Well another race season has come to a close.  Congratulations to the various Championship and race winners.

For SMU Racing it was a year of vehicle change and in essence ‘testing the new bits’!  We are very excited about the 2025 season knowing now that all of our changes have been successful.

2023/24 saw the addition of 37 inch Mickey Thompson tyres on Method 17 inch rims, bigger brake package and outboard hub package supplied by Racer Imports, a complete car rewire by Proloom with the assistance of Quickbitz and some further engine development by Shane Wilson Competition Engines to the Ford Ecoboost twin turbo V6.  Albins have overhauled our transmission together with new ratios and a lot of work has gone into our torque converter set up.

All in all, a very different car to drive with not as many race kms as we would have liked but definitely a very competitive package when it came to the last race.

Pooncarie was the first race out for the new car.  Brake bias issues saw us qualify 8^th before a driveline issue 25km saw us out of the race.

Finke Desert Race saw us qualify 7^th losing a boost hose with 3 corners of the prologue track to go.  The main race was going well until the 60km mark where driver error clipped a tree which saw an end to our race. Things were going well up until then!

With two new rear arms we headed to Pines Enduro.  We won prologue and with the main race on Sunday going well, we blew a torque converter line whilst leading in the last heat.  Best part was we got just under 300kms of seat time in and the SMU Jimco is now ready for full competition in 2025.  We are well under way with solving our torque converter issue and the car is stripped with everything getting freshened in readiness for a full 2025 campaign.

A big thank you to the SMU team for 2024 who have put a mountain of work into this car without getting the rewards (just yet!)  Hopefully not too far away.  To Ty Couche from Hustlin Off Road prepping the car and managing the race program, Shane Wilson from Shane Wilson Competition Engines for building the reliability and HP that we have, Cam Ritchie from Racer Imports whose knowledge and ability have allowed for us to take the next major steps with this car, Stix at Quickbitz for all of his help during the season who really goes above an beyond, Ryan Cawley from Proloom who has been a massive help in getting the wring in this car sorted and has made it reliable (!), Mark Rowlands for his input and work behind the scenes in between races getting this car to the track, Nigel Pendlebury for next level navigation and assistance in car prep and everything else and Tania Pendlebury for putting up with us all, looking after us at races and most important ace photos and videos.  Special mention to Brock Pendlebury, Randall Gregory and Glenn Ridge for vital pits assistance at races during the year as well as car transport.  THANK YOU all.

First race on the calendar is Portland in February which we can’t wait for..  Finally we seem to be on the front foot.

Last but not least our loyal band of sponsors who, without their support, we could not go racing

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Flexicut Engineering

Sellyourcarfast

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

Quality Metal Solutions

Method Racewheels Australia

Xtreme DI

Northern Workwear

Jimco

Have a safe and merry festive season and see you at the raetrack in 2025!

GO SMU

Photo Credits – Show’n’go Photography, Hero Dirt Photography and Randall Kilner

After racing at Rainbow earlier in the year it was felt that the SMU Jimco needed a long overdue larger brake upgrade which meant going to 37 inch tyres, 17 inch rims and new rear hubs. The majority of Pro buggies these days are running this gear and father time was catching up.

With the help of Racer Imports and Method Wheels we embarked on the journey and are now pleased to report the SMU Jimco is not far off it debut run with the new brake and wheel / tyre brake package.

It is the intention to get a decent test session in the coming month with the assistance of Racer Imports Cameron Ritchie who will assist with car set up from a suspension perspective. This will also allow the driver to get some much-needed seat time before the team looks to head to the ARB Teagle Excavations Pines Enduro in September.

Looking forward to getting back into the action in the back end of the season after some major surgery, and seeing what this car can do when asked to stop on a dime!

Hoping to see a few at Pines a happy hunting ground in the past and back for the first time since 2018. Happy memories at Pines.

Thanks again to all of our partners in helping us get to races this year.  Without you we wouldn’t be there

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Sellyourcarfast

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

Quality Metal Solutions

Method Racewheels Australia

Xtreme DI

Northern Workwear

Teralume Industries

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Jimco

offroadracing.com.au

Go SMU!

Another year gone and another just started! 

From a racing perspective 2022 was not the best year for the SMU Race team. 

After a promising start in St George opening round in Prologue albeit with DI issues, the car was unable to get to the start line for heat 1 

Fast forward to Pooncarie Round 2 and although the car finished 3^rd with a small roll over, we were down on power all weekend and the SMU Racing Jimco not being its usual self. 

Finke Desert race continued to give no joy to the team going into limp mode on the start line for both prologue and the start of the main race before failing at the 65km mark. 

The team has gone back to the drawing board for 2023 with the car about to get rewired by Proloom which is exciting and hopefully will assist some of the gremlins we have been chasing. 

Shane Wilson Competition Engines have performed a complete overhaul of our race engine with some big modifications which we think will be game changers for reliability and performance. 

Albins have given our transmission a full overhaul for the season ahead and Flexicut have machined our manifolds in readiness back to new. 

The car is now almost back together and a dyno awaits in January with Quickbitz before hitting the track!   

Still unsure of our exact plans for 2023 given the plethora of races on offer, we are leaning towards a season opener at Rainbow in March.  A favourite track for the team and one where we know the car performs. 

We hope everybody had a merry and safe Christmas and holiday period and look forward to seeing everybody at the track in 2023! 

In the meantime we had some fun with Glenn Ridge in his Famous podcast recently.  Nice to reminisce about all things off road having a laugh along the way!  Click on the link for more 

https://famousinsurance.com.au/podcast-matt-hanson-former-australian-off-road-champion/

Thanks again to all of our partners in helping us get to races this year.  Without you we wouldn’t be there

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

P1 Motorsport

Xtreme DI

Sellyourcarfast

Northern Workwear

Teralume Industries

Quality Metal Solutions

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Jimco

offroadracing.com.au

If only the SMU Jimco had the reliability of Mick Jagger at the sweet old age of 79!! Well after a 3rd outright at Pooncarie with the car not quite behaving itself, the team went to Finke 2022 with high hopes……albeit heading to the famous SMU bogie track! Finke 10 SMU 2.

Some really good pre running and a nice test run for the car expectations were raised within the crew. However these expectations were soon again to be shot down in true Finke style. Finke Desert race – where Off Road Dreams go to die!

On the start line for Prologue no less, with the driver and navigator with eyes firmly on the prize before take off…..5 seconds left to literal take off the car goes into limp mode. Some sort of sick joke from the Finke gods which yet again will one day will make a result at Finke that much sweeter.

So (another) DNF in Finke prologue saw us seeded for the race to Finke on Sunday. A new battery thought to be the culprit as we chased an electrical gremlin and the old battery reinserted with the issue hopefully resolved. Yet again on the start line for the main race Sunday and with 10 seconds left to start, the car goes into limp mode again……REALLY??????

Turn the ignition off, turn on a few times and finally the SMU Jimco gets going – lost 16 seconds on the start line but hey its a long race so lets do it!

Good run with clean air, car quite still not its usual self we end up losing all power at the 65 km mark. Game over. Frustrating to say the least….

Electrical issue (presumed) still to be diagnosed and only now have toys began to be gathered and put back into the cot….there has been a lot of collecting….

Car now washed and we will begin the effort to ascertain what has happened although it is certain that we won’t be hitting the track again until we are 100 per cent sure what has occurred and it is fixed!

No date for next race….maybe Pines if all is fixed within the time frame. Otherwise 2023. Looking for motivation….it is always darkest before dawn!

GO SMU!

The SMU Racing team is off to AORC Round 2 this weekend in Pooncarie NSW. The team was last here 25 years ago in a Class 2 buggy. 500km race, a young 24 year old MH behind the wheel and the best we could muster was a 3rd in class result with some Kombi gearbox issues plaguing the day probably due to the massive horsepower of the L16 Datsun 1600 from memory!!

Anyway the team will be looking for a better result this time round and we couldn’t be happier with what has transpired since St George. Issue found to be an injector jammed on resulting in the excessive fuel use. All fixed now with Michael from Quickbitz weaving his final bitz (!) of magic on the dyno as we speak.

Car to leave for Coomealla Thursday night Show and Shine before we get under way racing at Pooncarie on Saturday and Sunday.

Really looking forward to hitting the track and getting a good run in.

Safe travel to all getting there and stay updated on Instagram and facebook over the weekend for team updates.

Thanks again to all of our partners in helping us get to races this year.  Without you we wouldn’t be there

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

P1 Motorsport

Xtreme DI

Sellyourcarfast

Northern Workwear

Teralume Industries

Quality Metal Solutions

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Jimco

offroadracing.com.au

GO SMU!

Well fair to say, not the start we were after at the AORC season opener at St George!

After arriving at the track on Friday at 7am we finally commenced our Prologue run at 5:30pm in thick dust, no wind and blinding sun as it set in the west.  Far from ideal prologue conditions.   5^th in the Prologue with the only good news that 2 minute dust gaps would be for the top 10 shoot out. This is a must for all events given its importance……

Amazing how good visibility is in a prologue…….anyway (!) dust free and sun free our top ten shoot out started well and we got into the groove.  About a third of the way we started losing power down low out of the corners but the engine would clear itself out down the straights.  As we got to the end of the 12kms circuit it got worse to the point of almost stalling on the final two corners.  As we crossed the line the car stalled and was (apparently) on fire in one of the mufflers!  Literally on fire!!!

End result was we used 42 litres of fuel in 12kms (lucky fuel is cheap the moment 🙁 and we came second by 3 seconds.  Unfortunately, this was our race end as were not able to diagnose the issue at the track and in any event we believe to be DI injector related which would have been a big fix, if at all.  

Never big on race cars sitting round in sheds and unfortunately this is what this car has done for pretty much two years.

Positives

Car still on the pace

Great to catch up with friends we haven’t seen for a long time

First race in a year and second in 2 years…..!

Negatives

Prologue track covered in mud from water truck – car needs to be pulled down for complete clean after 20km !

We didn’t finish and effectively AORC is over us as all rounds count – no dropping weakest round.

Midgee bites that got the crew but didn’t appear until five days after the event.  Ouch !

For now injector issues to be found and solved.  Next stop Pooncarie and then Finke.  Last time racing at Pooncarie was 1997…..!!!!!

Thanks again to all of our partners in helping us get to races this year.  Without you we wouldn’t be there

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

P1 Motorsport

Xtreme DI

Sellyourcarfast

Northern Workwear

Teralume Industries

Quality Metal Solutions

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Jimco

offroadracing.com.au

GO SMU!

The countdown to St George is in its final stages with 4 days until the rubber hits the dirt for Prologue for the AORC Round 1.

For SMU Racing we could not be happier with the prep for the big race.  The car has had a refresh after not doing much for the last two years due to covid.  It definitely would have been nice to get some more seat time in, but we are running with the theory that off road driving is a little bit like riding a bike…hopefully it shouldn’t take too long to get back in the groove!

The SMU Jimco is currently en route to St George with the remainder of the team flying in Thursday. Again Prologue is on Friday afternoon with a Shoot out Saturday morning before getting underway for the main event not long after.

The race looks to be hotly contested with over 100 entries which is a great start to the Championship. Up the front will be a real battle with Rentsch, Howells, Gartner, brother Beau Robinson and a host of others all in with a big chance for outright honours. For SMU Racing it will be about finishing and hopefully collecting some points in the process with the team scheduled in for at least the first three AORC rounds for 2022.

A massive thank you to all of our partners before embark on 2022. We appreciate your support.

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

AVR Performance

Xtreme DI

Sellyourcarfast

Northern Workwear

Teralume Industries

Quality Metal Solutions

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Jimco

offroadracing.com.au

Watch Instagram and facebook over the weekend for race updates

For those making their way to St George, travel safe and look forward to going racing again.

GO SMU!

After what feels like an eternity, the 2022 season opener is about to kick off in St George. For those around the country and particularly in Victoria, it has been some time!

The team is looking forward to getting underway and there has been some time spent getting things ready for the race after a long time of no racing.

It was great to get some time behind the wheel down the dunes at Christmas both in Car #7 and old faithful has been brought back into the garage! Fantastic to be out in this car again and getting the kids excited for ‘one day’!

We will be putting some lead up stories to the event so keep a watch out on the website, facebook and insta for the team’s lead up to the St George 399! Thanks again to our fantastic partners who without their support we would not be at the track

Dutton Garage

Dutton One

Shane Wilson Competition Engines

Mickey Thompson Tyres Australia

Racer Imports

Albins Off Road gear

HJC Helmets (KT Autosport Australia)

Quickbitz

AVR Performance

Xtreme DI

Sellyourcarfast

Teralume Industries

Quality Metal Solutions

Flexicut Engineering

Dynamic Wheels and Tyres

Race Paint

Jimco

Offroadracing.com.au

Northern Workwear

Happy Father’s Day Dad! And to all the Dad’s out there, we hope you had a great day.

Fingers crossed we can get to a race this year !

Stay safe and

GO SMU!

Fingers crossed we get a start at Rainbow although one must say it is hopeful rather than likely looking at this from the outside. Pines after Rainbow would be nice as would Loveday and even a trip out west to race wth our brothers in WA….again hopeful more than likely.

In any event we are ready to go racing like the rest of the off road racers so should the green flag be waved, pardon the pun., we will be there…..

In the meantime a big thanks to Benny Hutt form BE Nutts Productions. Our fault he hardly had any footage from St George 2021 but nevertheless he has used what he could to the best of his ability which is good!

Enjoy and again a massive thanks to our partners who stand by us waiting to get a start!

Stay safe and hopefully see everybody at a race soon….now wouldn’t that be nice