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Off-road title chase

Posted on October 14, 2011

SUNRAYSIA off-road racers Aaron James and Brett Plant could return to Mildura next week as Australian Off-Road Champions as the series wraps up in Queensland this weekend.

Aaron James during the opening round of this year's championship.

In just their second season racing together in the highly competitive Pro Lite Buggy class, James and Plant have led their class for much of the season and go into this weekend’s final round at Goondiwindi, near Moree, in Queensland with a healthy points lead.

James said he and navigator Plant have raced “conservatively” so far this year, doing just enough to collect points at each round.

But their “conservative” pace has proven blisteringly quick, enough to net them two round wins and a second, taking some big names along the way from the top tier Pro Buggy and Extreme 2WD classes.

The introduction of bonus points for this weekend’s finale has added another element to the points scenario, providing a chance for some of the lower placed teams to leapfrog up the order.

James said rather than do work through the myriad of different points scenario, he and Plant will simply race all out for the win, which would guarantee the Pro Lite Buggy championship.

While James and Plant are favourites to take the Pro Lite Buggy title, they’re also in contention for an overall podium finish, mixing it with the very quickest drivers and vehicles in the country.

They’re just three points away from third position in the overall championship standings and could elevate themselves onto the podium depending on what happens this weekend.

“We’re just going to push as hard as we can and see what happens,” James said this week before setting off for Queensland.

“We’ve been racing fairly conservatively so far, just to make sure we get points, but this weekend we’re just going to straight out race.

“Having said that though, with the bonus points this weekend, there are some guys behind us who are more than capable of winning as well, so it’s going to be interesting.”

This weekend’s Albins Off Road Gear Goondiwindi 400 will be fought out over two days, starting with the prologue tomorrow morning.

Competitors will race two laps of the 80-kilometre circuit tomorrow afternoon followed by a single lap on Sunday morning.

The final stage will take place at 11am Sunday over two more laps of the circuit.

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