Motorkhana Rounds 2 & 3 - Young Guns Dominate
23 August 2026 / Story by Bryan Shedden, Photos by Andrew Edgar
This story is a little late getting to you, thanks to the author’s time commitments — and, truth be told, nobody else stepped up to write it! But with three rounds now completed, it’s definitely worth looking back at two excellent days of motorkhana action at Sydney Motorsport Park’s skidpan.
Round 2, on Sunday 12 July, attracted 37 drivers, including four visitors. It was particularly encouraging to see so many younger competitors. The average age of competing members was just 39, with four under-18s and another ten aged 18-30. Many more youngsters joined in as passengers, spectators and photographers. Only two competitors were beyond retirement age — a sharp contrast to the demographics of many of our social runs!
Six tests were contested, with Ian Hung (Accordion), Charlie Karayannis (Gable Slalom and Tophat), Andrew Best (Double Bone and Gables) and John Taylor (Star) setting the fastest times. Charlie took outright honours, ahead of visitor Andrew Best and visitor John Taylor. Michael Tarrant was fourth and John Karayannis fifth — meaning Charlie had beaten Dad! Andrew Best won Non-MX-5 class, Annie Chan won the Ladies class, while Emma Anderson took the Junior class.
After Round 2’s popularity, there were some concerns that entries might fall for Round 3, held just three weeks later on Saturday 1 August. Those concerns proved completely unfounded, with 40 drivers, including seven visitors, taking to the skidpan. Once again, the youngsters were out in force. The average age dropped to 35, with four under-18s and 15 aged 18-30. Only one retiree competed!
Charlie was fastest in Square Slalom and World Tour, Chris Stevens in Double Kidney and Butterfly, John Karayannis in Happy Birthday, and David Phillips in Noughts & Crosses. John took outright victory, beating Charlie by just 0.02 seconds, while Chris was third. David won the Non-MX-5 class, Annie again took Ladies and visitor Nathaniel Amadio won Junior.
With three rounds completed, Charlie leads Open Class on 35 points from John on 29. Ella Russell leads Ladies on 35 from Annie on 30, while Chase Raddatz leads Junior on 35 from Emma on 24. Full Pointscore is here.
One round remains on Sunday 8 November, so there’s plenty still to play for! For added spice, only the best three rounds are counted for each competitor.
Finally, these events simply could not happen without our volunteer officials: Event Secretaries Maria Martin and Barry Luttrell; Clerks of Course Ian Combes and David Wilson; Scrutineer Gerardo Martin; Registration volunteers Jenny Luttrell and Gaynor Lawler; and Timekeepers Phil Reid, Phil Donnelley, Greg Unger, Ian Spinks, Ian Fenn and Ian Combes. And finally a special thanks to our resident photographer Andrew Edgar. The net outcome of his day at Round 3 was a whopping 1333 photos — all shared for our enjoyment on Flickr.
Thank you all — and see you at the final round!
