Widescreen Gallery: The 2018 Lasseters Classic Outback Trial
Images thanks to Craig O’Brien, Ian Smith and Phil Williams / classicoutbacktrial.com.au
The Lasseters Classic Outback Trial ran over the 18th to the 25th of August, 2018, coaxing an international entry of historic rally cars to the Aussie outback for a blast through the bush. Scroll along, and enjoy a great set of shots from Classic Outback Trial photographers Craig O’Brien, Ian Smith and Phil Williams.
Based in Alice Springs, the event is a long distance rally that covers 2500 kilometers of Aussie outback, 900 kilometers of which are competitive special stages. It attracts an international field of historic rally machinery from as far back as the ’20s all the way through to ’90s classics.
The event looks like an absolute blast, and it’s awesome to see such a broad array of rally cars out there doing what they do best tackling the gruelling Australian conditions at speed. We’re looking forward to more of the event in 2020 and hope to see it continue to grow and thrive.
Read on for a few words on the Lasseters Classic Outback Trial thanks to Craig O’Brien, and see the official website at classicoutbacktrial.com.au for more details.
Images thanks to Craig O’Brien, Ian Smith and Phil Williams
The 2018 Lasseters Classic Outback Trial
The sixth running of the Lasseters Classic Outback Trial (COT) from August 18-25 was a journey through automotive history, featuring a range of vehicles entered across both the regularity and competition classes and including everything from a 1926 Bentley Tourer to a 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX. That said, most of the field opt for vehicles from the golden era of rallying – the 1960s to 1980’s.
The event is one of Australia’s longest and toughest gravel rallies, running as a series of loops in and out of Alice Springs each day. Covering almost 2500km and almost 900km of competitive special stages, crews battle it out across fast flat cattle roads, dry creek beds, sandy outcrops and rugged mountainous tracks in the ultimate test of man and machine.
Andrew and David Travis in their striking yellow Nissan Gazelle headed into the event with the aim of making it three wins in a row and four in five attempts, having won in 2010, 2014 and 2016. The competition stepped up a gear in 2018 with the leading contenders including a trio of local Datsun 1600s, Australian 2WD Rally Champions Adam Kaplan and Aleshia Penney in a rotary-powered RX7 and European powerhouse teams Viking Motorsport and Tuthill Porsche.
Kaplan won the most stages for the event (14) to Travis’ twelve, but the combination of the Travis’ speed and road reading skills and the reliability of their V6-powered Nissan proved once again to be the perfect formula. Against some of the biggest teams in classic rallying, the little team from Bathurst (where that other big race is held) have proved to be world class and set the bar high for those chasing glory in 2020.
RESULTS – CLASSIC COMPETITION
- Andrew Travis/David Travis – Nissan Gazelle
- Joost Van Cauwenberge/Jacques Castelein – Porsche 911
- Jorge Perez Compac/Jose Volta – Ford Escort RS1800
RESULTS – MODERN COMPETITION
- Peter Neal/Craig Whyburn – Subaru Impreza WRX
- Peter Sweeney/Dan Murphy – Subaru Impreza
RESULTS – REGULARITY
- = Phil Blunden/Lynda Blunden – Holden EH
- = Bruce Power/Jill Robillard – Chevrolet Business Coupe
- John Crighton/Marian Crighton – MGB GT
Full results at classicoutbacktrial.com.au.
