Here Comes Targa

Quite a lot has happened since the last report, and as Targa is only a week away now, this is a good time to catch up with the teams progress.

The WRX has been back to the track to test more changes, mainly wheel alignment, ride height and pressure settings, based upon Scottys studious approach to suspension homework. With the car back at gravel height, and a little front toe, it was instantly easier to drive, and showed more even temperature across the tyre face. This allowed me to position it more freely, and as a consequence, the lap times dropped again. After several 5 lap runs, mid 62s were consistently achieved with ease, and Scotty also reported the same feel with his 5-lapper at the end. (Only a matter of time before he beats me out there, so I quietly restrict his quota of track time.) The car now feels back to its old self, and instills confidence.

Zara's work commitments have prohibited her attending Targa, and as regular co-driver Rosco Ferguson is already competing with Lightning Leigh Finlayson (as a direct combatant in Rookie Targa), an old favourite has been called upon to fill the silly seat. David Catt co-drove for the team in 2003-05 before moving to Townsville. Some say that was as far away as he could get in a hurry, but a subsequent move to murky Melbourne has put him a flying bus-trip away from the hotseat, and the calling is still strong. He gets no time to adjust back, as the recce was completed on Saturday with the venerable Rosco reading the notes, and Catty will only fly in on Monday evening before the first day of competition. The team has no qualms about his ability to cope, as he is famous for a high-fear threshold, and take-no-prisoners attitude.

Rallying was never meant to be easy though, and sure enough, some curly problems have arisen.
The preparation plan included an overhaul of the sorry gearbox, with its 4th gear issue still playing havoc. New gears, shafts, and all the other spinning metal devils were ordered via my north-western friends, and Scotty extracted the box whilst I was driving the course on Saturday. Unfortunately the new crown-wheel (installed prior to Rally Tas) came out with a detached tooth, with another similarly cracked. The considered opinion of all shown is this may have been a manufacturing problem. In the 5 gearboxes apart in the workshop, we did not possess another 4.44, and cracking open Johnnos gracious loaner (from my original car) surprised us with a 4.11. It had been a long time since we had been in that box, and much confusion had set in, so Scotty and I both cursed our crappy inability to recall this info. A quick check of the data revealed the original surely was a 4.11 to account for the extra low gear ratios.
Bugger!
A major ring-around found little until Pete O'Reilly, Subaru Guru sitting at the right-hand of Lord Brooks, sourced a matching crown-wheel and pinion in Melbourne, and has dispatched this with the night-flyers. Many thanks to all those who tried to help, including Tony Horsham, who happily offered a whole gearbox to the cause. Scotty has set about piecing the gearsets together while awaiting the bits, and I am dutifully attending to the accommodation, event requirements, and all the other little stuff that has to be done.
The team plans to test again as soon as the car hits the ground, with some adjustable rear strut-tops to be sorted, and new tyres to be heat-cycled, before the final pack-up on the weekend, and Mondays trip to sunny Launceston for Scrutiny.

In the middle of all this, we have sat out the first State Series gravel round, and watched the Orange Osmosis take a points lead for free. I write this with gritted teeth, but fully aware that you can't have it all, not yet anyway.\

See you soon,
Waldo