Ventkhana 9

Straight after the 2018 Forest Rally, we had Ventkhana Nine. Our biannual Motorsport event for Venturers (teenage scouts).  Over 40 drivers from nine different Venturer Units came together for a weekend of Motorsport and camping.

Right weather, wrong time of year

Autumn should have brought cooler weather and some rain. Instead it was the driest and warmest May we could remember. Hardly a drop of rain had fallen for several months. Most farmers in the area had chosen to dry seed which sent a lot of dust airborne. It produced some dramatic sunsets with blood red skies.

Kicking Off

After arriving and setting up camp on Friday night, the racing kicked off Saturday morning. Ventkhana is a team activity where everyone’s performance counts toward the final time. The team with the lowest cumulative time across the weekend wins. It’s not all about speed. The trick is to complete each test in the correct direction without hitting a marker around the course.

We started out with some simpler tests on more open tracks to ease everyone into the groove. Even early on some Venturers were a little over zealous. A spin here, an overshoot there or a displaced marker added precious seconds to the times. Often the faster drivers were the ones gaining time penalties. Valuable lessons were being learnt.

Mercury Rising

By mid morning Saturday everyone’s confidence was increasing. Even those that had never driven a car before were going well. It was also during the middle tests that mistakes were costing more time. A couple of drivers overshot garages copping 10 second penalties. One came in too hot and in jamming on the brakes cleaned up four garage cones. 20 seconds of extra time would undo all the speed around the rest of the test.

Later in the afternoon the lines were neater and there were less off track excursions. Racing lines and car position were starting to play their part in Ventkhana Nine. The question was whether neater driving in the afternoon could make up some of the lost time earlier on.

Day 2

Come Sunday morning we announced the leader board from the previous day. We gave our speech about not trying too hard. It appeared though that the “red mist” had descended and some Venturers were determined to improve their team’s position.

The race was definitely on from the get go. The first few tests were relatively neat although there was the odd marker knocked over. When we moved to a faster more flowing track, things got a little untidy at times. One particular corner proved tricky with  team nine managing to get their Corolla stuck on a dirt windrow.

Top Ten

By the end of the weekend 243 times over 27 tests counted toward the results. Ninth place was taken by team nine in “Kenny” Corolla. Team eight drove to eighth place. Team five had to hastily swap cars after test one. In true scouting spirit they were able to share the Silver Lancer of Bullsbrook (Team 7). They went on to finish seventh.

Breaking into the top 5

Providing some great entertainment over the weekend team seven finished sixth.  Team two brought their blue Pulsar to fifth. Team one had a battery issue when it came to starting their Mirage engine. With a few able bodies we sorted the problem with a push. They grabbed fourth place for the weekend.

On the Podium

Team three brought their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle inspired Hyundai into third. Team six drove well and bagged second place.  All weekend team four kept it fairly neat and largely flew under the radar. They won Ventkhana 9 2018 by a margin of just under 30 seconds.

Click here to download Ventkhana 9 Results

The next Venturer Motorsport is RallyVent 2018 scheduled for August. Regs and event info is already available and expressions of interest are coming in.