For the second weekend in a row, the focus of the Off-Road racing community was on Rainbow as the town hosted the first round of the 2021 SXS Motorsport Australia Championship on Saturday.

This was the first time that Rainbow has hosted this event, which is in addition to the Rainbow Rises 240, held early in March, and the Rainbow Desert Enduro in August.

Changing weather conditions challenged the competitors with wind and dust during the morning, transitioning to damp and cold afternoon.
View some pictures of the action here.
The cars were split into two groups after the prologue in the morning. Each group then contested two races each, and the overall placings were calculated over finishing positions in each.

A delay was caused when a car rolled over on the second lap of one of the early races, which resulted in a delay that was overcome by combining the two groups for the later races.

The challenging weather conditions took their toll on some of the competitor’s vehicles, with several mechanical issues adding interest to the races and influencing the final results - only four of the sixteen starters complete the maximum eighteen laps.

For the next round of the championship, competitors will travel to Alice Spring on April 17.

After two successful events this month, the next time the sound of off-road cars will fill the air at Rainbow will be in late August when the Hindmarsh Shire Rainbow Desert Enduro, the fourth round of the BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off-Road Championship on 27-29 August, returns after a pandemic induced hiatus last year.

2021 Kincrome SXS Motorsport Australia Championship - Round 1

Overall Results

1 - Cody Crocker/Greg Foletta - 18 Laps - 2 hours 25 minutes16.5 seconds
2 - Steve Henry/Steve Walton - 18 Laps - 2 - 27 - 21.7
3 - Trevor Finck/Tyler Fitzgerald - 18 Laps - 2 - 29 - 49.9
4 - Jackson Evans/Claudia Evans – 18 Laps - 2 - 32 - 03.9
5 - Nathan Wiesel/Anthony Harris - 16 Laps
6 - Chris Collins/Erica Savage - 16 Laps
7 - Simon Evans/Max O’Brien - 16 Laps
8 - MollyTaylor/Daniel Gardner - 16 Laps
9 - Mathew Keene/Jack Keeble - 14 Laps
10 - Eden Evans/Shannon Jennings - 13 Laps
11 - Andrew Daniel/ Brayden Kendrick - 11 Laps
12 - Jake Williams/Kevin Williams - 9 Laps
13 - James Cook/ Mitch Aucote - 8 Laps
14 - Paul Borg/Sebastian Borg - 3 Laps
15 - Tom Evans/Samual Horrocks - 3 laps
16 - Alex Handley/Jack Battye - 1 lap