Winter edition Jun - Aug 2014
Rex Driver #58
www.wrxsa.com
33 Woodlands Tce, Edwardstown, SA, 5039 Contact Sean and Jo phone 8277 2222
PO Box 400, Unley, SA 5061
2014/2015 Elected Club Committee: President:
Incorporated in Adelaide, South Australia - May 1999
Sam Jongenelis Mobile: 0402 936 908
Certificate number: AA0024461E
Vice President:
Club Address: Impreza WRX Owners Club of South Australia Inc.
Web Site Address:
Spiro Koulianos Mobile: 0402 311 294
http:\\www.wrxsa.com
Secretary:
E-Mail Address:
Tania Langcake
Information: info@wrxsa.com Club Committee: committee@wrxsa.com Magazine: rexdriver@wrxsa.com
Membership: The Impreza WRX Owners Club of South Australia is a club for motoring enthusiasts with a passion for performance cars. Our focus is on performance oriented Subaru vehicles, including the Impreza WRX, STI, Liberty RS, Forester GT and BRZ’s, but membership is considered from owners of other vehicles.
Club Magazine: The Club magazine Rex Driver is published quarterly and distributed free to all members. Contributions are welcomed from Club Members and interested parties alike and may be submitted by post or email to the Editor direct at: sethcoultas@gmail.com
Treasurer: Damien Hirst
Mobile: 0422 277 109
Membership Officer: Gareth Scanlen
General Positions: Sam Jonganelis (Cruise Master) Damien Hirst (Motorsport Co-ordinator) Nigel McGaffin (Events Co-ordinator) Andrew Kreiger (Webmaster) Rob Gromball ( Social Media) Kylie Singleton (Business Liaison) Jarrad McGaffin, Brendan Moore, Mitchell Bryres, John Tomazos
CAMS OFFICER Matt Knighton Use Club’s mobile number 0413 025 697 for other enquiries to other committee members
Club Patrons:
Layout & design
Cody Crocker, Team Subaru Sam Brand, BrandMotorsport
Seth Coultas (Magazine Editor)
All contents © 2014 Impreza WRX Owners Club of South Australia Inc.
DISCLAMER: The views and/or opinions expressed in any/all articles in this magazine are not to be considered the views and/or opinions of the Club, editorial staff, or any committee member. While all care is taken in the preparation of this publication, the Club, its committee and its contributors accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the whole or any part of the magazine. The club wishes to highlight that that any modifications made to your car may void your factory warranty, and any racing / sporting events may void your insurance cover. Articles regarding either of these matters are for interest value only and are not recommended to our members.
Email: sethcoultas@gmail.com
Get more BANG for your $$$ Advertise in the S.A. magazine that reaches more Rex Drivers (& other high performance Subaru drivers) Contact: Seth Coultas email: sethcoultas@gmail.com
See page 41 of Rex Driver for costs 1
Official Magazine of the
Impreza WRX Owners Club of South Australia Inc. Winter 2014
Contents CLUB RACING
MOTORSPORTS
13
Mid Murray - Rallysprint Round 1
16
22
Phillip Island Tour 2014
28
OzGymkhana Round 2
Rally America Update Climb to the Clouds New England Forest Rally Ojibwe Forest Rally
30
OzGymkhana Round 3
20
Isle of Man TT
36
Collingrove Hillclimb
32
Scouts Rally SA
39
Nurbergring 24-Hour
40
World News
2
Front cover Photo by Justin Hanney
SOCIAL 8
WRXSA Cudlee Fox Cruise
19 WRXSA Family BBQ
REGULARS 1
Club Info Page
4
President’s Report
4
Finance Report
5
Editor’s Welcome
6
Club Championship
9
New Members Welcome
10 Member Profile : Rocky Codispoti 38 ‘Classic’ Rex Driver 42 Business Partners 44 Upcoming Events
ARTICLE & PHOTO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Well done everyone that contributed to make this edition of Rex Driver, without your support this magazine would not be possible: Sam Jongenelis Damien Hirst Kylie Singleton Rocky Codispoti Garry Dodd Justin Hanney Tania Langcake David Rowe Nigel McGaffin Jarrad McGaffin Paul Bugala Max Coleman Frank Kutsche "Sticks & Stones" Photography Brad Halliday Photography MDB Images Subaru USA & Japan Lars Gange
if you would like to contribute or just send in some pics of your car just contact me at sethcoultas@gmail.com.
3
Sam Jongenelis Club President
Welcome to the latest edition of Rex Driver. We have recently had our AGM where we voted in the new committee for 2014/15, most positions remained unchanged but we welcome aboard the new members to the committee for the year. I would also like to congratulate Damien Hirst, Andrew Kreiger and Gary Wolstencroft on becoming life members of the club. All three have contributed an exponential amount of time into the club over their years
of membership, so it seemed fitting for them to be considered for the honour. The fight for the lead of the club championship is heating up as it draws closer to the finish. With hotly contested rounds at Collingrove and more recently at the go kart night. I look forward to the remainder of the year for the club and working to make this years xmas bbq another great day out. Its not far away now.
Treasurer’s AGM Report
4
Outgoing
-8175 -435
Damien Hirst
AGM 2014 : Funds as of August 2014 Cash Tin balance: 127 PayPal Account Balance: 0 Cheque Account Balance: 7,579 Outstanding Debits/Cheques to be Drawn 640 Outstanding Deposits & Income: 0 Net Club Funds after outstanding transactions: 7,066 Significant Transactions Incoming Incoming Significant Transactions 7740 from 31st Aug 2013 to 24th Aug 2014 Outgoing Significant Transactions from 31st Aug 2013 to 24th Aug 2014 Club made a Loss of:
EDITORIAL
Seth Coultas
Welcome back once again, my apologies for a slightly late edition, I have been away on a family holiday to Tasmania and while I may have been stuck driving a Renault Koleos rental I saw enough to know that I defiantly want to go back there again one day, and this time in the STI. I got a small taste of the roads around Cradle Mountain and from the others I have seen as part of Targa Tasmania footage I think it would be well worth the road trip! Speaking of road trips, this edition we have heaps of photos and testimonies from the Philip Island Tour that saw 10 members make the trek over the Victoria. It may have been a bit wet (typical Victoria!) but it doesn’t sound like it dampened their spirits or excitement! Along with the Phillip Island feature I have managed to cram in plenty of other stories including Garry Dodd and his first Rallsprint; 2 Ozgymkhana events where WRXSA drivers did us proud; and plenty of Subaru news from here in SA and around the world.
a great success with lots of members in attendance. There are some fresh new faces on the committee and we awarded 3 long standing club members Life Membership status for their contribution to the club over the last 7+ years. Congratulations to Damien Hirst, Gary Wolstencroft and Andrew Kreiger! Finally in exciting late breaking news, after months of teasers, Peregrine Corporation have finally announced their official vision for the new SA Motorsport Park out at Tailem Bend. The circuit is to be a challenging 5km course featuring multiple configurations including the option for it to operate as two completely independent tracks. It is said to be fast and flowing but will also feature technical sections with inspiration taken from many existing tracks around the world and tailored to suit the Tailem Bend site. The Motorsport Park will also include a Group 1 drag strip, burnout pad, world class drift circuit, rally track, go kart circuit and 4WD adventure park.
The final design approvals are scheduled for the end of this Collingrove has been particularly busy over the last few months year, with work to start on site as early as next February. Most so I have added an overall leader board so everyone can keep importantly, if all goes according to plan we could be among the track of the fastest times, and see who they will be gunning for first people to race on this new track in late 2015! next time. While the actual design layout is yet to be revealed at the time Unfortunately I can’t cover everything in the magazine, we had of printing you can rest assured that I will be in direct contact a Tech night at S&J to get a closer look at the 2015 WRX STI with both the Business Development Manager from Peregrine and its potential, which sounded very informative, the AGM was and the Design Director at M Track in an effort to get the most accurate information available.
CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4: Collingrove Hillclimb
COMBINED CC SCORE:
ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Round 6: Philip Island Sprint
1st place = Jason Bartsch = 18 points 2nd = Brendan Moore = 17 pts After mighty Mt Alma, WRXSA headed to the smaller but always 3rd =Russell Badenoch = 16pts tricky, Collingrove Hill Climb. And what a great member attendance it 4th = Ben Hersey = 15 points 5th = Damien Hirst = 15pts was for this round! WRXSA had nine members’ entrants and there 6th = Dylan Butler = 15 pts was a few other WRX’s present also. The club hasn’t seen this many 7th = Matt Knighton = 11pts members since the early days! It was great to see many new 8th =Tania Langcake = 10pts members giving Collingrove a go and taking advantage of the 9th = Damien Anderson = 9pts Personal Best scoring to have a run in the S&J Automotive Club Championship. Club Marquee was up in prime location and huge BBQ Round 5: OzGymkhana lunch was put on with the teamwork of Damien, Tania and the Tong A date change had OZGymkhana move to 1st June. Eight WRXSA Master, Gareth running the BBQ! entrants participated. Garry Dodd had his green WRX rebuilt back for A fine sunny day was rare for mid-May but a good opportunity for this and impressively went to take outright win of the event! WRXSA members did well to maintain positions in the field throughout the the beginners to the track. Some good times for first time out from Brendan Moore (99 Wagon)37.23, Damien Anderson (06 WRX)38.79, day. Check out the full wrap up on page 28 with Dylan Butler (02 WRX) 38.29, taking his previous personal best down by almost 2 secs! Damien Hirst (99 STI) was in his usual 34 OUTRIGHT ROUND 5 RESULTS: seconds. Russell Badenoch in his immaculate Forester XT was 1st: Dodd = 12pts impressive with 36.54 times but just pushed to third WRXSA outright Coultas = 11pts by Jason Bartsch (06 STI) with a 36.08! Ben Hersey kept up a 37.37, Moore = 10pts Bartach = 9pts Tania Langcake (06 WRX) maintain her times at 37.43 and Matt Scott = 8pts Knighton (99 WRX) had a new setup with some minor problems but Tania = 7pts still ran 37.15. Jason Bartsch was Round 4 winner and entered the Butler = 6pts Club Championship with a huge amount of points added to the Anderson =5pts Leader board due to the large number of WRXSA entrants.
Personal Best Results:
1st Dylan Butler 38.29/40.08 = minus 1.79 = 13pts 2nd Brendan Moore 37.23/37.95 = minus .72sec 12pts 2rd Ben Hersey 37.37/37.85 = minus .48 11pts 4th Jason Bartsch 36.08/36.30 = minus .22 10pts 5th Russell Badenoch 36.54/36.64 = minus .1 9pts 6th Damien Anderson 38.79/38.84 = minus .05 8pts 7th Tania Langcake 37.43/37.46 = minus .03 7pts 8th Damien Hirst 34.34/33.7 = plus 0.64 6pts 9th Matt Knighton 37.15/36.14 = plus 1.01 5pts
Outright Results: 1st Damien Hirst 34.34secs = 9pts 2nd Jason Bartsch 36.08 8pts 3rd Russell Badenoch 36.54 7pts 4th Matt Knighton 37.15 6pts 5th Brendan Moore 37.23 5pts 6th Ben Hersey 37.37 4pts 7th Tania Langcake 37.43 3pts 8th Dylan Butler 38.29 2pts 9th Damien Anderson 38.79 1pt
6
Members once again had the chance to drive Australia's best motorsport circuit. This is far different to any other driving you would ever get to do in South Australia. This is a high speed track with not much braking. The fast flowing circuit lets you drive the WRX as it should be. Well worth the experience.
Check out the full wrap up on page 22
Round 7: Go Kart Endurance
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
Another variation to the Club Championship is a Go Kart Endurance, promoting team work among members. A 180 lap race among ten teams saw two people per kart pit stopping every 20 laps to change driver. It was a great fun and successful night. With outright points added to the leader board as a bonus non discipline round saw the leader board top 4 team up for maximum points. Club Championship leader Jason Bartsch teamed with Brendan Moore to finish 6th overall to gain 7points and Damien Hirst teamed with Tania Langcake resulting in 7th overall to grab that one extra point with 8pts to add to leader board. Dylan Bulter and Hugh McLauglin teamed to finsh 3rd place resulting in a boost up the leader board with a nice 10points added. Bradley Day was 2nd place and Race winners go to James Bill and Shane Sickerdick with first place and Shane also had fastest lap of the race! Photo by: Kylie Singleton As you are reading these Club Championship results in Rex Driver, Collingrove Round 8 has been completed and awaiting official run results for scoring. Jason Bartsch is still in the lead and looking promising for a good chance at the Grand Prize. Brendan Moore is in between Tania Langcake and Damien Hirst still able to catch Jason possibly with Round 8 results. Dylan Butler is fast catching, could Round 8 give him enough to join the leaders and make it five members taking it down to the wire!? With four rounds to go, and a Mallala Sprint coming up, Personal Best points still favour the Rookies in the Club Championship for a grand prize of a set of Hankook Tyres thanks to our sponsor, S&J Automotive. Anyone can be Grand Champion yet‌.
Competitor
RD4
RD5
RD6
RD7
Jason Bartsch
18
9
19
7
53
Damien Hirst
15
13
8
52
Tania Langcake
10
7
7
8
50
Brendan Moore
17
10
7
44
Dylan Butler
15
6
10
31
10
24
Hugh McLauglin Ben Hersey
Damien Anderson
Collingrove Hill Climb OZGymkhana Collingrove Hill Climb Mallala Super Sprint Willunga Hill Climb
9
12 9
TOTAL
22 12
Garry Dodd
21 20
5
5
19
David Rowe
19
19
Andrew Kemmler
19
19
Seth Coultas Russell Badenoch
11
18
16
16
Jarrad McGaffin
14
Hamish Scott Matt Knighton
14
8
14
11
11
Paul Bugala
9
9
CLASS RESULTS MODIFIED
REMAINING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 31st August 21st Sep 26th Oct 2nd Nov 30th Nov
15
Nigel McGaffin
Damien Hirst
RD8 RD9 RD10 RD11 RD12
14
RD8
Jason Bartsch Damien Hirst Brendan Moore STANDARD Tania Langcake Hugh McLauglin
53 52 44
OPEN / RACE / ASSOCIATE 50 24
David Rowe
19
7
The Cudlee Fox Cruise This 120km hills cruise took in some roads not often used including Summertown, Basket Range, Oakbank, Mylor and more, ending at CafĂŠ Buongiornos Mitcham for a coffee & cake.
Photos by: Rocky Codispoti 8
Welcome New Club
Members! Fellow members please make new members feel welcome at future events. We hope they will enjoy their time in the club, and wish them the very best.
493 Teal Watkins 494 Kim Pham 495 Tony Risitano 496 Matthew Langbrander
Don’t forget membership renewals are due now!
I have always wanted to own a Subaru WRX and as soon as I could afford one I went for my favourite shape the classic gc8! The next thing I wanted was to be involved in a car club which has now been fulfilled and am loving it! I have so far only been on 2 cruises and watched 1 OzGymkhana but am looking forward to participating in more Motorsport. Everyone has made me feel very welcome in WRXSA and appreciate it! I would also like to mention everyone up at S&J and say a BIG THANKYOU to Sean, Joanne, Dan, Brad, Matt, Shane, Simon, Reece and Mark, for all the flawless work they have done on my car and their amazing customer service! :) These are some of the mods on my WRX all done through S&J: S&J professionally built EJ257 semi-closed deck shortblock. Forged CP pistons. Cross drilled crank + STI heavy duty rods. Cylinder heads reconditioned. Valve clearance set. Cam timing custom tuned. Hi-flowed E-85 injectors. 3" turbo back exhaust. VF34 turbo. AVO silicon inlet. 500hp fuel pump. FMIC with custom piping. Custom cold air intake into front guard with apexi power pod filter. Hybrid electronic boost control. ECUTEK type 3 custom tune. PPG 1st, 2nd straight cut 3rd, 4th helical gearbox with all new synchro's. Redline light weight shockproof gearbox oil. ACS Extreme heavy duty 4 piece clutch kit, fly wheel machining and thrust and spigot bearings. Whiteline positive shift kit. Rear Donut bushes. Anti-lift kit. Carbon fibre STi strut brace. Slotted front discs. MRT brake pads. New OEM struts. Super Low King Springs. P1 front lip. Plasti dipped rims, P1 front lip, spoiler and rear cannon. Rocky Codispoti
Results: AWKW = 240 TORQUE = 968nm PSI = 21 Big Grins!
Mid Murray MotorPlex Rallysprint Round 1 Story GARRY DODD Photos FRANK KUTSCHE
Garry Dodd out on the track
Having brought a fully prepared rally GC8 WRX last year, I was looking for an event I could give the car a good run at. I wanted gain some experience for myself and my navigator without hitting up a full blown rally straight away. A Rally Sprint at a property less than an hour away was the perfect opportunity. The Southern Districts Car Club opened the Mid Murray Motorplex this year, their new dirt competition venue, located near Cambrai. They hosted the first round of the SA Rally Sprint Series and 19 crew turned up to do battle. The venue
offered a bit of everything to test driver skill and the cars ability.
Short tests of about 6km through many tight and sandy corners with linking sections flat, fast and narrow track, led to pushing hard with no time to relax.
This was my first lesson on the day: after coming from hillclimbs and gymkhana where a run isn't more than 2 minutes, having to focus and drive on the limit for around 8 minutes seemed a hard task. My navigator, Andrew Wouters, is a friend of mine from high school and having know each other for 20 years we figured we could trust each other. Lesson 2 - Trust. Being able to confidently hit a blind corner and relying on pace notes is necessary to be a quick rally driver.
Lucky for us there wasn't many blind corners but I still took a few runs to trust what I was hearing and attack where I was told I could. My mate wasn't too trusting of me at the start either. We were both amazed at the acceleration, braking and handling of a proper rally car, the tyres alone make an enormous difference. Having driven it a few times I pushed hard straight away and Andrew throat was dry and his hands were shaking at the end of our first run. We managed to be 5th quickest on that run so we chatted about what was good and what was bad, gaining a little confidence and strapped in for another go.
There was some serious competition on the day and also plenty of people out for fun in what ever they could afford. Some lads in a stock GT4 Celica pulled out early, realising they would only break the car if they continued while a rally built GT4 had issues during the day but limped to the end. The were a few cars that saw quick repairs and alteration between runs and the was a constant buzz in the pits. I managed to set the fastest time on the 4th run of the day but on the 5th my car also needed some work. I has hit a big rock on the way to the event and damaged the right rear suspension. I hoped the car would last the day but after hearing some scrubbing coming for that corner of the car I knew something had let go. Some how we still come in 3rd quickest on that run but was quickly told by someone in the pits that the tailing arm was hanging down. There was no way the car could continue but I did need to get it home. Mateship is one of the great things about club level motorsport. Competitors from other crews offered us help, parts and advice to get see my WRX patch enough to make it home.
A bunch of hard driving was seen all day and most cars made it to the end. The event was eventually won by Paul Knopka and Dion Gauci in a Subaru Liberty RS. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who learnt a lot during the day and had a great time. Some quick times and good company has me super keen to get back out onto the dirt and use my WRX for what it was built for. It was always a dream to rally and it's everything I imagined. RD
14
Southern Districts Car Club Mid Murray Motorplex
David Higgins is “King of the Hill” at the 2014 Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb, breaking his own course record set in 2011 by over two seconds. At the wheel of his 2014 Subaru WRX STI, Higgins set a blistering new record time of 6 minutes and 9.09 seconds on New Hampshire’s sinuous 7.6 mile Mt. Washington Auto Road. Higgins’ teammate Travis Pastrana, with codriver Chrissie Beavis, made it a Subaru one-two by finishing a close 2nd Overall just three seconds behind Higgins’ new record. Higgins and Pastrana also finished onetwo in the Rally America Championship portion of the event, which scored drivers based on their cumulative time across the four half-course practice runs and two full course runs. The victory marks Higgins’ fourth this season and extends his lead in the 2014 Rally America Championship. “It was a great event and we put in a big effort for those few seconds,” explained Higgins. “There is so much history here
Prior to the event Higgins felt his chances at a new record were out of reach due to the more restrictive rules of the Rally America Open Class compared to that of the Hillclimb’s own Open class, in which he entered and broke the record in 2011. The more restrictive rules meant that the 2014 Subaru WRX STI Higgins drove this Higgins teammate Travis Pastrana, driving an identically prepared Subaru, year was equipped with almost 100 less horsepower while being 500lbs heavier was able to bounce back from several than his 2011 record-breaking car. setbacks at the event. On his second However, 160 of those pounds come top-half run he clipped a rock on an via his co-driver Craig Drew sitting inside corner puncturing his tire and beside him this year. Higgins ran subsequently losing time to Higgins. Then on Sunday his first full-course run without a co-driver in 2011 and needed was slowed by a loss of boost pressure to drive the road from memory at the time. The addition of a co-driver in 2014 which was subsequently fixed by his enabled Higgins to go flat-out with team mechanics ahead of his second confidence. full course run. Pastrana’s final run up the mountain was trouble free but was just seconds off of Higgins record pace, “After our splits on the lower half practice runs were a bit slower than the eventually finishing with a time of 6 record pace I was definitely thinking the minutes and 12.29 seconds. record was out of reach,” explained Higgins. “We had more weight and less “We knew it was going to be tough to catch David here,” said Travis Pastrana power this time but our Subaru really at the podium celebration. “It’s great for excelled on the top-half of the course which has the dirt section and some the team to go one-two and lower the record again. It was a close fight on that very technical parts. Our speed there is what helped us surpass the record.” final run and our Subaru was just a blast to drive here.” and it’s great to be a part of it again for Subaru. This was a big challenge this weekend as we had Pastrana and our old record staring us down. But Craig (Drew) was perfect on the notes and Subaru gave me a car that was perfect.”
on stage ten which heavily damaged the rear suspension. After limping the car out of the stage, Higgins and Drew began performing repairs to enable the car to drive on the road section back to service park. While making repairs under the car a small fire flared from a burst brake line and Higgins accidently received a face full of fire extinguisher spray. In discomfort and with his eyes painfully irritated Higgins made it to service to receive medical attention while the service crew feverishly repaired his Subaru.
this event, we have so often come here and had to drive conservatively to net points toward the end of the year, but this year we could afford to just go for it. Big thanks to Subaru and Vermont SporstCar for giving us the ultimate tool for the job!”
Pastrana may well have stolen victory from Higgins but his chances were scuttled when he impacted a large rock Subaru Rally Team USA driver David on the first leg which punctured a tire, Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew are losing him over one minute to Higgins. Rally America Champions for the 4th Pastrana made big strides in getting consecutive year after overcoming late back up to speed, and getting rally adversity to win the New England comfortable with his new Subaru, in Forest Rally in Newry, Maine. Taking what was just his fourth rally after being their fifth victory this season away from the sport for three years. mathematically secured their Pastrana won five stages to Higgins’ Championship with two events still eight, with several stages decided by remaining. Their Subaru teammates Travis Pastrana with co-driver Chrissie Pushing adversity aside Higgins and his tenths of a second. “Getting those stage wins was great and I’m getting more fully repaired STI then won the final Beavis finished in 2nd Overall, their comfortable for sure, we are close to three stages of the rally to win by 44 fourth consecutive 2nd place finish. seconds over Pastrana. “It was a great where we need to be to now fight for a victory this season.” rally until that bit of drama at the end!” A trouble-free victory was in Higgins’ smiled Higgins at the podium sights for a majority of the event after Two rounds remain in the 2014 Rally celebration. “Big thanks to (Travis) Pastrana, his closest challenger, was slowed early on the first day after hitting Pastrana and (3rd place finisher) Adam America National Championship; The Ojibwe Forest Rally in Detroit Lakes in a large rock. Higgins then maintained a Yeoman for stopping to help us out. This rally certainly can bite back at any August and then the classic Lake comfortable lead on Pastrana until time and we knew it wasn’t going to be Superior Performance Rally in drama unfolded late on the final day Houghton in October. when his Subaru impacted a large rock over until it is over. We wanted to win
1st Place
SUBARU
and our Subaru were perfect again, and big thumbs up to Craig (Drew) as this was the only event in the championship that he had yet to win.” “The Ojibwe Forests Rally organizers put on a fantastic event for both fans and competitors,” stated Rob Weir, Subaru Motorsports marketing manager. “We’re proud to put Subaru at the top of the podium at this Rally America round, and look forward to our return in 2015.” The final stop on the Rally America calendar will be the Lake Superior Performance Rally October 17 -18 in Houghton, Michigan.
Travis Pastrana kept the pressure on teammate David Higgins through most of the rally.
The rally however belonged to David Higgins and Craig Drew. They won nearly all of the event’s sixteen competition stages, with just two stages narrowly won by Pastrana. Higgins battled through the fog on the second day’s night stages to pull time from Pastrana and then never looked back after Pastrana’s retirement, winning all The Muscatell Ojibwe Forest Rally was of the final day’s stages while cruising the penultimate event of the eight round to the finish. 2014 Rally America Championship and “This rally is always a difficult one and featured three days of competition on high-speed and technical forest roads in this year was no different. We had thick fog to contend with on Friday night, plus Northwestern Minnesota. The rally is real tricky road conditions where it highly regarded for its flowing and technical sandy gravel roads which are would be very slippery and wet in spots,” explained Higgins. “Travis a favourite among rally drivers. (Pastrana) was pushing us real hard The rally began with a close duel and it was a big challenge to go fast in between teammates Higgins and those conditions. After Travis exited the Pastrana, with Pastrana only 24.1 rally we obviously had it easier but we seconds behind at the beginning of the still pushed a bit and tried some final day of competition and ready to different things with the car. The team push to close the gap on Higgins. Unfortunately Pastrana slid wide off the racing line and became stuck in a ditch on the final day’s first stage. Pastrana tried in vain to free his high-centered Subaru and was forced to retire from the event. It was Pastrana’s first nonfinish of the season after a string of four consecutive podium finishes prior to Ojibwe. To the delight of the fans, the event organizers allowed Pastrana to race as exhibition only on the final stage of the event which ran through the streets of Detroit Lakes. Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins and his co-driver Craig Drew claimed victory at the 2014 Muscatell Ojibwe Forest Rally in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The duo maintained the leading pace despite constant pressure from factory teammates Travis Pastrana and co-driver Chrissie Beavis
WRXSA FAMILY BBQ DAY Thorndon Park - Paradise
A big thanks to Tania and all who put on the family day! Our whole family had a great time, and the kids can’t wait to get back to the park. Food was excellent, location was great and the company was even better. Thanks again!
34
Mark Higgins piloting a 2015 Subaru WRX STI has set a new lap record of the fabled 37-mile Isle of Man TT Road Course with an average lap speed of 116.470 and a time of 19.26. This breaks the previous record of 115.36 that he set three years ago in a 2010 Subaru WRX STI.
“There is nothing like the TT course in all of racing, it’s just an amazing circuit,” said Mark Higgins. “Not just because of its length, but the elevation changes, constant surface variations as you shift from town to country roads and the fact that we run roughly 30 mph and then up to 160 plus for much of the race.”
“It was quite a lap we did today and I am really happy to have another record in the bank. The chassis on this new car is so much better it really allowed me to pick up time in each sector in the more technical parts of the course,” Higgins said. “I think there is definitely time that we left on the course. I lost time on the second part of the track, overshooting my braking point at Sign Post corner. I actually handbraked the turn in the end, so I feel we can definitely do better.”
“We are happy to be back at the Isle of Man as a sponsor. There is nothing like a lap of the TT circuit to push a car to its limits. As the official car of the TT, this record is especially gratifying,” said Dominick Infante, National Manager of Product Communications, Subaru of America, Inc. “The Isle of Man really shows the improvements we have made to the new WRX STI in terms of chassis and steering.
The car Higgins drove is a stock U.S.-spec 2015 WRX STI, with the exception of an FIA-spec roll-cage, racing seat and harness, fire suppression system and modified springs and dampers to handle the sustained high speeds and changing conditions of the course. The Subaru WRX STI also featured Dunlop Derezza tires and a high decibel straight exhaust for crowd safety. The speed limiter was also removed from the car.
Mark and his brother David (also a noted Subaru Rally car driver) were both born on the Isle of Man and started racing karts at the age of 9. By the time he was 17 Mark began his professional motorsport career going on to win 3 British Rally Championships in 1997, 2005 & 2006. He has also competed in the WRC 43 times and has works as a stunt driver in the James Bond films Quantum of Solace & Skyfall.
In his previous attempt on the course, Higgins created one of the most memorable race videos when he had a self-described “moment” at the bottom of Bray Hill at 150 MPH. The video has received almost 4 million views. After setting the record Higgins stated, "Setting the record was both the most exhilarating and the most frightening thing I have ever done." To watch Mark’s 2014 record breaking run set aside 25 minutes and head over to YouTube:
http://youtu.be/t7gmbQ8KxM4
TOUR 2014
One of the changes to the annual Club Championship was to give more variation of motorsport to members. This was achieved by adding Phillip Island Sprints, hosted by the Victorian WRX club and combining it with a WRXSA Club ‘Tour’ event for all to come along. Where to start with such an awesome event! The Tour aside, the track itself is world class. Although in middle of winter, rain was expected but didn’t discourage 10 WRXSA members from coming all way over to experience this. All nine WRXSA entrants were first time to Phillip Island except Damien Hirst (99 STI), who organised the first Tour last time in 2012. The morning started with overcast weather, some rain on and off throughout the day. The track was patchy and the racing line was dry enough to run on. First run in the morning saw some of us lose a lot of traction and eventing in some spins. Second run saw some faster times but still cautious to stay on the racing line as it was very slippery outside the lines. Lunch time saw the track bone dry and the sun was out. Passenger rides were the fastest laps of the day with flat out fun driving. Unfortunately passenger rides weren’t timed. Third run was looking good but somehow lunch break took forever and finally when we just lined up for the third run, it rained! Last final run was lost due to a Porsche GT3 cup car doing a write off into the barriers. Unable to repair the barriers the day was called. That’s just
Jason Bartsch: Fastest on the day
motor racing when we can’t help those days. Regardless of the wet conditions, some impressive times were posted by WRXSA. Damien Hirst (99 STI) had no luck running on Rspec tyres in slippery conditions and only managed 2min08 seconds, a long way off his Personal Best. Tania Langcake (06 WRX) cautiously did 2m29.74, Paul Bugala (05 STI) 2m20.78, Jarrad McGaffin (98 WRX) when not doing drifting, managed a 2m19.00. Nigel McGaffin (11 STI) 2m14.12 and Hugh McLaughlin in his GT Liberty pulled an impressive 2m11.72! David Rowe, still driving a Evo 7 these days, pushed a 2m10.17. Andrew Kemmler did very well first time in motorsport in his 04 STI, flat out pulling a 2m08.09! And Round 6 winner is Jason Bartsch (06 STI) with fastest time of 2m06.74! Well done to all as these times are all very good for wet conditions. Jason, Andrew and David all tied with 19pts for this Round. Jason topped the leader board with another big boost of points to take the lead in the Club Championship. Damien Hirst
Results for Round 6: OR: (WET) Jason Bartsch 2:06.74 = 9pts Damien Hirst 2:08.09 = 8pts Andrew Kemmler 2:08.14 = 7pts David Rowe 2:10.17 = 6pts Hugh McLaughlin 2:11.72 = 5pts Nigel McGaffin 2:14.12 = 4pts Jarrad McGaffin 2:19.00 = 3pts Paul Bugala 2:20.78 = 2pts Tania Langcake 2:29.74 = 1pt
PB: (wet) David Rowe -9.6 = 13pts Andrew Kemmler -8.4 = 12pts Jarrad McGaffin -6.7 = 11pts Jason Bartsch -6.20 = 10pts Hugh McLaughlin -6.21 = 9pts Nigel McGaffin -4.5 =8pts Paul Bugala -4.3 = 7pts Tania Langcake -0.59 = 6pts Damien Hirst +51 = 5pts
TOTAL POINTS RD6: Jason Bartsch = 19pts David Rowe = 19pts Andrew Kemmler = 19pts Jarrod McGaffin = 14pts Hugh McLaughlin = 14pts Damien Hirst = 13pts Nigel McGaffin = 12pts Paul Bugala = 9pts Tania Langcake = 7pts
Impressive! Sensational! Fun! Just a few words to sum up my experience of Phillip Island.
The 2nd run was a blur and lunch time saw passenger laps. Thanks to Hirsti for taking me for a run. It was good to be able to take in the circuit from the passenger seat. I also had a proud mummy moment Friday's early start was a task in itself, trying to get my girls out of when my eldest daughter Chloe (11) had a hot lap with fellow club bed, thankfully it wasn't as early as some. But once up, we were on member David Rowe in his Evo. I don't know who had the bigger our way. I believe the journey is half the fun, and despite, in this case, smile when we returned to the pits, Chloe or myself. Huge thanks to it being an almost 11 hour drive, it was still enjoyable. We cruised David, it made her day. over with a great bunch of guys and the addition of the 2 way radios made the time pass surprisingly fast. I even discovered my speedo A 3rd run after lunch was the driest for the day but just our luck, the was out.....tho I still think Jarrad's steady right foot wasn't so steady ;) rain came just as we formed up. What would've been the fourth and final run of the day was called off due to damage to a tyre wall It was after 6pm when we arrived and checked into our curtesy of the Porsche that drove into it :( accommodation, Saturday morning saw dark clouds and wet conditions.... I was disappointed. Despite it being winter I had still The adrenaline dissipated and we headed out for a meal and a quiet been optimistic that we would have a fine day. A 5 minute drive later beer with new mates, it was a great way to end a great day. saw us pulling into the pits of the Phillip Island International Raceway, What a buzz!!!!! The venue was nothing like I had had the The drive home was much less stressful, not having to negotiate the opportunity to race on before I was beyond excited. Despite the Melbourne traffic, and the tunnel run was epic fun! 1580km later we weather it was going to be an amazing experience, above and beyond were home. the old Mallala circuit back home. The mixture of racing, the company of some pretty awesome people Somehow I ended up on the front row of the dummy grid ready for and of course 'The Cars" made for a memorable weekend. The our first run. I don't think I was even that nervous and excited before WRXSA Phillip Island Tour is an event I won't forget anytime soon I went skydiving! A few deep breaths later and I was out on the track. A slow, cautious first lap saw me overtaken by Hugh and Paul along Tania Langcake the straight, which ended up giving me a "front row seat" to them spinning out almost in succession over the next 2 corners. It was a very wet, slippery track, definitely not conditions I am comfortable driving in. 20minutes after returning to the pits, I could still feel the adrenaline pumping through me.......What a Rush!!!
First time to drive Phillip Island – what a box to tick! Fabulous circuit with so much history, and now to have been a part of it. Was very slippery when wet, but a great challenge. I don’t think I heard any disappointing comments, and it was great to be allowed to park the EVO next to all those Subaru’s. A great day put on by the Victorian club, and a great night out for a bite and beer afterwards in Cowes. I reckon I have to get some R Specs and head back again in the dry!! David Rowe
It was early.. too early. But the adrenalin had already started to flow. The car was packed and Jarrad had arrived at mine ready to begin the trek. Stop over and morning coffee at Tailem bend, two way's handed out and we were off.. rumbling that boxer sound out onto the highway we set out. It was an easy drive even with most cars having sole occupancy the radios provided entertainment and conversation. We arrived into Melbourne and were welcomed with traffic.. the Burnley tunnel through the city gave some fun and noise in the 40km hour traffic. Jarrad and I probably annoyed some but found ourselves with plenty of thumbs up and even had a Victorian subi in the tunnel giving it a squirt as well. Arriving to Cowes Caravan Park we all settled in and grabbed some dinner before hitting the sack for the next big day. Saturday was wet and the track stayed that way til lunch time. As my first circuit track experience it was thrilling. Pushing my car to high
My first CAMS event: Phillip island super sprint tour! Not many people boast that, but I can. I found myself getting everything in order weeks in advance. Making sure my forms and licenses were correct and my car was up to scratch with all the spares that I could need. Special thanks to Brad at S&J who encouraged me to upgrade my brakes and to Shane and the team who help me get them fitted and the rest of the car ready just a day or two before setting off. Mind you, I have a 1998 GC8 with over 210,000kms on the clock. But I thought, Subaru's are built for this, so why not go for it! And I did! It was a blast! The car made the journey over there without any trouble and of course LOVED the time on the track! Stretching her legs, and I mean properly. It was a great experience to learn the track, get better as the day progressed and learn the apex, braking and acceleration points! An absolute dream come true! Not to mention a wet final session so I just used the handbrake and slid through the corners, rather than trying to beat my dry track lap time. So much fun and a track that wide and that smooth. Meal time with the rest of the WRXSA crew was a highlight too! Morning coffees which included engine warm ups, evening pub
speeds and entering corners at speeds I wouldn't have thought possible felt safe and standard on the track. Totally Addicted. I had such an awesome time trying to go faster and faster down the main straight, reaching 230km/h on several occasions. Id only taken 6th gear and was still accelerating when turn 1 approached each time. It was a thrill to say the least. Driving home on the Sunday was a mixed time. Wanting to go back and do more laps whilst also enjoying the time on the open road. Using the two way's we got some great footage of us highway cruising and overtaking. All in all it was a spectacular weekend and I'm so keen to get back there next year to do it all again. I encourage anyone to get out there and give it a go. See you next year Phillip Island! Nigel McGaffin
meals and the drinks post track day provided a great time to debrief and swap stories and experiences. A great experience was the drive back. Highway cruising with some new best mates, 2way radios, the boxer engine sound and hours to kill! Just awesome. And the sound in the tunnels going through Melbourne, it was so good, I’d drive there and back just for that! It was a great weekend all round and I can't wait for next year. Jarrad McGaffin
The first WRXSA Phillip Island Tour in 2012 was amazing but it had been even better the second time round! A fantastic group of 11 members were a pleasure to be with over an actioned packed weekend, from the long but fun road trip, to the accommodation, the Saturday dinner, and best of all the track itself. One would have to come along to see it’s not all about motorsport. I’m happy to say I met some really great people and certainly should see them on next Phillip Island Tour if their adrenaline doesn’t wear off!
Damien Hirst My sister calls it the best Road Trip ever. I call it the best weekend ever. True, I spun 180 and ended backwards in grass on 2nd corner entry, Hugh did the same at the exit 50m from me. Damien was next, this is how wet it was. We met some people from WRXVIC, had a great time. Cannot wait for the next one. Paul Bugala
Photos by Max Coleman Wet weather favoured the AWD’s for OzGymkhana Round 2 with intermittent showers throughout the day. It also appeared to cause some navigation issues with none of the 7 tests run without at least 3 driver penalties (either hitting cones or going the wrong direction). 8 WRXSA Members competed on the day and Garry Dodd was excited at finally getting a chance to put his newly upgraded WRX to the test and was joined by his fiancÊ Talitha Schiller in her own WRX. Talitha had a good day not getting any penalties and finishing in 22nd place. Brendan Moore continued his excellent form from Round 1 starting the day with the 4th fastest time and holding that position until lunch time when he was nudged down a couple of places, first by Craig van Dieman and then myself (sorry buddy!). Consistent times and no penalties meant that Brendan was never slower than 9th for the whole day and finished his 7 runs in 6th place. I was very happy with the results I was getting as well, never letting my times drop out of the top 10 and in one test even managing to get 3rd fastest. Given the weather, the track was naturally quite slippery all day and it was definitely a challenge to keep to my usual calm controlled driving style. After a couple of runs I found myself having a bit too much fun and letting the back end slip out a bit which resulted in some sloppy recoveries; but it did allow me to successfully perform some hand brake turns (something I have struggled with in the past). After a bit of a scare on the 4th run (getting very sloppy in the bowl), I decided to regain focus on keep my runs clean. This allowed me to climb back from 7th to 5th. Jason Bartsch narrowly missed out (but only by half a second!) on entering the shootout as well with no penalties and strong times all day, his best result being 5th fastest on the final test of the day. With new suspension and wheel upgrades to be installed before the next round Jason will be one to look out for!
Hamish Scott & Tania Langcake managed 15th & 19th respectively but were hampered with 1 penalty each on the 4th test. They both showed their potential however with Hamish getting 12th fastest on 2 test and Tania achieving 13th fastest on 1. Tania was actually hovering around 13th until she got her penalty so if they can maintain clean runs in the future there is a good chance we could see them in the top 10! Dylan Butler finished 26th but showed strong improvement over the course of the day managing 15th and 17th fastest on the last 2 tests. His final result was hindered by a wrong direction in the middle of the day that held him back. Damien Anderson rounded out the WRXSA representation, finishing 34th at the end of the day thanks to a sprinkling of penalties across his results. Other notable performances included David & Michelle Green in their WRX, David entered the shootout in 4th just ahead of me and Michelle was the fastest lady on the day coming in at 10th. Regular shootout placeholders Lachlan Smith (180SX) and Graham Davidson (STI) were knocked out of contention early in the day when Lachy arrived late thanks to car trouble and missed the first test (meaning he got the slowest time + 10 seconds), Graham’s start to the day was devastated by a Wrong Direction penalty. Both made valiant efforts to climb back up the field with Lachy taking 2nd fastest on one of the tests and was never slower than 8th for the rest of the day. Graham was getting similar results with his best run also second fastest but 2 more penalties later in the day saw any hopes of a shootout position dashed. In the end they finished 12th & 13th respectively with at least 10 seconds still left to make up to get into the top 8 (2 more tests and they might have made it).
1st Place
WRXSA
It has been a while coming but finally Round 2 saw Garry Dodd take his first outright win! He spent the day tussling with Damien Brand for 1st place but pulled away in the 5th, 6th & 7th runs getting the fastest time for all 3. For the whole day Garry took 4 of the fastest times and was never slower than 3rd. This was backed up with a great performance in the shootout, getting faster and faster over each of the 3 elimination runs culminating in the fastest time out of anyone in the final. But Garry wasn’t the only club member that made it to the shootout; both myself and Brendan Moore made it in as well entering at 5th & 6th respectively. Unfortunately Brendan hit a cone quite early in the course, so knowing that this put him out of contention of advancing to the next elimination round he decided to have some fun and make a real show out of it demonstrating the rear wheel bias that his wagon has become known for; culminating in a doughnut (just for fun) in front of the finish garage to entertain spectators and officials alike! This obviously gave him the slowest time and moved him down to 8th. My first elimination run (a repeat of the 7th test) saw me improve my previous time by just over 2 seconds and saw me bump David Green out of 4th place by nearly half a second. It also meant I got another run up against the top 3, this is a position I have only been in once before and considering the times that the Top 3 were getting I was not surprised that I was a good 4 seconds slower than them. But still it was a 4th place finish, one of my best results so I was extremely happy with that!
Seth Coultas
Top: Gar ry Dodd powering to victory! Bottom: Graham Davidson spitting fire
1st Place
WRXSA
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While not a Club Championship round, the 3rd round of the OzGymkhana series still saw 5 club members competing and for the 2nd event in a row one of the WRXSA team took the outright win, Congratulations Brendan Moore! Going into the shootout Garry Dodd held first place with a 12 second lead and looked to be on track for another victory, however this was not meant to be. For this rounds shootout the organisers had concocted one of the most diabolical, complicated layouts yet, designed to push drivers to the limits in both driving skill and memory. Named in honour of Garry’s victory last round it included 5 x 270 o turns, 2 x 360o turns, with 2 entries into the skid pan along with a figure 8 and the usual slalom. For 2 of the top 8 drivers it was too much with Graham Davidson & Wayne Casey getting Wrong Direction penalties 2 more of the drivers got penalties for hitting cones or taking them in the wrong way. Unfortunately one of these drivers was Garry who was suffering from fuel surge issues that caused him to lose focus, clipping one barrel and going the wrong way around 2 others, pushing him down the 6th outright but netting him 3 bonus points for the championship. Brendan and his wagon managed 3rd fastest in the first elimination run and then managed to find another 1.5 seconds of improvement to put him up into 2nd and the final shootout. This was up against Damian Brand and his STi who was consistently the fastest in the first 2 elimination rounds. But then Damien buckled under pressure and tagged a cone, earning a 5 second penalty and handing the victory to Brendan!
With very strong times all day Jason Bartsch was all set for a top 8 finish but a WD penalty in the 6 th run dashed his chances and pushed him down to 19th before he was able to climb back to 17th in the final run. Four of his runs were in the top 10 and his best time was 4th fastest in the 2nd run. After coming so close to the shootout again Jason will be one driver to watch out for next round! With clean penalty free runs all day Dylan improved on his result from round, finishing 22nd outright. Unfortunately my day ended prematurely when one of my wheel bearings decided it was all a bit too much and called it a day at about lunch time. It got me home ok and it’s all fixed now but it was a bit frustrating because, despite some stiff competition I was sitting in 8th place. Oh well, bring on round 4 for some more OzGymkhana fun! Seth Coultas
Time to head out to the forest again for the South Australian round of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) being run in the Mt Crawford Forest and on some of the usual suspect council road stages elsewhere from previous years. Stages such as ManFour, Honeysuckle, Dewells, Goldfields and Tweeden were back. Numerous stages being run in the forest were run in two directions.
Super special stages at Gawler were such a success they were to be a focal point of the rally this year again. This would have an effect on other stages and the total length of the rally as the rally was committed to having to run these special stages at set times. Service park was at Mt Pleasant again.
This year there were some notable absences in the competitor’s starting list and the general numbers appeared to be down ….rising costs and decreasing budgets perhaps the culprit, or events run close together and drivers having to make strategic decisions on which events to contest. Ely Evans, Mark Pedder, Will Orders in the ARC were absent.
Brendan Reeves on the ManFour jump
Story & Photos FRANK KUTSCHE James Rodda, Declan Dwyer, Russell Marker, and the two Galants of Brown and Heenan from Mt Gambier were absent in SARC. With these names missing, the emphasis would be on whether Henry Nott could continue his good form in the SARC. In the Classics, the Toyota Celica of Neil Bates looked the best on paper, but Barry Lowe during the week had said that after the rebuild of his Commodore he had found an extra 80kW! Now just have to find a way to put that down to the ground! The delectable Porsche of Jeff David was back again….one of crowd favourites. However not a lot of Subarus this year!
Henry Nott early in Heat 2
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The weather gods had put some rain on the stages and the photographers and rally spectators were hoping it would hang around for the weekend to make things spectacular. You have to careful what you wish for. Excess water resulted in Dewells stage shortened considerably and Gum Flat cancelled before the rally began for safety reasons. Dewells has some open council roads making it different from other ‘forest’ stages. Several of the Mt Crawford Forest stages were run in two directions and are subject to fading light late in the day.
HEAT ONE (Friday) sees the ARC cars, the Classics and the AWD class cars hit the forest, but it isn’t until Saturday until the SARC cars taste the forest dirt. This year saw the inclusion of what can only be described as farm vehicles (spectator’s comments) included in the Scouts Rally of SA event. Technically they are Polaris and Can-am vehicles. They received a luke warm reception from the rally fans, and up until this year had not been seen in the SA event, but had participated on other state rounds. Some rather substantial rall greats such as Cody Crocker and Michael Guest were piloting these oddball vehicles. The general consensus is that they are more fun to drive than watch! That is until you hit a large puddle of water or mud as they do not have windows to close. >>
>> Scott Pedder/Dale Moscatt (Renault Clio) in the ARC class took the bull by the horns (OK, that was a gratuitous plug for the family business) from the outset, posting very fast stage times and making his intentions clear to all others from the get-go. Nine, four and one seconds were the gaps for the first 3 stages over second placed ARC campaigner Brendan Reeves/Rhianon Gelsomino (Mazda 2) who could find no answers early on. Third fastest in ARC (and 4th outright) was Jack Monkhouse/Darren Masters in a Nissan ‘driftpig’ S15 getting faster times that the Citroen DS3 of Tony Sullens/Julia Barkley. Tony Sullens has been a Porsche tamer in his Subaru WRX at Targa Tasmania several years ago but here on the SA dirt it was a different story especially against Jack on home soil! Stuart Reid had brought along an Audi Quattro S1 replica for the Classic class and it was very, very quick competitive also setting the 2 nd fastest outright time for Stage 1 (Dewells 1) and Stage 2 (Forties 1). Barry and Helen Lowe in the Commodore were running some distance behind, perhaps with the very powerful car struggling for grip. In the AWD class, there was a big cat among the pigeons playing with the big boys times of the ARC cars. Henry Nott smashed the Stage 3 (Baynes Gully 1) time to be fastest overall by 11 seconds and was even on Stage 2 times! At the end of Day 1, Henry was in 2 nd outright. James Rodda/David Langfield had to retire the Subaru with ECU issues but were competing in the AWD class therefore didn’t make it for the start of the SARC round on Saturday. There must have been substantial water or mud involved as the 2WD ARC cars will struggle in those conditions.
Matt Selley shiftin’ some mud
HEAT TWO (Saturday) and the full compliment if cars would be competing on 9 true rally stages and the two super specials at Gawler Showgrounds at the end of the day with one of them to be run in the dark. High drama (not High Eden!) would ensue on this day. One of the first casualties was Stuart Reid’s Audi Quattro, retiring before the author got to see arguably his favourite rally car of all time. At the end of Stage 5 (Dewells 2) it sat in the 3rd position outright, only to retire the very next stage. Maybe the deep water of the Dewells stage were the culprit.
Falcon XY GTHO of Dave Thompson
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In the ARC and outright, Pedder was calling the shots, continuing on his merry way posting fastest times, stage after stage. Reeves in the Mazda 2 was trailing by 43sec at the end of Stage 9 (Goldfields) run on the open sweeping council roads between Williamstown and Gawler. Monkhouse was a further 6secs adrift. In SARC, Tim Ramages/Matthew Goodings in an EVO Lancer had been running 2nd in class all day, had to park the car at end of Stage 7 (Baynes Gully Reverse 1), virtually handing the class win to Henry Nott, barring no misfortune. However, Matt Selley/Hamish McKendrick in the EVO Lancer IX were still a threat. Then two major events turned the rally world upside down…literally. On the long 32km Stage 10 (Tweeden) Barry Lowe rolled his Commodore and was out of the event. This was a particularly cruel blow as he had only just finished preparing the car after a similar off last year. No more sideways Barry Lowe style for the fans. News gradually filtered down to the rally fans waiting at a watersplash on Dewells 3 stage that there would be a long delay with many cars held up at the start of the stage as the crash site was secured. Even worse was to come in the same stage only minutes later as Monkhouse clipped a small obstacle sending his Nissan into what can only be described as a spiral type of roll at very high speed with the car ending on its roof after hitting a tree. The car burst into flames and was burnt to the ground. Both drivers and navigators of both cars were OK (barring minor injuries) which is a testament to the modern, or professionally built classic rally car. The stage was immediately cancelled.
However there was still three more proper stages and the two super specials to be run for the Heat. The long breaks as a result of the two crashes cut severely into the available time to run the forest stages and Dewells stage which a few of us photographers were waiting on. As the Super special Gawler Showground stages HAD to be run, the forest stages became the victims and were cancelled. The Classic cars had completed Stage 11 (Dewells 3) and were to go on to complete the remaining forest stages as they were unaffected by the previous incidents running ahead of the ARC class. The decision was made to run the remaining ARC class cars through Dewells as they are required to complete a minimum number of kilometres to ensure the round counts towards the championship. No prizes for guessing Pedder in the Renault Clio took out ARC Heat 2, followed by Reeves in the Mazda 2 a minute behind, and then Adrian Coppin in a Citroen DS3 and Tony Sullen in the sister Citroen car. In Classics, Bates in the Celica was streaking ahead and only one other Classic car finished all stages, Bruce Field in the big orange lump of a Mercedes 280. The shortened SARC Heat 1 win went to Nott in the EVO Lancer VI RS not putting a foot wrong all day, edging out Michael Harding and Julie Boorman in a Subary WRX STi, but they were ineligible for points running as ‘allcomers’. Therefore Nott beat Selley in the EVO Lancer IX by over a minute, and then Tyson Brown/Mark Chaplin in a Subaru WRX were a minute further adrift, before Neville Whittenbury’s Datsun 180B and Michael Busby’s RX7.
HEAT THREE (Sunday) saw the remainder of the rally including open council roads of Cromer north of Birdwood, and Honeysuckle and ManFour stages near Nairne with a host of repeated Mt Crawford forest stages and then the finish of the event culminating with the Super Special stages at Gawler. Unfortunately Stages 21, 24 and 25 had to be cancelled by the organisers.
Not the usual place you see a Porsche (Jeff David) The ARC Heat win and Rally win was always going to be Scott Pedder and Dale Moscatt’s, not making any errors all weekend and the Renault Clio running like clockwork. However the places 2 to 5 throughout the last 4 stages brought some interest with driver’s swapping places after every stage. For example Reeves in the Mazda 2 was in 2 nd place after each of the first 3 stages only to drop to 5 th and stay there for the remaining 3 stages and conclude with a rather disappointing weekend. On the other hand Tony Sullens/Julia Barkley in the Citroen DS3 R3T were 4th-3-3-3-2-3-2- and finished 2nd for Heat 2. Surprise 3rd place went to the Ford Focus of Alan Roe and Steve Glenney, the latter now more familiar in a nagivator’s role rather than driver on dirt. Classics class naturally went to Neil Bates, followed by the Porsche 911 of Jeff David/Grant Geelan and only other classic finisher was Dave Thompson/Mathew Sanders in the massive Ford Falcon XY GTHO! In SARC, Henry Nott (EVO Lancer VI RS) was in a class of his own winning every stage to take out a well deserved Heat and Rally win. Matt Selley (EVO Lancer IX) was close to a minute behind in second. Third place for the Heat went to Michael Busby (Mazda RX7) who didn’t make a move into the podium position until Stage 20 and holding that position for 3 more stages after Tyson Brown in the Subaru WRX had to retire.
The 2014 event was to be remembered for the two bad accidents and the plethora of cancelled stages which read as follows: SS4, SS8, SS14 cancelled for all competitions, prior to the event, SS12, SS13, SS14, SS21, SS24, SS25 cancelled for ARC; SS10, SS11, SS12, SS13, SS14, SS21, SS24, SS25 cancelled for 4WD; SS10, SS11, SS12, SS13, SS14, SS21, SS24, SS25 cancelled for SARC; SS21, SS24, SS25 cancelled for Classic. The organisers and rally fans alike hope the 2015 event has a better outcome and the return of some competitors. RD …..oh. and what of the Farm vehicles? Former Club Patron Cody Crocker took out the class wins.
Collingrove Hillclimb Club Championship Round 4 & 8 2 exciting rounds at Collingrove since the last magazine
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“CLASSIC”
Winter 2004 - SARC Southern Rally - Go Kart Night - Brand Rallysport Information Night - Rex’s Playground: Pound, Knotts Hills & Hunters Roads. It consists of medium course to smooth bitumen and is best travelled starting from the Montecute Road end. After negotiating the sharp LH corner to enter Pound Road, the road winds downhill through some flowing corners to where it becomes Knott Hill Road at a sweeping RH corner. The next section is steep down hill with many narrow bends and wet leaves reminiscent of Tasmanian roads. At the bottom of the hill two narrow bridges are negotiated before swinging sharp right into Hunters Road for a steady climb out of the valley. A quick glimpse to the left and you can see a waterfall which after winter rains is a pretty good sight, but watch out for the left hander! The last section swings right and then left at a crest before meeting Adelaide-Lobethal Road. Try it, you’ll like it, we do! - Competition Braking Advice It might sound obvious, but to go fast it’s best not to spend too long on the brakes. At the end of straights the transition should be from full throttle to maximum braking. Never coast. Always brake hard, but don’t lock the brakes. ABS? Stand on the pedal! Make long straights longer by accelerating early and braking late. If the straight before the turn is long enough and the straight after the turn is relatively short, you should aim for an early apex, allowing you to brake later. - Club Championship Round 1 Mallala Supersprint saw 7 member competing, with the fastest lap time (and club record) going to Corey Fechner with a time of 1:21.26
WRXSA Group Photo Shoot
Round 2 Motorkhana held at the Lonsdale bitumen car park with 1st place honours going to Paul Morgan
Nurburgring 24--Hour Race The Nürburgring 24-Hour Race took place from Wednesday 19th to Sunday 22nd of June at the Nürburgring in Germany with the new SUBARU WRX STI, entered by STI, driven by Toshihiro Yoshida, Kota Sasaki, Carlo van Dam and Marcel Lasée. Together, they completed 138 laps to finish 4th in the SP3T class. Starting from pole position in its class, the SUBARU WRX STI soon dropped to 3rd during some early caution laps. Then, after 11 hours in, it climbed back to the top when the 2 leading cars lost places. However, at 13 hours into the race, in the middle of the night, the SUBARU failed to avoid a slow car on the track and made contact with it. The team lost about 30 minutes and the lap lead they'd had while repairing the damage caused by the collision; resulting in a drop back to 3rd place. Following that, the SUBARU drivers put in an aggressive drive to catch the 2 front-runners, but they lost more time to the top 2 rather than narrowing the gap. Furthermore, after sunrise at 8:00 am, the SUBARU came back to the pit with a problem with the drive-train and another 25 minutes was spent to fix it. Also, the team was penalised for overtaking during the yellow flag in the first half of the race, and had to remain in the pit for 3 minutes 32 seconds. This ended their chance to fight back for the lead. After all that, the SUBARU made steady progress at a high pace, but that wasn't enough to turn the race around. The team completed 138 laps to finish the race 32nd overall and 4th in the SP3T class, with their best lap time during the race being 9 minutes 10 seconds.
STI General Team Manager Hideharu Tatsumi later said, “We came to the 24 hour race with the new WRX STI which was equipped with a sequential transmission and higher engine output based on the know-how we had acquired while running the previous WRX STI. We thoroughly developed the car, ran it at the Nürburgring before the race and thought we had fully prepared ourselves. We were able to demonstrate the performance of this car a little in the qualifying, but we didn't stand a chance against our rivals in the actual race. I suppose that the result of this race proves that the potential of the vehicle is high, but we still need to do some more work to fully utilise it. I am very disappointed but we would like to use this experience as a steppingstone for the next stage. I want to thank again the many fans who have supported us”.
After some hard fought battles Jake Archer has taken out the last 2 rounds of the Gymkhana Grid AWD Class over in Europe. Recently he and last years AWD winner Dmitrij Sribnyj were asked to shoot a Gymkhana promo video with Mr Gymkhana himself, Ken Block so keep an eye out for that!
WRC - Round 8 - Rally Finland
WRC - Round 7 - Rally Poland
Round 7 of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) - Rally Poland took place from 25 to 29 June in and around a lake resort of Mikolajki, 250km north of the capital Warsaw. It was the third time for the country to host the WRC but Rally Poland itself is the second oldest rally event after Rally Monte Carlo, having inaugurated in 1921. With some stages set also in adjacent Lithuania this year, this is usually a high-speed rally comparable to Finland, which is known as a In Rally Finland, Scandinavian drivers are said to have the clear gravel grand prix. The major difference between these two is the advantage because of the very unique character of the roads, and Polish soft road surfaces that can easily become rutted. The rally got this is a very important classic event in the WRC. Co-drivers also face underway on Thursday the 26th with a ceremonial start, followed by a real test of ability as they have to read out their notes precisely for 3 stages including a Super Special Stage. On the next day, crews the crew to tackle corners which can appear immediately after a tackled a stage in Poland before moving to Lithuania for 2 loops of 2 landing at blind crests. This year, only 4 stages remained the same as stages. They then came back to Poland to run 2 stages, which meant last year, which made the route very interesting. The rally kicked off the road sections were relatively long for the competitive distance. on Thursday 31July with 4 stages run from the evening to night. On The Saturday featured 10 stages including the events longest at the next day on the Friday, 9 stages waited for the crews; 2 loops of 4 35.17km and the final day with 4 stages. The total distance of all 24 stages to the south of Jyväskylä followed by the same stage which stages was meant to be 362.48km. However, the second run of had been run through the town on the previous day. On Saturday, 10 stages in Lithuania was cancelled due to rough surface conditions stages were run in 2 loops of 5 stages to the southwest of Jyväskylä. after a first run through them. The Sunday featured just 3 stages but included the classic Finnish The SUBARU crew of Marco Tempestini and co-driver Nicola Arena stage known as Ruuhimäki. The total competitive distance of all 26 from Italy entered in this Rally Poland -outside the championships, in stages was 360.94km. their Group R4 SUBARU WRX STI. As a series of accidents affected top In this Rally Finland, 2 SUBARU crews entered outside the runners in this dramatic rally, Tempestini and Arena made a cautious championship in their Group R4 SUBARU WRX STIs with the Finnish start and settled in 49th at the beginning. However, they put in a duo of Teemu Asunmaa and co-driver Tuukka Shemeikka as well as stable run on stages to move up the field and finished the rally in Kees Burger from the Netherlands and co-driver Miika Teiskonen 29th overall. competing. With their consistent performance, Burger and his veteran Finnish co-driver completed this demanding gravel rally to come out in 23rd overall. Round 8 of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) - Rally Finland took place from 31 July to 1 August in and around the Finnish university town of Jyväskylä. Known as a ‘Grand Prix on gravel’ because of the high average velocity, Rally Finland is famous for its high-speed gravel stages and spectacular jumps, and drivers' skills are tested in this one of the season's most challenging rallies.
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Platinum Partner - $480 (annual) Includes: 4 x full page ads in Rex Driver Naming rights to cruises or charity events etc… Website Advertising Forum & Facebook Group access Copies of the Rex Driver publication. Gold Partner: $250 (annual) Includes: 4 x 1/2 page ads in Rex Driver Website advertising Forum & Facebook Group access Copies of the Rex Driver publication
Effective 2013/2014
General Advertising / Single Issue Full Page Colour: $100 per issue Half Page Colour: $60 per issue 1 /3 Page Colour: $30 per issue All advertisers will receive a copy of Rex Driver Publication
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Don’t forget to mark these dates in your calendar!
WRXSA Christmas Party
WRXSA Club Meetings
Sunday 14th December - 12:30pm for 1pm lunch Thorndon Park, 34-44 Reservoir Road (enter via Hamilton Terrace), Paradise
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month Astor Hotel 437 Pultney Street
RSVP (via the forum) IS A MUST by Tuesday 9th December
Everyone is encouraged to come along to our monthly club meetings and meet our newly elected committee.
This relaxed and friendly social event will be a great way to finish off a year's racing and boosting with your fellow club members. Come along and enjoy a delicious BBQ in a relaxed setting. There is a children's playground, plenty of room to run and shelter is available. The club will provide the meat for the BBQ and some soft drinks, and we ask members to bring a salad to share. BYO: nibbles, chairs, booze, sunscreen, kids games equipment and any dietary requirements. Jolly ol' Santa Claus will also be making an appearance. So that he can be organised please note in your RSVP how many children will be attending along with their AGE AND GENDER.
President: Sam Jongenelis Vice President: Spiro Koulianos Secretary: Tania Langcake Treasurer: Damien Hirst Membership officer: Gareth Scanlan Cams officer: Matt Knighton Magazine Editor: Seth Coultas Events Co-ordinater: Nigel McGaffin Web Master: Andew Kreiger Social Media: Rob Gromball Cruise Master: Sam Jongenelis Motorsport co-ordinater: Damien Hirst Business Liaison: Kylie Singleton General members: Jarrad McGaffin, Brendan Moore, Mitchell Bryres, John Tomazos We kick things off with dinner at 6pm followed by the meeting at 7pm, usually finishing up around 8:30. Upcoming Dates: 14th October 11th November 9th December
2014 S&J Automotive Club Championship Rounds Round 10 - Collingrove Hillclimb: Sunday 26th October A short fun affordable Hillclimb for all Subaru's standard or modified. This event is easy on your car. No need for modifications. A half tank of fuel is all it takes to drive there, complete six runs and drive home. Allow 3/4 full tank for the day. Round 11 - Mallala Super Sprint: Saturday 2nd November. You don’t need modifications to compete, get ready now with a good set of brake pads and full tank of petrol. You will need a roadworthy car with blue triangle, tow hook, plastic contact on headlights, fire extinguisher (bolted down) and a helmet. If you have any trouble with these items don’t hesitate to ask and a club member will help you out.
Round 12 - Willunga Hill Climb: Saturday 30th November. After the huge popularity of the inaugural Willunga Hillclimb last year anticipation is extremely high for this years event. I would recommend getting your entry in early to avoid disappointment!