West Australian motorkhana star Scott Bennett has added another state championship victory to his resume after taking out the second round of the Motorsport Australia WA championship in Albany.
With the round forming part of Albany’s annual motorsport festival on the weekend that also featured the Burson Auto Parts Albany Classic 2021 and Mt Clarence Hill-Climb, a healthy field of 27 competitors took part in the event.
Bennett, who had entered the round as the Championship leader, once again was the driver to beat as he won nine of the 12 tests across the day and enjoyed an 18 second win over long-time rival Jim Newell.
Although on paper it seemed Bennett came away with a comfortable win, it was anything but as Newell and Bennett’s son William offered serious challenges for much of the day.
Right from the start, there was plenty of stiff competition as William won the opening test and was fastest of the three on the second test, and while Scott and Newell both finished ahead of him on the next two tests, William still on top.
However after Newell won the fifth test, William lost his lead, never to regain it again and Scott found some of the same pace that has seen him dominate the country in years gone by – the six-time Australian champion winning the next seven tests in a row to claim the win over Newell and William.
Further down the time sheets was the intense battle for fourth place as Sydney Jenkins edged out Peter Marsh by half a second after the duo were neck and neck for much of the day.
Finishing in seventh place was the only other driver to win a test for the day in Ross Bennett, however his inconsistency across the board overshadowed his test two win and harmed any chances of Ross of a podium.
Other notable results saw Amy Bennett secure the fastest time for women competitors, Michael Dufty marked as the fastest rookie, Patrick Dufty the best junior and the Mini Car Club of WA win the team's trophy.
Following on from his second win of the year, Scott was pleased with his performance but paid tribute to those who took part in the motorkhana.
“It was certainly harder than it looked,” Scott said.
“As there were no time cards due to COVID-19 requirements, there was no way of really knowing where I was stacked up against the others and based on their raw pace, it felt far closer than what it actually turned out to be.
“To be honest, everyone drove really well during the event and anyone could have been the winner. Jim is such a strong competitor and we have good battles and I’m proud to see William putting in some good runs too.
“It was just a really good day. It was a new venue and one we really enjoyed competing at, so a big thanks to the City of Albany for allowing us to come down and to be a part of the weekend.”
The third round of the 2021 Motorsport Australia WA Motorkhana Championship is in Neerabup on 18 July.