Day 2 - The Money Day

The crew were all a little lethargic for our start today, but a good finish yesterday gave us a later start time of 8.50am, so a MacAttack was pursued for breakfast.



The first stage was the fantastic TS10 Sideling, with a long transport from Launceston out to the foothills for the start. The WRX kept trying to turn up forest roads, and it took both Catty and I to hang onto the wheel to stop it from going GRAVEL on us!! Being able to have a red-hot go at the long Sideling was the major reason for doing this event, and it also fitted our strategy to give this a big dip. We figured that if we could rein in the Rookie leaders as little here, then we would attack for the rest of the day. But if we made no ground, then a consolidation of position would be the plan. And ATTACK we did! Drift King was the style as the surface was dusty, and lots of people spectating everywhere. Towards the finish we found someones oil for a heart-stopper moment, but otherwise it was great. There seemed to be a lot of triangles, and crews without cars on the roadside during the stage, so I figure you don't want to crash over the edge up there.



On to Ledgerwood for a quick splash of fuel, then a short run up the Lane. This is all horsepower, so we just let the car flow, prepared to loose a little time. With no updates of results for our major competitors, we were left to guess what to do at the 3 stage run down to St. Helens.

Moorina, Weldborough Pass and Pyengana all follow the main road and are similar in character. We chose to steady our progress, as the carnage continued and oil was about everywhere. We were also having a few understandable issues getting the notes to flow, and this led to a couple of bigger skids than usual.



Lunchbreak at St. Helens was a refuel and regroup, with Rob and Adam giving the car a quick once-over. Lunch is provided each day in the form of a pack of sandys, apple and juice, and this hits the spot. Then a run down to the base of Elephant Pass for a 12km climb. Still no results to compare, so we thought that attack may be the answer. Unfortunately that all changed on the start-line when the left-rear driveshaft snapped. It took the first few kms to work out which one was broken, and whether the broken end would flail about and smash an arm. Then a few more to get use to a psycho front-wheel-drive, before going the BIG DIP. A WRX is a nicely balanced car, until you remove a shaft, when it becomes truely evil and random drive. Backing it into corners proved to be the only quick way, and this seemed to work. It would break into wheelspin in 4th gear, so the right foot was working hard to control it.



After the stop control, Catty stuck his head underneath and confirmed the issue. A frantic call to the service crew got them ready for us at St. Marys, and 6mins, 11 secs after stopping, the shaft was changed and we were moving again. For anyone that knows cars, this is nothing short of legendary work by the boys, with arms and legs and tools going everywhere. This meant we dropped no time and headed to Rossarden for the last stage that counted. Big Cheers to the boys.



Rossarden is a strange piece of road in the middle of nowhere, and very fast to start then a big, exciting drop downhill. We fired through this OK and headed back towards Longford for the last town stage with the crew in tow. Last go for us and we threw the car about for some skids and giggles.



Back to the Silverdome for a Gala finish, to find we grabbed third outright! So we got to spray champagne and act important for the cameras. The WRX from Vic won the event, followed by the very trick Commodore ute. Yeah, I know , a ute! Trust us, this thing is fast and the guy can steer, so more power to them! Or maybe more power to us. As for us, a dirty old PRC gravel car with a restrictor fair flogged some trick cars, and we figured that we were running in the early 20s outright by the end of the day, so we are pretty pleased with ourselves.



Big thanks to Scott, Rob, Adam and Kai for a top job. Also must thank the Luscombes at Legana Tyre and Auto, the Vandenbergs for noting assistance, and our little list of sponsors who help it happen.

Day 1 - Dialing In

Just drying off after a fire-housing by the crew, as payment for a sly-dog trick Catty and I pulled tonight. More of that later!

Today began with a ceremonial start at the Country Club Casino and then a gentle pass over the first three stages. These are designed with an easy base time, so as to allow competitors to warm up without any pressure. The stages proper started with TS4 Paradise and this passed without any major incident, other than the odd overly-quick corner arrival. The gelling of driver/co-driver takes some time, and we were still settling back into this after a couple of years.
TS5 Nookville was downgraded to a transport after the untimely meeting of Porsche and bank.
This lead us into the lunch-break and re-fuel at Sheffield, and then on to Harford. A bit of a wait there while the roadshow got back underway, and then a blast over the stage. This one was covered in oil dropped by something very smoky, and quite slippery. A transport to the Frankford Highway, and the start of TS6 Harford. We settled into this one and set a respectable time, even with a couple of broken cars on the stage, and a misheard call on the finish call. Interesting!

The cars cut through the back of Beaconsfield to go to Kayena. This is a fast stage along the waters edge, and we gave this a big dip. Catty had to work pretty hard with the calls in here, and tried to steer me into the river, but luckily I am "perfect", so we lived to tell the tale! Back to Beaki for a fast little town stage for some skids, and then into the Silverdome for service and Parc Ferme.

The early results have us in 4th for Rookie Modern with maybe 20 secs covering those four. And tomorrows stages hopefully will better suit the car, with the North-East stages tight and technical. The setup changes made for this event have transformed its handling, and allowed us to push much harder than before.

So a trip to Glengarry for a barbi-up with Mick and Leanne Luscombe, and it was exceptional.
A very cruisy way to wind up the day, so many, many thanks to them for the hospitality.
The trip was made with both vehicles to carry all six crew, and the ensuing horse-play on the return led Dave and I to undertake a cruel but effective con. The Cruiser, packed with Scott, Adam, Rob and Kai fired away ahead, jibing at us on the radio. So we called them up with a fake breakdown, and hid down a side road, lights off. As they sailed-by looking for us, the Transit rocketed into town, crying from laughter all the way. By the time it clicked, they were back in Exeter, and we were close to town, discovering that the room keys were not with us. So we sat outside to wait, giggling like schoolkids.
Meanwhile the boys hatched their own revenge, parked the car down the road, and performed a stealth attack to the hallway near us. Add fire-hose to this and you get the picture!!

So now we look forward to a fearful, sleepless night, one eye open for protection from more pay-back. Some guys can't take losing!!

Waldo

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!

What makes it Quick?

Got our chance to test on Thursday arvo, after the Source workshop had cured the gearbox ills, and gave it some drivetrain again. Scotty and Rob have been busy playing with fiddly stuff too, adding an external isolation kill-switch that operates the usual dash-mounted switch from outside the car. This is to allow the battery to be manually isolated from the ignition in case of an accident or fire. Hopefully we will never use it!
Scotty hit the track to bed in the new two-piece front discs, and heat-cycle the tyres. The car looked settled, and he was able to easily reel off high 63 second laps. Back in the pits, the tyres were consistently scrubbed and at an even temperature. Out with the old pads and in with new, evened out the tyre pressures and sent him back out. Another five laps saw mid-low 63s, and Scott played with different lines to unsettle it. Back in, I pumped the pressures up to 40psi (from 35) and gave him another run. High 62, then low 62, then mid 61secs, and the car still looked at ease. I felt no need to drive it, as I was gaining more info from watching it around the track, and Scott Schumacher was making it look pretty easy.
This is the fastest time for this car so far, and on medium compound tyres, with weight in the boot. The gearbox performed fine, and the tyres and brakes are settling in OK. This is now some 2.5 secs faster around Baskerville than proir to Rally Tas, and whilst that doesn't necessarily apply directly to a rally stage, the car is infinitely easer to place on the road. So we are much more confident in its improved pace.
This weekend will be spent tidying up the little things, and loading up for Mondays drive North.
And how to make it Quick? Let the mechanic drive it!!!!!

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