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.
Rally of the Bay – Review Part 2
This is part 2 of our review of the 2020 AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay. When we left you in Part 1, the Toyota Team pairing of Harry Bates and John McCarthy had built up a significant lead after three stages to be leading the rally by just over 26 seconds. And it was the other Toyota Yaris, driven by Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin that was sitting in second. Richie Dalton and [...]
Taylor Gill Battles the Rally of Gods to Take Second in Junior WRC
They don’t call it the Rally of Gods for nothing. The EKO Acropolis Rally is one of the most brutal tests in the World Rally Championship, and in 2025 it proved once again why it has earned its legendary status. With scorching heat, tyre-shredding rocks, and mountainous stages north of Athens, it pushed competitors to the edge. But for Aussie rising star Taylor Gill, it was a rally that tested his patience, precision, and perseverance, and he walked away [...]
XWC – Winch Action from Xtreme Winch Challenge
A fine and Sunny Saturday Morning would greet the ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge competitors and it was off to Special Stage 4 to get things started for the day. Rod and Russell Rathbone would be the first to tackle the stage. Starting first and the fresh morning air must have helped, as the Rathbone boys would take the stage win with 100 points, leaving the rest of the teams fighting for the minor places. One of [...]
FJ45 V8 Landcruiser Farmtruck Winch Machine
The COMEUP Xtreme Winch Challenge is a winching competition held in NSW and Queensland and we are featuring a few of the trucks that have competed at previous events. One fine example is the 1973 modified Landcruiser of Dave Burrows. Dave has been competing in these winching events for many many years with some great results. The 45 Series, affectionately known as the “Farm Truck” has a fuel injected 308 Holden motor stroked to 330cc. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Rally NSW – Development Rallying in Australia
Developing rallying in NSW is a key focus of the Rally NSW management team in 2017, and there has been some great competition in the Club Motorsport area, thanks to the Techworkz Development Rally Series (DRS). Rallying is a popular and exciting form of Motorsport that challenges man and machine against the clock. In recent years, we have seen a slow decline in entrants in Australia, but in New South Wales, there is a bit [...]
Arnhem Land – NT
By John McCredie In the North of Australia is a land area called Arnhem Land. It is an Aboriginal reserve that covers almost 100,000 square kilometres and has some of the most remote communities in Australia. You could say that the Aboriginal people own this land and whilst that is essentially true, the idea of ownership has quite a different meaning in their culture. Recently I was privileged enough to be able [...]
Ruggles Motorsport start Clubman Assault at AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay
The Ruggles Motorsport Team are planning a full assault on the 2020 Techworkz Automotive NSW Clubman Rally Series in their Group 4 specification Triumph TR7 V8. It’s an all family affair for the team with lead engineer and major sponsor Ben Ruggles heading up the team, Matt Ruggles driving and son Guy Ruggles in the co-drivers seat. They also have their adopted brother, ‘Pommy’ Paul Beaston on the Service Crew. Matt is no stranger to rallying, [...]
