Day 0 - First Blood

Time to update after a very long couple of days.
Monday saw the convoy head to Legana Tyre & Auto to play on the wheel-aligner, and do some housekeeping with the Landcruiser brakes, and a new tyre on the trailer. Then into the Silverdome for Documentation, Scrutiny and "1st Timer" briefing. Illustrious fly-in co-driver, David Catt, hit the tarmac at Launy airport after 4pm, and made it in time for this, and his doco. The Subaru was positioned amongst the other 300 competitors in the Silverdome, and we hit pizzas and XBox back at the Penny Royal penthouse.

Tuesday (today) was an early start with a long briefing at 7am. This was followed by the drive to Georgetown and a sighting run around the 5km street course. This was the 1st time here, as we missed it during recce. Panda Man and I had not competed together since 2005, so there was some dialing-in to be had as well. After an extended wait in the sun while the field was regrouped, we hit the track and slipped and skipped around for a reasonable time. This stage doesn't count towards the event, only to define a running order, but it is a good guide as to your relative speed. 4th in Rookie was better than expected, but on the transport back to town, a problem raised its head. The new gearbox internals had been a little noisy under load in higher gears. Scotty put this down to the quickly-acquired 2nd-hand crown-wheel and pinion, but after the Georgetown stage, it became a very loud vibration.
After some head-scratching at the Silverdome service, the hard decision was made to pull the gearbox out. We carry a spare box, but both needed to be opened to swap the centre and front differentials over. The crownwheel attaches to the front diff, so this was swapped. This is no easy job on a tarp in a carpark, but the boys went at it with a vengeance. The deadline was 2 hrs away, and this was a very tall order.

With 2mins to go we fired up to discover a jammed selector!! Words cannot describe the next few moments, and Catty was dispatched to bargain for more time. He came back a winner, and gave the boys the breather we needed. Exhaust back off, oil out, the back of the box off, and she's all good again. The oil we use is very thick, and it alone takes about 20mins to put in, so to do it all again was a little heartbreaking. But once booked in, we were able to bolt on the various shields, etc. in the Parc Ferme area. Targa is certainly a different form of rallying, and it may take us a while to learn how to use its rules effectively, but I must praise the scrutineers who have been very helpful.

Squeezed it back into the Silverdome where the public expo was in full swing, and were reminded how loud the car is indoors. Children and old folk dived for cover!
We are now fed and fueled, and thoroughly knackered, but ready for a big day tomorrow. Hopefully we have used up the crap luck quota, and can get on with the job.
Big thanks to the crew for a monster effort today!