ABOUT US
ON THE DIRT was created as a YouTube channel back in the first year that YouTube came into being, 2007. In those days, it was the personal YouTube account of John McCredie with a few little videos of some 4WD trips he had done with family and friends. John had always had a passion for gravel rallying and even won the Australian Rally Championship for pocket rockets in the front wheel drive 0-1300cc category. From there, this passion extended to four-wheel-driving and in 2009 John and his two sons Nathan and Jacob filmed their first 4WD Winch Comp.
The YouTube Channel soon started to grow in both popularity and size (number of videos) and was changed from the name OHM26 to ON THE DIRT. With more videos being produced and more 4wd and rally content being uploaded, the channel now has over 14,000 subscribers and almost 5 million views.
MacDonald Valley – NSW
The MacDonald valley is an easy trip close to Sydney with some great scenery and simple river crossings. Suited to any type of 4wd, and even the adventurous 2wd, the track follows the MacDonald River from St Albans. There are a number of crossings of the MacDonald River along the way and some of these are bridges, whilst towards the end they become open sand based river crossings. I would certainly not attempt this trip [...]
Motorsport Australia Launches New Licence Structure to Boost Rally and Off Road Participation
From July 1, 2025, it’s going to be easier, and more affordable than ever to get behind the wheel in Australian rally and off road events. Motorsport Australia has unveiled a fresh set of licence options aimed squarely at growing participation at the grassroots and state level. Whether you're chasing a club-level podium or giving rallying a go for the very first time, the new licence structure provides flexible, low-cost pathways into the sport we all love. Under the [...]
Richie Dalton Ready to Fly on Favourite Stages at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay
Irish-born rally star Richie Dalton, alongside co-driver Mac Kierans, is heading to Batemans Bay full of confidence and excitement as he prepares to take on the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay in his Toyota GR Yaris AP4. The car will be prepared and serviced by the renowned Neal Bates Motorsport team, a name synonymous with rallying success in Australia. Their technical expertise and championship-winning experience will be key in extracting every ounce of performance from Dalton’s GR Yaris [...]
National Title starts at AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay
PHOTO: Roy Meuronen NSW based competitors who aspire for an Australian Rally Championship (ARC) award, can now register and score points towards the ARC4 award by competing at the Batemans Bay based, AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay event. Motorsport Australia has updated the Sporting and Technical Regulations for the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship and the ARC4 award includes the Rally of the Bay. The ARC4 award is open to competitors who are [...]
The Mav – Ford Maverick Winch Truck
Peter Bannister competes in a 1992 model Ford Maverick, affectionately call “The Mav”. He and Navigator Josh Flynn were last seen competing at round 1 of the 2016 COMEUP Xtreme Winch Challenge series, but due to a few issues on Friday night and Saturday, could only manage to finish 7th outright. The Mav has a Ford badge on it, but is essentially a Nissan Patrol after Ford rebadged the model for sale in Australia back [...]
Palm Valley – NT
An oasis in a scorching land. Palm Valley is out of the ordinary with a gorge full of Cabbage Palms in a dry and inhospitable desert landscape. Located in the centre of Australia, this magnificent location is one of the most spectacular 4wd destinations in the Northern Territory. It is an ancient location and a unique form of palms grows abundantly within the valley. The Red Cabbage Palms are tall and tower above the river [...]
Redhead Ready for Redemption at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay
After a tough start to the season, young gun Josh Redhead and experienced co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith are looking to bounce back in a big way at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay, one of the most anticipated rounds of the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship. Redhead has shown flashes of serious speed in 2025 but has also had more than his fair share of bad luck. At Round 1 in Canberra, he banked some points early but saw [...]
New Isuzu D-Max X-Terrain Impresses
By John McCredie After taking the D-Max LSU for a drive last week, this week we are having a drive of the top of the range D-Max X-Terrain. The X-Terrain features coloured guard flares and matching coloured grille. It also has a nicely matched and sleek Aero bar on the back with a roller tooneau cover. The tub also comes lined, but as we’d find out after our off road trip, the roller cover and [...]
The 10 Best 4×4 Videos
Of course it goes without saying that OUR videos are the best 4x4 Videos, but we've been watching plenty of others over the years and here is our pick of the 10 best 4x4 Video chanels on YouTube. It can be hard work scrolling through pages and pages of 4x4 videos. There is some real junk out there too. So here we have our list of the top 10 sites on YouTube for 4WD videos (after our great channel [...]
