September 9, 2014
4WD fans who enjoy extreme driving – and everyone else who just enjoys watching other drivers pound their vehicles around challenging courses – will be flocking to Manar Park near Boondooma over the South Burnett-Cherbourg On Show long weekend.
This year the Park will be running its third annual “King Of The Park” Challenge, and it’s expecting to host even more visitors than the 1500 drivers and spectators who turned up last year.
Manar Park is located on the northern side of Lake Boondooma in the west of the South Burnett, about 100km from Kingaroy.
It offers hundreds of kilometres of rugged dirt tracks for 4WDs and bike riders, along with powered and unpowered camping ground sites and self-contained cabins.
The park also has coin-operated washing machines, hot and cold showers and flushing toilets – all located on an enormous 15,000 acre working cattle property.
Manar Park was set up in 2002 and is now one of the largest off-road parks of its kind in Queensland.
It’s open 365 days a year and dedicated to providing safe family fun for fans of 4WDs; Enduros, MotoX, SuperX and quad bikes; buggies; and extreme 4WDs.
In 2012 it held its inaugural “King Of The Park” weekend, based on the legendary “King Of The Hammers” event held in the USA.
This event was so successful that last October long weekend Manar Park brought it back again in an expanded format.
And this year – the third King Of The Park – there’ll be two separate classes of racing happening simultaneously: one class for Winch & Tuff Trucks; and another for Aust 4 and Rock Crawlers.
The races will be held on Saturday, October 5, and Sunday, October 6, over a marked course, with one section being used by the Winch/Tuff trucks and the other by the Aust 4/Rock Crawler competitors.
King Of The Park 2014 will follow much the same format as last year, but with a few alternations and additions.
This year, the main racing will take place all day on Sunday, with Saturday reserved for the sight lap, hill drags and a prologue lap to gain a starting position in Sunday’s race.
There’ll be a BBQ and informal Meet & Greet on Friday evening (free for the drivers and navigators, and available to everyone else for $10 per head).
And on Sunday night there’ll be a presentation ceremony for the winners and participants in the Ken Mills Toyota Marquee, followed by live music and the NRL Footy Finals on the Park’s big screen.
A licensed bar will be open and providing refreshment throughout Sunday evening
Entry to the King Of The Park Challenge is free for drivers, and offers sash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place-getters in both classes.
Entry is also free for spectators, and there are plenty of great spectator positions around the course.
Apart from the King Of The POark Challenge, all of Manar Park’s other tracks and loops will be open to all throughout the weekend for bikes, 4WDs and other off-road vehicles.
And if you want to make a complete weekend of it, you can camp at Manar Park from Friday through to Monday, or even longer if you want to enjoy the natural bush surrounds.
There’ll be food and drink available on-site throughout the weekend too.
You can find out more about Manar Park on their website; and you can find out more about the King Of The Park challenge on its Facebook page
