The ARB Griffith 400 has been run and won with #42 Jimco of Danny Brown and George Apted taking outright honours after 3h59m53.023seconds and 400 kilometres of extreme off road racing through the rough and tumble of Stackpoole and surrounding farming properties.
Brown started the day out of second place, following prologue pace setters Jack Rhodes and David Pullino until the 8km mark on the first lap when Rhodes was stopped trackside with fan belt issues, handing the the lead and dust free run to Brown. Making the most of the open track, Brown pushed on hard, storming home with a 3m31s lead over second placed Dale Martin and Adrian Rowe. It looked like being a Martin second and third outright until the early demise of the #25 with Brent Martin behind the wheel; engine gremlins ending their dream run on lap two.
Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings were also in the podium mix until front suspension failure on the Ford #410 on lap 2 saw them in the hands of recovery. As the higher powered machines faltered, the ProLite buggies stepped up to the challenge, securing four of the top five outright placings.
Andrew Mowles made his trip from Alice Springs worthwhile, slotting into third outright, 7m48s behind Martin, with standing navigator and local Dean Meginley in the #135.
The Sam Egan, Adam Gilkinson Jimco #188 combination had a consistent run to take fourth outright ahead of Troy Duff and Daniel Mansfield Jimco #128, just 25.69seconds off the pace of Egan.
The 2016 ARB Off Road Racing Series now heads to Sea Lake for the ARB Mallee Rally over the Queen’s Birthday June longweek.