed them to seal their fifth Australian Off Road Championship in the process.

"It's unreal to win our fifth title; said Shannon Rentsch "It makes all the hard work we put in pay off. I couldn't be happier. It came down to the last lap which is good for the sport and makes it exciting for the spectators. I think the sport is going in a good direction and look forward to an exciting future." he continued.

“The car ran exceptionally strong and reliable this season. A huge thanks to Joe Gibbs Oils, CP Pistons, Turbonetics, Quantum Industries, Shane Wilson Race Engines, Motec and Albins Transmissions for their support this year.” Said Shannon.

The conclusion of the Albins Off Road Gear Goondiwindi 400 sees the chequered flag waved on the 2009 Australian OffRoad Championship. Looking ahead to 2010, the stage is set for another exciting year of racing when the season gets underway in Western Australia at Easter.