Ken Behrend and Paul Kennedy have raced together for years and were NSW Rally Champions in 1991 and 1995.
That all came to a crashing halt on the weekend, when the driver and navigator wrote their Datsun C Class 1600 car off in the Bago Rally.
The pair do not know what caused the crash, however investigations are being made into mechanical failure.
The men said they were travelling in a straight line downhill when they left the road at 90km/h.
They said they dropped around 20 feet over the right side of the road, spun 180 degrees, as well as rolling, before hitting the tree which finally stopped them from dropping further.
This was their first race in five years, coming out of retirement.
Mr Kennedy and Mr Behrend said they had a flat tyre earlier in the day and were out of contention and not pushing too hard.
But that was when disaster hit.
Post the crash, the men said they first checked on each other’s wellbeing before isolating the fuel so as to lower the risk of fire.
First on the scene were race officials who were monitoring a traffic control station approximately 70m from the crash site.
They helped the racers to get clear and then proceeded to relay information back to race headquarters.
That leg of the race was abandoned.
Mr Behrend suffered a cut to the nose from broken windscreen glass, a bruised forehead and his helmet was split.
Mr Kennedy said his right hand was very painful from having the steering wheel ripped out of his hands.
Both men said they are moving back into retirement as a result of the crash.
Mr Kennedy’s sons Adam and Grant were both competing in the NSW Rally Championships.
The gents will now sit back and watch the boys go around, they said.
Story: Darrell Nash
