Bravo Bravo Mirafiori
Bill Dunn’s Fiat Abarth 131 replica is taking the classic rally world by storm 01
September 2004 Vol 15 No. 1
9 771328 924002
ISSN 1328-9241
• Globalstar ARC hots up • Atkinsons in Finland • Classic Fiat 131 Abarth • State rally reports
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ARN hit the ARC stages in Subaru’s super RS
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 1
2 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 3
News
Miserable luck, but Chris impresses By Peter Whitten
ARC moves to NSW for Premier State Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway will be the scene of some fast and furious action on Friday August 27, courtesy of Australia’s top rally drivers. They will be contesting two highspeed gravel stages and two tarmac stages at the western Sydney track as part of the NSW Premier State Rally. The event, Round Five of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship, then moves to the forests of the Central Coast on Saturday and Sunday, August 28 & 29. Rally fans will be the real winners because the start at Eastern Creek is not only a chance to see the top name crews in action, but also to learn more about the sport in one central location. Under the banner of the Toyota Rally Festival‚ there will be rally and performance vehicle displays, information on learning to drive a rally car, a drifting competition, an autograph session, and a chance to watch the service crews in action preparing the cars for a weekend of competition. Gates open at 9am on the Friday for all the lead-in activities and merchandise and refreshments will be available all day. The real competition gets underway from 5pm, with 67 cars confirmed as starters. Tickets are available at the gate: $15 for adults (day pass), $10 concession, children under 12, free with a paying adult. According to event director, Kirk Marks, the aim of the Eastern Creek start is to give Sydneysiders an upclose-and-personal view of the sport of rallying. “These guys are the kings of dirt drifting, but usually the only way you can see how fantastic they are is if you’re prepared to head for the forest, and lots of people just don’t have time to do that. “This way, they can come out to the race track, knowing they have all the facilities they need, and see plenty of great action. I think they will be amazed by the skills of these drivers, and be converted into true believers!” After the official start at Eastern Creek, the crews drive to The Entrance on the Central Coast, ready for two early-morning starts. As round five of six in the championship series, the Premier State Rally is sure to be a great battle in the city and the forests, because the competition is so close.
HERO WORSHIP: Chris and Ben Atkinson were honoured to be driving for Tommi Makinen’s team, although things didn’t go quite to plan.
Queenslanders Chris and Ben Atkinson had a disappointing run in the recent Neste Rally Finland despite showing they have what it takes to challenge the best in the world. Competing in a Group N-spec Tommi Makinen-prepared Subaru WRX Sti, the Atkinson brothers were impressive, showing some great bursts of speed throughout the event. While mechanical problems and several flat tyres masked their outright finishing position, the Atkinsons outpaced many of their more fancied and experienced rivals throughout the weekend. At the completion of the opening three stages of the event, they were placed fourth in Group N and were the leading Subaru. Their luck turned sour on the next stage however, when they got two flat tyres on the one stage, forcing them to drop well down the order and effectively out of contention, losing 10 minutes. “I haven’t had a flat tyre for quite a while so to have two in one stage was very frustrating, especially when we were going so well,” Chris Atkinson said. Over the ensuing stages Atkinson began to experience a lack of power due to a broken manifold, but despite this they pushed on, setting times on most stages inside the top six of Group N. As the day progressed the centre differential began to make life difficult for Atkinson, changing randomly from four-wheel-drive to two-wheel-drive and making the car extremely difficult to drive. “You would come over a crest, which there a lot of here, in four wheel drive mode and when you landed you’d find yourself in only rear wheel drive, making it even more of a handful,” he said.
The Atkinsons had to wait until the finish of the leg before the team could make repairs to the centre differential during the overnight service. Throughout the second leg Chris Atkinson was able to show glimpses of his talent, setting times comparable to the leaders in the Group N category. On more than one occasion he was mere seconds from leader Gianluigi Galli, who is a WRC regular for Mitsubishi. “All rally we have simply driven to our notes and haven’t taken any risks. If there is one thing that the Australian events have taught us it is to have good notes,” Atkinson added. “One of the stages here had 30 kilometres of constant crests which was a real buzz for us, especially with people lined 10 deep all throughout the stage. Then we topped the stage off with a good time.” Despite still being down on power the Atkinsons remained focused on making it to the finish of the rally at their first attempt. Two flat tyres on the last two stages didn’t help their cause, however they finished seventh in Group N and 33rd outright from the original 68 starters. Gianluigi Galli claimed the Group N victory ahead of Kaj Kuistila and Martin Stenshorne. “It is a little disappointing to finish so far back in the field but when you put it all in perspective we got to the end of a very tough event and put in some good stage times in the process,” Atkinson added. “Realistically, we would have been up inside the top five of Group N if we hadn’t had the dramas throughout the weekend. The event itself has been amazing, the people and hype about the event here is huge and it has all been a great experience and one that will benefit us in the future.”
Mitsubishi abandon 2004 WRC Mitsubishi has decided not to contest the remainder of the 2004 World Championship season after the next two events, which means their last two events of the season will be Finland and Germany. An MMSP communique confirms they will continue to be active in the 2005 and 2006 championships and that motorsport “remains at the forefront of Mitsubishi brand strategy”. They have also confirmed that the team will meanwhile enter “one or two selected European rallies as an intensive test and development platform”. MMSP GmbH President Sven Quandt was quoted: “To pull out ..for the rest of the season gives us the possibility to further develop our car”. Since MMSP embarked on their three-year championship programme, various factors have changed. They planned to enter when there were 14, not 16 rounds in the championship. They were attracted by the FIA’s promises of costs reduction, which essentially have failed, and they did not know the FIA would change the World Rally Car rules by allowing wider cars to be used. None of these factors were predictable. Those were motorsport circumstances. Then came the Daimler Chrysler crisis and immediately after that the public disgrace to the parent company MMC arising out of their recall scandal. These factors have persuaded the parent company to present themselves, in the immediate future, in
their own country, in a low profile. One of the two extra rallies in the 2004 season is Rally Japan. The world championship event has created many consequences for Mitsubishi. Firstly there was a very strong spotlight on the participation of the Japanese companies, something which Mitsubishi at this time does not want. Secondly it is widely believed currently in Japan, that the very existence of Rally Japan has pre-empted MMC’s withdrawal from world championship sport. There is a feeling that had the Rally Japan remained an APRC-only event, the withdrawal would not have happened. For Rally Japan, the lack of commercial and logistic support arising out of this decision is most unwelcome, on account of mounting criticism of the costs of competing on that event, measures which completely
By Martin Holmes contradict the FIA’s policy of reduced expenditure. The withdrawal of Mitsubishi will have a major adverse affect on the national interest of commercial and audience interest with Subaru now the only Japanese manufacturers taking part in the WCR event. One of the ironies facing MMC is that the MMSP world championship team has achieved all the technical successes they had announced were their targets at this time. The cars were becoming increasingly reliable and were regularly gaining world championship points. This factor however is not readily appreciated by critics of the programme. The FIA have not yet announced the consequences of this decision. This is
the third time in recent years when Mitsubishi has asked the FIA to be excused from contractual obligations. The first time concerned permission to run World Rally Car suspension systems in Group A cars, the second was the withdrawal from full participation in the 2003 season, and now this. The FIA has only recently announced they are reopening negotiations with Hyundai following their withdrawal in mid season from the 2003 season. Awaited now from the FIA are details about how the 2004 world manufacturers’ championship points will be adjusted. Will points already gained by Mitsubishi in the 2004 season be cancelled, and will points awarded to rival competitors who finished rallies behind Mitsubishi cars be enhanced?
4 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
P.O. Box 784, WANGARATTA, Vic 3676 Ph: (03) 57221250, Fax (03) 57215590 OFFICE HOURS 8.00am - 4.30pm Mon - Fri MANAGING EDITOR: Jeff Whitten jeff@rallysportnews.com.au EDITOR Peter Whitten peter@rallysportnews.com.au ACCOUNTS MANAGER Carolyn Schonafinger carolyn@rallysportnews.com.au ADVERTISING MANAGER DB Media & Marketing David Brown Phone: (03) 9762 7018 Mobile: 0408 562 962 Email: brownd@ihug.com.au PHOTOGRAPHERS Martin Holmes, Maurice Selden, Neil Blackbourn, Troy Amos, Andy Kerr, Forest Fotos, Paul Kane, CMW Photographic, Kristian McMahon. CONTRIBUTORS Martin Holmes, Michael Cains (VIC), Adrian Morrisby (TAS), Neil Blackbourn (NSW), Tom Smith (QLD), Paul van der Mey (WA), Ray Baker (ACT), Kristian McMahon (TAS). PROOF READING Leon Huon PUBLISHED BY: Australian Rallysport News, ACN 060 196 572, P.O. Box 784, Wangaratta 3676. Printed by The Border Mail, 1 McKoy St, Wodonga, Victoria 3990. COPYRIGHT:
No material, artwork or photos may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. Australian Rallysport News takes care in compiling specifications, prices and details but cannot accept responsibility for any errors. The opinions expressed by columnists and contributors to this newspaper are not necessarily those of Australian Rallysport News.
The deadline for the next issue is Monday, Aug 30th. Cover photos: Subaru, Mitchell Winton
15 years of rally coverage H
ard to believe from where we sit on this side of the desk that 15 years ago we were publishing the first edition of Australian Rallysport News. In those fifteen years we’ve turned out something like 180 issues of the paper, around 6,000 pages and millions words. It’s an achievement that we’re pretty proud of. Australian Rallysport News first came about because we felt there was a need for a rallying publication on the Australian market that nobody else had successfully filled. Sure, some monthly and fortnightly magazines covered rallying in a very minor way, but this was only ever if there was a shortage of motor racing news and we felt that the rally community deserved better than this. The decision to launch ARN was a spontaneous one that would have sent shivers down the spine of a business adviser or a banker. Nevertheless, we took the step to get into a market we knew little about, figuring that if we lasted six months we’d be doing well. Many other more experienced marketing people and some from the rallying community predicted our demise at about the same time frame. To boast that we’ve far exceeded our own (and probably many others’) expectations is a tribute to all our loyal readers and subscribers who have supported us from day one. It also says a lot for the dedication of our state correspondents over the years, who have continued to deliver rallying news from each state of Australia. We’ve seen many changes along the way, some good, some bad. From rallying’s perspective, the current success of the Globalstar ARC is one of the high points of an increasingly complex and expensive sport. On the other hand, the grass roots level of rallying is steadily decreasing because of that cost blowout and the plethora of other forms of entertainment that would-be rally competitors can turn to that do not demand the same level of adherence to rules and regulations. Despite the tremendous coverage that television is giving rallying today, it has not helped to encourage newcomers into the sport to any great degree. Grass roots rallying is one casualty of
Copies of A.R.N. over the last 15 years.
By Jeff Whitten the ARC success. What of the future? Will ARN still be around in another 15 years? We certainly hope so, but having said that, the going is bound to get even tougher. Compared to other forms of motorsport, rallying is a minor player, and our sales reflect this. We’re in a tough market that won’t get any easier, but we have the commitment and the “fire” to continue producing the most widely-read rally publication on the market. With the continued support of our readers, we know we can fulfill that aim.
OUR FIRST ISSUE
Australian Rallysport News was launched in August 1989 to a largelyunsuspecting market. Although we’d done a little pre-publishing promotion, the first ARN hit the newsstands as a surprise to most. ARN was launched at Rally Australia that year and our first issue included a 4-page preview of the Commonwealth Bank-sponsored event. Greg Carr’s Lancia Delta Integrale was the featured car on our cover, and Carr was Australia’s best hope of success in the event. Sadly, the Lancia was not to finish the event which attracted 67 entries. The leading crews in 1989 were Kankkunen, Fiorio, Alen, Eriksson,
Carlsson and Recalde, and interest from overseas was just starting to reap rewards for the organisers. On the local scene Mike Cains, our Victorian correspondent who is still with us today, made comment on the impact of the banning of Group G on club rallying which resulted in decreased fields and fewer events. One of the young guns of the period was Wodonga’s Eric Pietila whose career had been influenced by John Alatalo, one of the prime movers in getting Juha Kangas to compete in the ARC. Pietila was one of the sport’s upcoming stars in a Mazda 323 Familia and later in a Mitsubishi VR4, but history records that he gave up his rallying for a business career. Speaking of Mazda 323s, Ingvar Carlsson and Rod Millen brought their Mazdas to a fine 1 – 2 win in the Rothmans Rally of New Zealand, at a time when cigarette sponsorship of almost any sport was still acceptable. Our first car-build story started with photos of a new VR4 being built for rally and race legend George Fury in Jamie Drummond’s workshop, the car and driver later going on to win a number of ARC events.
HOW IT WAS DONE
In 2004 we’re still producing ARN on trusty Apple Mac computers, much as we did 15 years ago. But where we once set our pages out with very early Macs (one of which was a Mac Classic!), today we use high-end computers
that are light-years ahead of what we started with. Individual pages were printed out in strips, waxed and pasted down in their finished position which was all very time-consuming. We now have the benefit of the internet, the web, scanners, Zip drives, DVDs, colour printers and so on, which makes our task so much easier. Where once our contributors would fax or post their articles to us (from which we’d re-type every word), today it’s all done via the internet on screen. The other big advance in technology is digital photography. Once we had to wait for weeks for hard copies of photos to arrive from overseas, now we have images available just seconds after they are sent from the other parts of the world. Amazing stuff! There’s no making bromides of photos prior to printing, no darkrooms and no hassles. Technology has been great for the printing industry. Similarly, once the pages were laid out each month, we’d take the actual proof pages to the printer for the printing plates to be made. Now our pages are emailed to the printer who goes direct from computer to plate and has the latest edition up and running, in colour, in minutes. We wonder what wonderful things technology will provide us with in 2019.
It’s our b’day, but you can win!
Are you ARN’s longest continuous subscriber? If you believe you might be, just drop us a note and we’ll look up our records to verify your claim. Mind you, you’ll need to have been subscribing right from 1989. We’re offering a prize of two year’s free subscription valued at $120 to that person for their support of Australian Rallysport News over the past 15 years. Is it you? So go to it and stake your claim.
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 5
Coopers Pale Ale Rally SA
Big guns up the ante With two rounds of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship to go, Subaru’s Cody Crocker and Greg Foletta sit on top of the leaderboard with 108 points, 16 points clear of Juha Kangas and Julia Rabbett. Crocker increased his lead after a consistent performance in both heats of the SA event on July 31 – August 1. With just the Premier State Rally and the NGK Rally of Melbourne still to be run, a winner is still too hard to predict. But two things were certain going into Round 4 of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship, the Coopers Pale Ale Rally of South Australia – weather conditions were going to be cold and wet, but the action would be red hot. This traditional mid-winter event held in the Adelaide Hills has a reputation for bringing on some of the most adverse conditions possible, and this year was to be no exception. And while spectators turned out in their thousands and braved the cold, they were treated to some of the hottest rallying seen so far this year. Following closely behind the other traditional cold, winter event, Subaru Safari Tasmania, the Coopers event was again wide open, making it hard for anyone wanting to predict the outcome of the two-day, 600km event. With superb performances in recent rounds, particularly in Tasmania where he won both heats, Juha Kangas was expected to be the pacesetter in his Les Walkden-prepared Mitsubishi Evo 7. Greatly increased speed had made him pre-event favourite, but the smart money for second fastest was on both Ed Ordynski and reigning Australian Champion, Cody Crocker. There was a fourth crew in the equation, however the Atkinson brothers, who had shown so much speed in Tasmania before an accident spelt their demise on Day Two. Having said that, this year’s ARC Super Series is so close that any one of seven or eight crews could have been in contention for a podium finish. Scott Pedder has been showing that he has the speed to match the front runners and Dean Herridge cannot be discounted either. While Neal Bates has not produced the results that he is capable of at this stage, the general consensus was that the South Australian roads could suit his Corolla. Much of the interest in the podium placings was going to be on Simon Evans who had been given the all-
Photos: Neil Blackbourn Kristian McMahon
By Jeff Whitten clear to compete in the event after his leg-breaking accident in the previous round. Given the elite composition of the Top Ten, nobody was game to make a prediction on who would take out top honours. With more points on offer for the Championship, Series leader Crocker was intent on keeping Evans, his main adversary, at bay, concious that a buffer of just 5 points over Evans needed to be built on. A promotional start attended by thousands of people in the main street of Tanunda, deep in the Barossa Valley on the Friday evening, set the scene for what was to be a memorable event. Although the street display was held under fine skies, rain was predicted for the following day, adding more moisture to the already sloppy conditions faced by recce crews during the preceding week. HEAT 1 Action got underway early the next morning, the first stage to be contested being the 6km Lucky Snake test. Atkinson shot out of the blocks to be fastest by less than a second from Crocker, determined to get some runs on the board early in the event. The Victorian replied by being quickest on SS2, Forties 1, again the margin just 1 second,
SQUEAKY CLEAN: Rally winners Chris and Ben Atkinson enjoy a quick shower before jetting off to contest the Rally of Finland.
but he was not happy with his times. “We didn’t attack enough and we gave away heaps of time,” he commented. Simon Evans, primed to prove he was still a force to be reckoned with, despite his injuries, retired his Corolla with a blown head gasket after SS1 and was to play no further part in the day’s action. Ed Ordynski was complaining that he needed more time in the Mitsubishi and was just off the leading pace, despite being on home ground. Pre-event testing in Tasmania had resulted in an
improvement of half a second a kilometre, just what the South Australian needed. Juha Kangas had been lurking around in the top five as he came to grips with the conditions but showed he was intent on being in contention by opening the Evo 7 out on the 9km Redex Road Reverse stage, narrowly beating Ordynski by just 0.05 sec. Equal third fastest were Crocker and Scott Pedder, despite the latter hitting the water splash near the finish too hard and ingesting water into the electrics which jammed the Juha Kangas is right in championship contention after his Heat 1 win, while Simon Evans (right) was just thankful to be able to compete after recovering from a broken leg.
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throttle wide open. Kangas repeated his stage win on Ridgetops 1, despite hitting a post but incredibly the margin to second-placed Herridge was a mere 0.2secs, an indication that picking a winner was not going to be easy. Herridge, too, was unhappy with his times and vowed to improve as the day wore on. Leading privateers Mark and Rita Thompson were the first retirement of the day when they went off on Ridget-
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6 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Coopers Pale Ale Rally SA ops at high speed, the Evo 8 colliding with a tree and spinning it around 180 degrees and head-on into another. The car was severely damaged and co-driver Rita was transported to hospital after severing an artery in her arm which was caused by her helmet visor as her head went forward in the accident. Mark Thomson was also taken to hospital for observation but was released shortly after. As cars went into the first service at Mt Pleasant the closeness of the results was the major talking point, all the leading crews realising that it was not going to be a cakewalk in this event. Ordynski got it all together on SS6, Mt Gawler, taking the stage win from Atkinson and Kangas. Uncharacteristically, Crocker and Foletta were well off the pace, 23 seconds in arrears but still ahead of teammates Dean Herridge/Glen Macneall who were yet to come to grips with their Impreza. Crocker had inadvertently turned right too early at a junction and found himself facing a locked gate in a driveway. But the time he backed up (hitting a
tree in the process) and did a multi-point turn, his chances of victory were seemingly over. The second pass over Ridgetops was more to the reigning champion’s liking – his 4m50.2s being the fastest, with Herridge second best. Brad Goldsbrough was never in the top five but was having his own private battle with Mark Pedder, the two trading times with monotonous regularity. The Subaru-mounted driver claimed he was lacking concentration but as the day wore on better times were to follow. Crocker, now with the bit well and truly between his teeth, proved his superiority on the next two stages, Lucky Snake 2 and Forties 3, his Subaru adapting well to the conditions which most drivers described as sloppy but improving. Despite some stages being repeated several times, the surface was holding up well and there was actually some grip to be had. Neal Bates and Coral Taylor were consistently five seconds off the pace but their Corolla Sportivo was far from being out of contention. Jack Monkhouse had got himself into the Top Ten in his old Scott Pedder finally had an enjoyable event in his Lancer Evo 7. All three Pedders entries enjoyed success in SA.
Round 5 Globalstar Australian Rally Championship CATCH THE ‘KINGS OF DIRT DRIFTING’ AT THE CREEK
RALLY FESTIVAL FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2004 - GATES OPEN 9.00AM l Rally & performance vehicle displays at Eastern Creek l All day drive displays l Autograph session 12 noon l Drifting competition l Drive displays l Rally rides and rally school displays l Rally photography gallery and exhibition 9am - 9pm l Rally merchandise - jackets, shirts, caps, etc. l Corporate hospitality - rates for all groups (02) 9672 1000
EASTERN CREEK CENTRAL COAST from 5.00pm, Friday 27th
from 9.00am - 4.00pm
l 2 tarmac and wet skidpan stages l 2 high-speed gravel stages, including the “Dipper” l See all the rally action. l Tickets at the gate - under 12 free
Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th l See Spectator Guide for further information. Results, food and services at major spectator points. l Finish 3.00pm Sunday at ‘The Entrance’
See www.rally.com.au for more information
Pre-event testing ensured Ed Ordynski was a lot closer to the lead on his home event.
VR4 and was impressing with his ‘chuckabout’ style. Sam Brand, his major SA opponent, was suffering gearbox problems which were to sideline him later in the day. With three stages to go, it was still anybody’s victory. Herridge got it all together to be uncatchable on SS11, Mawsons Row, despite the best efforts of a fast-finishing Juha Kangus/Julia Rabbett. Kangas was experiencing a very noisy gearbox but had no alternative than to go flat out to the finish, despite the faulty box. Crocker was third with the Atkinsons two seconds in arrears with just one test to go. Ordynski still looked impressive and a third fastest on the final stage of the day, Retreat Valley, gave him more confidence as he returned to service at the end of the day, in second place. A Mitsubishi one-two on home soil was the result the team had been hoping for. Further down the field Goldsbrough/Moscatt were holding station, the best of the privateers in eighth spot while the constantly-improving Jack Monkhouse was just inside the Top Ten despite a time-consuming spin on Retreat Valley. The Pedders team just missed out on having three cars in the top Ten – Scott Pedder/Paul Humm were sixth, Mark Pedder/Toni Feaver finished tenth with Will Orders and Matthew McAdam in eleventh. Darren Windus took victory for the Heat in the Subaru Rally Challenge after main rival John Goasdoue crashed, and Eli Evans lost a wheel. Ominous black clouds brought light rain as the day’s activities wound up and the forecast looked bleak for the following day. HEAT 2 With the weather forecast for heavy rain partially right (it had rained overnight), crews in Heat Two were becoming nervous about road conditions. The previous day had seen wet roads dry out, leaving just a few slippery patches and there was an air of pessimism amongst the teams battling to select tyres for the day. With results so close in the first heat, any advantage, no matter how small, would be welcomed by almost everyone. Two new stages, Maidment and Mawson’s Row Plus at 6.6 and 12.8km. respectively, were the day’s openers. But it wasn’t the rain that had turned the tables on the event, but fog. Low cloud and fog
had settled in the valleys and on the hills and by the time that the zero car had traversed the third stage, Retreat Valley 2, thick fog abounded, causing the stage to be downgraded to liaison. There were nine stages on offer, five of which were to be an Atkinson benefit, two for Crocker and one each for Kangas and Herridge. Chris and Ben Atkinson, keen to jet out of Australia for Finland immediately after the podium finish, showed that they were on a mission by taking the stage win by 1.5 seconds from Scott Pedder, and almost 3 seconds from Ordynski. Kangas was well off the pace as a result of his gearbox problems which were to get worse as the day progressed. Simon and Sue Evans, back in the hunt after their Corolla’s engine was rebuilt overnight, were a little hesitant and just ahead of team leader Neal Bates. On SS2 the order was Atkinson, Kangas, Crocker, Evans, Ordynski and Herridge. The Finn was unhappy with his tyre choice, complaining that they were wider and harder than he would have liked. “When the rain came later on it was really scary,” he said. But later on he had more important things to worry about. Crocker took the advantage on SS4, Forties 4, beating Kangas by 0.8 and Atkinson in the other flying Subaru by a further 0.3. The promising Jack Monkhouse put his VR4 off the road on SS2, the damage too great to continue. Nevertheless, he had made an impression and proved that he will be a threat in the future. On the following stage the Atkinsons bounced back to take the first of a further three fastest times with Crocker/Foletta second on each, Kangas third (on SS5) and a rejuvenated Ordynski third on SS6 and 7. Scott Pedder/Paul Humm were consistently within one second of Ordynski and hopeful that one of the leaders would fall away to give them a better shot at the top three. Dean Herridge was off the pace early in the day, unhappy with the changing conditions but was to bounce back later with some better times. The remaining two Pedders cars of Mark Pedder and Will Orders were still circulating well at the lower end of the top ten, just behind a very consistent Goldsbrough who had his Subaru well up to speed. Sensing the threat from Atkinson, Crocker upped A frustrated Neal Bates wasn’t happy being at the wrong end of the top 10 in his Corolla Sportivo.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 7
Subaru Safari Tasmania the ante on SS20, the fifth pass over the Ridgetops stage, pipping teammate Herridge by just 0.5 second and Atkinson by 1.4 seconds. Ordynski was still in touch but Kangas was driving with one ear on his ailing gearbox and hoping to make it to the finish. Strangely, the Finn gave his Evo 7 everything on the long 21km High Eden stage, gearbox problems or not. His 10m06s, set with a missing fourth gear, could not be bettered and he led Chris Atkinson over the line by the merest of margins. Crocker, strangely, was a little off the pace, some five seconds down. With rain now becoming heavier and roads increasingly slippery, crews returned to the Forties spectator area where thousands of spectators had braved the rain to watch the action unfold. One stage remained – the 2.50km stage that used parts of the previous Forties and Ridgetops stages. By now, for the leading crews at least, there was everything to lose and nothing to gain by putting in a blistering time on the rutted and sloppy track. As has become customary, Dean Herridge recorded the best time, his liking for these short shoot-outs evident. His time was 1m42.5s, leading home Neal Bates on 1.44.8 and Crocker on 1.45.3. The Atkinsons and Kangas took it carefully to ensure a finish, as did Ordynski and Scott Pedder. From Simon Evans’ perspective, it hadn’t been the best weekend. Saturday’s DNF and Sunday’s slower than expected stage times were uncharacteristic for the Toyota star, however he was able to gain a few more championship points which left him in fifth spot on 83 points. Brad Goldsbrough found plenty to smile about by finishing ninth outright and the best privateer, just ahead of a fast-finishing Will Orders and Mark Pedder who had reversed their previous day’s finishing positions. Also finishing strongly were South Aussies Brett Kipling and Mike McCarthy who brought their Evo 5 into 12th. Brett and Graham Comber (Evo 7) were 13th and Mark Povey/Brendan Dearman 15th. Michael Thompson and Bernie Webb were also consistent in their Subaru Impreza, finishing one place behind Povey. In the Aussie Car class, Ross Dunkerton and Bill Hayes had a win on both days in the supremely reliable 4WD Magna VRx, backed up by Michael Taylor and Lyndall Drake in their sister car. Eli Evans made up for Saturday’s retirement by winning the Subaru Rally Challenge. So, with four rounds of the Series completed, the last two events seem likely to go right down to the wire. Cody Crocker (108 points accumulated
Left: Dean Herridge and Glenn Macneall maintained their third place in the champoinship in SA, but their first Super Series victory still eludes them.
after the SA event) certainly doesn’t have a stranglehold on the silverware just yet with Kangas just 16 points in arrears, while Herridge, Atkinson and Evans are breathing down their necks. The Premier State Rally could well decide this year’s championship but that’s not guaranteed. With the competition so incredibly close this year, any one of five crews could be in the winning frame. Will it go down to the wire at October’s NGK Rally of Melbourne, when double points will be on offer? Final Results, Heat 1. 1. Juha Kangas / Julia Rabbett Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 59m56.6s 2. Ed Ordynski / Iain Stewart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 +8.7s 3. Dean Herridge / Glenn Macneall Subaru Impreza WRX +10.2ss 4. Chris Atkinson / Ben Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX +10.8s 5. Cody Crocker / Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX +20.0s 6. Scott Pedder / Paul Humm Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 +31.1s 7. Neal Bates / Coral Taylor Toyota Corolla Sportivo +46.7s Final Results, Heat 2 1. Chris Atkinson / Ben Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX 52m08.7s 2. Cody Crocker / Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX +30.1s 3. Ed Ordynski / Iain Stewart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 +37.8s 4. Scott Pedder / Paul Humm Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 +43.4s 5. Juha Kangas / Julia Rabbett Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 +46.2s 6. Dean Herridge / Glenn Macneall Subaru Impreza WRX +48.6s ARC Pointscore 1. Cody Crocker/Greg Foletta 108, 2. Juha Kangas/Julia Rabbett 92, 3. Dean Herridge/Glenn Macneall 86, 4. Chris Atkinson/Ben Atkinson 85, 5. Simon Evans/Sue Evans 83, 6. Ed Ordynski/Iain Stewart 74, 7. Scott Pedder/Paul Humm 64, 9. Brad Goldsbrough/Dale Moscatt 28, 10. Mark Thompson/Rita Thompson 16. Left: Brad Goldsbrough and Dale Moscatt continue to be the leading privateers in the the GARC, taking another two top 10 placings in South Australia.
8 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Carlos breaks the record
By Martin Holmes Photos: Maurice Selden
C
arlos Sainz became the world’s most successful World Championship rally driver with his win in Argentina. This 26th win puts Sainz clear of Colin McRae (25), Tommi Makinen (24) and Juha Kankkunen (23). It was another personal achievement being the first time since Finland 2003 that he had beaten his teammate Sebastien Loeb, who finished second but was unable to match an incredibly consistent drive by the Spaniard. For half the rally Marcus Gronholm had been in front. Apparently inspired by team chief Corrado Provera’s pre-rally statement that he was fed up with the word “almost”, but the 307 WRC hit a rock in the road which did extensive damage and caused retirement. Sainz, at that time lying second, had established himself ahead of Loeb and had begun an attack on the lead. Aided by difficulties Loeb was experiencing with the handling of his car, Sainz assumed a lead of 97 seconds. Francois Duval finished third overall having had a rally plagued by handling problems, but his teammate Markko Martin had retired after a violent accident when lying second behind early leader Petter Solberg. After some initial worries both crew members were declared fit but the destruction was described by M-Sport chief Malcolm Wilson as the worst rally crash he had seen. Solberg retired with engine trouble, restarted the next day under SupeRally rules but retired again with engine problems. It was Solberg’s first retirement since he had run out of fuel in Sanremo 2003.
Rally legend Carlos Sainz is now the most successful WRC driver of all time after his win in Argentina. The rally was characteristically rough. There had been no rain in the sierras since March, but the water crossings seemed to be as damaging to the rally cars as ever, and also it was first time for several years since the event had been held in July. So dust was expected to be a problem, and as the rally got under way the top drivers were despatched at three minute intervals. The tracks in South America were already rough before the rally came to town. These conditions were not predictable at the time when, several weeks in advance, the teams had to select their tyres, so coupled with a complete ban on testing outside Europe, teams were for the second rally
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running again unsure what to expect. But it was not the rocks and ruts which took the greatest toll. It was bizarrely the water crossings, especially on the first day. The most welcome news, however, was that the event reverted to a six-day format. No longer were co-drivers half asleep before the event even started, there was time to breathe, time to handle any unexpected crises. There had been bad news for the organisers two months before the event when their carefully laid plans, to accord with the FIA’s wish to run servicing-free morning-to-evening schedules, were shot down by the teams, and the organisers had to start their route planning all over again. Petter Solberg took the lead ahead of Markko Martin at the beginning of the rally and for a moment it seemed there would be a challenge to the French status quo, but Martin’s accident distracted attention for a while, and then as the rally progressed, it was obviously only a dream. By the middle of the first full day the red cars of Citroen and Peugeot were on their way to continue their stranglehold on the sport, despite delays on the first two stages on the Friday for Loeb with an alternator failure. Only five stages were won by their rivals - and one of them was won by Solberg after he had officially retired! When Solberg retired (for the first time!) the closest challenger was the Ford of Francois Duval followed by the Mitsubishi of Kristian Sohlberg. Sohlberg’s teammate, Gilles Panizzi, had a terrible time early in the event losing both fourth and fifth gears, a turbocharger failure and an exhaust which sounded as if it had already fallen off. On the Saturday and Sunday, however, he had a good run catching up to finish seventh and bring the team three more points. When Panizzi was delayed, Sohlberg rose up to fifth (in front of Mikko Hirvonen and Harri Rovanpera) before suffering engine failure and
retiring. Rovanpera, meanwhile, had been having his own troubles, driving the Friday afternoon stages with an electronic failure which locked up the differential and which affected the handling and braking, and also suffering power steering failure. Hirvonen had lost around four minutes after a water crossing (the battery had just about given its last, when the engine finally fired up), teammate Solberg had been stuck there for seven! At the half way point in the world championship, Citroen are still in winning momentum mode (five wins in eight events) despite the Peugeots of Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera winning the large majority of stages on this event, even with their provisional four-speed transmission. Gronholm sighed and admitted to his friends that this latest disappointment must see the end of any chance he had of gaining a third world drivers’ title this year. He is fed up with a car which is not easy to drive, and which the engineers still could not perfect. Group N was won by the local Subaru driver Gabriel Pozzo who finish 8th, gaining the first championship point for a Group N driver since Pozzo himself finished 6th on the 2001 Safari Rally. Only eight of the 17 PCWRC starters reached the finish, with many favourites retiring. Rotorua Rally winner Karamjit Singh crashed on the opening super special. Toshihiro Arai the same, though he could continue for a day until the car gave up. Local driver Marcos Ligato was ahead in his Subaru when he went off the road, as did his Top Run teammate Mark Higgins. Jani Paasonen led until he was passed by Ligato and then the Finn was delayed by a broken rear suspension arm. Mitsubishis finished 1-2-3, with Nasser AlAttiyah and Niall McShea the best Subarus. Sola pulled further ahead overall in the series, but Paasonen is three points behind. The FIA persisted with the SupeRally
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 9 experience, attractive for the privateers but not so much for the top drivers. Solberg reappeared on the second day but only for two stages, and no top drivers for the final day. So, what comes next in the life of Carlos, now in his 18th season in championship rallying. A career retirement while he is safely at the unchallenged peak in the sport? Sainz said: “For me it was not the record, so much as the way we have won that mattered. I was winning here
13 years ago and we are still on top! As for me retiring, I must talk to my boss (Guy Frequelin), my wife (who is in fact my boss!) and myself. We shall see”. Frequelin added: “I hope it won’t be Carlos’ last win.” For the moment the Spanish speakers were loving every minute. Gabriel Pozzo winning Group N, four Spanish speaking drivers in the top ten, all good stuff for the locals and impressive for everyone else as well.
Final Results - 2004 Rally of Turkey, WRC round 7 1. Carlos Sainz / Marc Marti
Citroen Xsara WRC
4h02m29.5s
2. Sebastien Loeb / Daniel Elena
Citroen Xsara WRC
+1m32.4s
3. Francois Duval / Stephane Prevot
Ford Focus RS WRC
+4m23.4s
4. Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen
Subaru Impreza WRC
+8m27.6s
5. Harri Rovanpera / Risto Pietilainen
Peugeot 307 WRC
+9m59.8s
6. Luis Companc Perez / J. Volta
Peugeot 206 WRC
+16m24.6s
7. Gilles Panizzi / Herve Panizzi
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC
+17m38.9s
8. Gabriel Pozzo / Daniel Stillo
Subaru Impreza WRC
+20m38.5s
9. Antony Warmbold / Gemma Price
Ford Focus RS WRC
+22m17.3s
10. Daniel Sola / Xavier Amigo
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7
+22m21.3s Citroen’s year just keeps getting better. Frequelin, Sainz and Marti celebrate.
Subaru’s recurring problem with water crossings surfaced again in Argentina.
Mal’s hard-fought win The Coffs Harbour entry of Mal Keogh and Jason Richards driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2 won a hard-fought battle to take victory in the 2004 Rally of the Manning Valley. A class field of 30 rally crews faced the starter’s flag on Saturday July 31 to contest the rally which was held over eight special stages covering 139km competitive in the forests of Taree & Dingo Tops. The rally attracted some of the state’s top crews with valuable points on offer for the much sought-after State Clubman, Novice, Gemini, Group 7, Northern NSW, and Newcastle Area Rally Series. Rally crews were flagged away from Mid Coast Ford at 1:30pm with three stages to complete before the first service at Elands. Right from the start the pace was on with Stage 1, Cow Hill, being won by Scott McCloy & Leigh Strange in a Galant VR4 from Dave Darby & Brian Everingham in another Lancer. Keogh was third with the first five being split by only 10 seconds. Stage 2, Knodingbal Up, covering 23km was even closer. McCloy was fastest by one second to Darby then another second to Keogh. Pip Slade & Allan Forster in a Datsun 1600 led the two-wheel drive brigade, 40 seconds behind the leaders in seventh place. The third stage, Padmans, was won by Darby, who now held the overall lead by one second from McCloy, before heading to the first service at the conclusion of the stage. During the service at Elands, the first turning point of the rally occurred, McCloy breaking a front control arm which put him out of the rally. Crews headed out from the service to contest another two special stages before returning during which some changes at the front would occur. Stage 4 (Long Blue Mountain Creek) saw Darby win the stage by 19 seconds from Stephen Slade with Keogh lurking in third and waiting to pounce. You could have thrown a blanket over the first five in terms of times and the event was wide open.
By Kam Baker A short transport to the next test, Causeway over 22.45km, saw Stephen Slade attack to win the stage by 29 seconds from brother Pip. Darby’s challenge came to an end just 8km into the stage, with a wheel bearing failing causing them to park on the side of the road. The second service saw some quick work by crews to ensure their cars could make the run to the finish over the last three stages. Keogh now held the lead by seconds and needed to fend off some late charges from the chasing pack. But once again another front runner would fall by the wayside, Stephen Slade failing to rejoin due to an engine misfire. Stage 6 saw a run through Long Blue Knob and it once again shook up the top order with Keogh posting his first stage win from Stephen Dibbs & Chris Freeman in a Nissan Pulsar GtiR. Peter Leicht & Derrick Woods in a Lancer Evo 3 were putting the pressure on for the lead. The second last stage was a blast over the fast flowing stage of Rustys. Dibbs and Leicht were going for broke and hauled 29 seconds out of Keogh. Stage 8 was the reverse of the second stage with a run down Knodingbal Road to finish the night. Keogh once again put down a fastest stage time, only two seconds in front of Dibbs but with the next nearest crew 15 seconds in arrears. The final outright placings were Keogh/ Richards first, Dibbs/Freeman in second and Leicht/Woods rounding out the top three. Dibbs also took the Clubman Series and the Novice Series went to Darrel Wilesmith in a Holden Commodore. The one make Holden Gemini series was taken out by Damian Watson & Tommi Flegl. The Central North Coast Sporting Car Club would like to thank the following businesses and organisations, for their valuable assistance with the event: Midcoast Ford, Taree Group 3 Leagues Club, Bulga Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade, State Forest of NSW and all the dedicated rally officials.
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10 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
F16 victory is no Mirage
Coopers Clippings by Jeff Whitten
T
he roll call of current and past Australian Rally Champions had 14 names on it at the recent Coopers Rally South Australia, possibly the most comprehensive list of stars seen for a long time. Along with current Australian champions, Cody Crocker and Greg Foletta, there were Neal Bates and Coral Taylor (1993, 94 and 95), Ed Ordynski (1990), Iain Stewart (1988), Ross Dunkerton (1975, 76, 77, 79 and 83), Barry Lowe (1985 and 86) and Rob Herridge (1991 and 92). Can any event beat that?
N
ot to be outdone, there was only one ARN state correspondent missing from the Coopers event, proving that our correspondents can not only report on rallying, but actively participate as well. Queensland’s Tom Smith was co-driving editor Peter Whitten, Michael Cains (Victoria) co-drove Darren Windus and Paul van der Mey (WA) was calling the notes for Roman Watkins. Neil Blackbourne (NSW) was there in his usual capacity as photographer and SA’s own Kristian McMahon was on hand to record the event in words and pictures. Just another reason why you can rely on ARN to bring you all the news from the heat of the battle.
W
ithout wishing to be chauvanistic, one of the great drives in the event, and particularly the F16 class, was that of Denise Collins. Now, Denise would be the first to admit that she’s no spring chicken, but the way she drove the screaming Honda Civic was a lesson in persistence and skill that should be heeded by lots of other younger and more fearless drivers in rallying. With the car prepared by husband, Des, she kept a lot of other drivers honest all weekend, reminding us of the old adage “Age shall not weary them.”
S
peaking of good drives, the South Aussie championship saw some desperate driving on the Mt Crawford-based event. Particularly noticeable were Gary Brown and Mike Dale, and Paul Heenan and Peter Hearne who threw their Datsun 180Bs around with little respect for the scenery, but exciting the large crowds who watched the event. Their performance reminded us of Jack Monkhouse’s efforts two years ago in a similar car.
Dave Hall had problems with his Datsun 280Z but managed to cross the finish line on Sunday after two days of sideways action. He, too, was a crowd pleaser.
The son/father team of Leigh and Ken Garrioch were the class of the field in the F16 category in SA. (Photo: Neil Blackbourn)
T
he Forties spectator area again proved to be the best viewing spot in the entire ARC. Despite the traditionally miserable and cold conditions, thousands of spectators turned out on both days to see some red-hot action in the forest. With non-stop action at the double spectator point and a large Mistral TV screen following every car, complemented by informed commentary, it was every spectator’s dream location. A huge amount of time and effort goes into setting up the area prior to the rally but the rewards were obvious. Gone are the days of spectators driving all over the place from one spectator point to another – the best action now has to be provided in one central location and the Forties area did this admirably.
Victorians Leigh and Ken Garrioch proved to be too quick in a disappointinglysmall field of F16 cars at the Coopers Rally of South Australia. Driving their potent Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg, the son/father team led home Doug Wright and Mark Berndt (Proton Satria) and Denise Collins/Gerard McConkey (Honda Civic) on Saturday. The Cyborg ran faultlessly all weekend while Denise Collins’ Civic suffered misfiring problems on the event’s first stage when a plug lead dropped off. Once that was fixed, the veteran SA lady driver set out in pursuit of Garrioch and Wright but was unable to make up for
lost time. Doug Wright had fitted new throttle bodies to his Proton but had suffered from a lack of pre-event testing and found the going tough. The Garriochs proved uncatchable on the second day as well but Collins was always in touch, recording second-fastest times in the screaming Civic and a single fastest on the day’s third-to-last stage. Garrioch’s wins give them a real chance of winning the F16 championship, although Collins stills holds the lead. With only the NSW and Victorian rounds still to be run, it looks like being a Cyborg victory, however none of the class contenders are likely to let up on
the chase to the finish. Heat 1: 1. Leigh Garrioch/Ken Garrioch, Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg, 1.09.53.4 2. Doug Wright/Mark Berndt, Proton Satria, 1.13.30.8 3. Denise Collins/Gerard McConkey, Honda Civic, 4.42.28.6 Heat 2: 1. Leigh Garrioch/Ken Garrioch, Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg, 1.02.39.9 2. Denise Collins/Gerard McConkey, Honda Civic, 1.05.17.9 3. Doug Wright/Mark Berndt, Proton Satria, 1.05.54.0 - JEFF WHITTEN
Photo: Keith Morison/Morison Communications
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 11
Experts Cup Rally
Veteran still an Expert A
ction and drama were the order of the day for this year’s Experts Cup Rally, Round 4 of the WA State Rally Championship. It transformed the normally peaceful forests around Wellington Dam into a spectacle of sideways, high speed rally action. Hosted by the WA Car Club, a healthy field of nearly 40 teams lined up to pitch their skills against each other and the clock. Start day, Saturday, dawned to a clear blue sky which looked liked it would hold all day. The sunny weather and afternoon start also helped to create much interest in the town and gave spectators the chance to meet teams and look at competition cars before they roared off into the forest. Eight stages totalling 130km lay ahead of competitors. Recent rain had helped to compact the surface and dust was not expected to be a factor. Four stages to be repeated after a regroup and three services formed the competition. Darkness would also further separate competitors later into the event. Brad Markovic & John Mortimer (Subaru WRX) lead the field away in front of a large crowd of spectators . Spectators were able to watch cars come flying down a hill in SS1 but several competitors spun on the first pass, Doug Tostevin/Alan Cook (Subaru Legacy) being one of those, to the delight of the large crowd. Jeremy Coleman was on his first drive in a rally and eager to do well but he and co-driver Jamie Buzan were caught out, rolling their Toyota Corolla into retirement. The first stage win went to John Macara/Greg Flood (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) with the Series leaders Craig Bignell/Joan Percival (Lancer Evo 3) in second. SS2 was a quite a short stage, although the slippery conditions were catching out some competitors. Macara and Flood took their second stage, just ahead of the hard charging pair of Alex Stone & Dianna Madlener (Subaru WRX). A short 20-minute service saw competitors ready themselves for SS3. The stage weaved through the trees and one corner on a fast downhill section
By Karl Drummond caught several teams out. Dennis and Jacquie Dunlop (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) ended their rally with transmission problems there. Justin Kinnear & Adam Pearson were also not having a good rally when their Suzuki Swift GTi had suspension failure. Stone/Madlener took the stage win with Bignell/Percival in second. At 26 km, SS4 (and SS8) were to be the longest of the rally. The first few competitors raced through the stage with no major problems except that the setting sun was just low enough to make some of the crests blinding for a split second. Paul Feaver and Glenn Martinovich (Ford Escort) ended their rally, landing partly off the road after one crest. Nick Box/Todd Payne (Toyota Sprinter) came over the same crest and suffered much the same fate. The Sprinter took a heavy impact on the driver’s side as it collected the disabled Escort. As a result SS4 was cancelled as the stage was cleared. All competing cars were sent to service and then into regroup as the last of the sunlight disappeared from view. Matthew Knox/Trent McCullough (Lancer Evo 8) retired with overheating problems. David Gould/Lee Tierney (Mazda 323) also retired at the end of SS4 with clutch failure. SS5 was a repeat of SS1 only now in complete darkness. The spectator point
John Macara turned back the clock with victory in the Experts Cup Rally. (Paul Kane photo) was to catch out Karl Drummond/ Trevor Brewer in their Mazda 323. The pair had struggled most of the day without constant 4WD as the centre differential had failed, along with the power steering, but an overshoot on the tricky corner saw the car stuck for two minutes. Stone/Madlener took the stage win with Macara/Flood just one second behind them in second place. Matt Green/Brian D’Arcy (Toyota Corolla) collected some of the scenery in SS6, the collision damaging both the radiator and oil cooler. The pair were able to continue and finish the rally. With the rally becoming a two way fight, Macara took his fourth stage win with the WRX of Stone in second. Andrew Hannigan/Jill
Alex Stone and Dianna Madlener drove their Impreza WRX to second place. (Paul Kane photo)
Fitzsimons (Daihatsu Charade De Tomaso), making a welcome return to rallying after an 18-month break, were in the thick of things, Andrew showing why he won the Australian Formula 2 title in 2001. They finished SS6 ninth, soundly beating some 4WD turbo cars to the line. After the last service competitors were out for the final two stages, the dark and cold conditions now favouring turbo charged engines. Road conditions remained very good despite the dual use by most of the 40 cars. SS8 was a long run to the finish and the roads over the top of a ridge were noticeably drier, looser gravel making for poor traction for some competitors. SS7 was taken by Stone with Macara in second. The final stage saw the retirement of Chris Anderson/Joel Lithgo when they put their Lancer Evo 4 off on a tight right hand corner. The final stage win went to Macara as Stone took another second place. At rally’s end the 2WD Championship honours went to Hannigan/Fitzsimons who also took tenth place outright. Ben Searcy/Daniel Smith (Suzuki Swift GTi) were home in second ahead of Nigel Bombak/Penny Mackenzie (Daihatsu Charade De Tomaso). A strong performance from Graham Furness & Peter Lindsay (Subaru WRX) brought them home in ninth place, Tostevin& Cook got their Subaru Legacy home in eighth and Markovic/Mortimer reached the finish in seventh. Gavin Morgan & Chris
Parish (Lancer Evo 3) missed a top five finish by just 14 seconds, finishing sixth, whilst Ross Mackenzie & Paul van der Mey (Subaru WRX) finished in fifth. Mike Anderson & Anthony Chudleigh (Lancer Evo 6) took fourth place. At a slightly relaxed pace (although you’d never know it by watching) Bignell & Percival brought their Lancer to the podium in third, the mechanical problems of past rallies very much forgotten. Stone/Madlener took a well-deserved second place and John Macara and Greg Flood stood on top of the podium in first place. Despite the late charge in the championship, Craig Bignell and his co-driver Joan Percival have amassed enough points to win the 2004 State Rally Championship. The WA Car Club are now hard at work organising the final WARC event for the year, the Stirling Stages which is due to be contested near Harvey in September. It will form Round 5 of the State Rally Championship and Round 3 of the Clubman Championship. Thanks must go to Jeremy Savage on his first rally as Clerk of Course, and his team of dedicated officials. Competitors, crews and spectators owe much to the people who give up their time and are willing to brave the elements, in this case the cold, for the love of the sport. Without them, WA would not have such a thriving rally championship. Thanks also to the WA Car Club and especially to the town of Collie.
12 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Neste Rally Finland
Peugeot goes the distance Magic Marcus gives Pug 307 its debut win on Finnish Grand Pirx After over six months of anxiety and doubt, the Peugeot 307WRC has finally become a winner in its own right! Driving brilliantly to overcome a double handicap of gearbox trouble, Marcus Gronholm went on to win his fourth “1000 Lakes” Rally and his personal first win for over a year. The revolutionarily converted cabriolet car had proved its doubters wrong, though it was a worrying affair for all concerned... A breath of fresh air. After weeks of concern about diminishing top level entries, fuelled by Mitsubishi’s impending withdrawal from the 2004 series, came a boost. As the season moved into its second half, no fewer than 15 works entries came to Finland. In addition to the ten nominated entries, Skoda had three (non-registered) cars, while the registered Peugeot and Ford teams both entered a third nonregistered car each and Citroen had a semi-works Xsara WRC as well. There were plenty of personal achievements to be aimed at on this event, beyond the agonising for Peugeot. Skoda’s entry for Jani Paasonen put the reputations of their regular drivers Armin Schwarz and Toni Gardemeister on the line. Ford nominated the Finn Janne Tuohino being content to run their regular number two driver Francois Duval just for his personal experience enhancement. Gronholm’s and Rovanpera’s teammate for this event was the veteran driver Sebastian Lindholm (actually Gronholm’s elder cousin) on his 21st “1000 Lakes” appearance. For the first time a 307 was fitted with the originally intended five-speed gearbox which had not previously been used in competition. The team gave Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera cars
VICTORY AT LAST: Marcus Gronholm finally won in the unreliable Peugeot 307 WRC.
By Martin Holmes Photos: Maurice Selden which were fitted with the temporary four-speed units, which the team believed had finally become reliable. This was a difficult decision, knowing that the four-speed cars lacked the intended fifth gear and would restrict the maximum speed capability of the 307 on the rally which is the fastest in the championship. In the interests of reliability, it seemed a risk worth taking, but the days were still tricky for Peugeot. The pressure to win a rally in the 307 was greater than ever before and increased with every failure. The only cars able to challenge the Peugeots early on was Subaru, but Solberg was feeling less than 100% and was forced to retire after he wrecked the suspension on the Impreza. His teammate Mikko Hirvonen also retired off the road. Once Solberg had retired the 307s were lying 1-2-3 and dominated the rest of the event but the road cleaning
problems were as acute as ever for the first runners through the stages. Rovanpera, running eighth on the road, took the initial lead before he rolled spectacularly on stage six. Gronholm, running at number five, took over, leading Lindholm who was comfortably a quarter minute behind. Together they were able to pull away from the Fords of Tuohino and Martin, the latter still suffering the effects of his Argentian accident. Sebastien Loeb, first car on the road, suffered most of all from the running conditions on the Friday and ended the first day seventh overall and far behind. Carlos Sainz had handling troubles which only gradually lessened and together he and Loeb tried to recover lost ground on the Saturday. Over at Skoda the pace of Paasonen was demoralising for the two resident drivers while at Mitsubishi Gilles Panizzi was suffering suspension troubles although teammate Kristian Sohlberg had a clearer run, rising to eighth place before crashing on the Saturday. Saturday afternoon was charged with
GRAND DRIVE: Still suffering vision problems after his massive Argentina accident, Markko Martin finished a brilliant second in his Ford.
WHERE TO NOW? Spectators in Finland had plenty to keep them occupied.
drama when Gronholm reported a strange untraceable metallic sound in the car. Later, too late to take remedial action, the team realised it was a warning of impending gearbox failure. The fabled four-speeder had broken, instigated by a clutch failure, and Gronholm, already short of speed on the fastest rally in the championship with four gears, now had only the first three gears. This brought out the brilliant best in the twice world champion.
When the gearbox failed he was 45 seconds ahead of Martin. When he came to service 55km of stages later, he was still 31 seconds in front. Codriver Timo Rautiainen, who had seen Gronholm’s genius first hand on countless occasions, said he had never seen driving like it. An ironic consequence: the fivespeeder, even when Lindholm got going again, gave no trouble. Mitsubishi continued their learning
FABIA-ULOUS: Skoda debutante Jani Paasonen won the Inmarsat ‘Star of the Rally’ award. He received it from former top co-driver Nicky Grist.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 13
Neste Rally Finland experience, Sohlberg going well before he crashed, Panizzi struggling on to the end despite suspension trouble. In the race between the non-works drivers, Daniel Carlsson headed his B-team Peugeot partner Henning Sohlberg in their ex-works 206WRCs. The FIA continued with their SupeRally experiment and Solberg in particular enjoyed the fun of showing off his speed, picking and choosing which stages he wanted to drive. Opinions varied about what was happening. For some it was welcome fun (as if the rally was not exciting enough...), for others it was a confusing, dangerous and stupid side show. It did however serve a major purpose for Peugeot. The team repaired Lindholm’s bent body panels and sent him off to gain some more five-speed experience, a facility unavailable elsewhere due to the FIA’s latest rule - all official testing being banned in August. Solberg set a string of fastest times in a car that had been spared many of the rigours of the rally. Hirvonen, another day one casualty, also gained a fastest time as well. In the Junior category, the Renault driver Nicolas Bernardi came to Finland still leading the championship despite the armada of little yellow Suzukis, now with six drivers registered in the championship, with the addition of one now being driven by Jari-Matti Latvala, who sought a car which for his home event was more reliable than his usual Fiesta. It was however a surprise when an Opel started off as the quickest car... Kris Meeke had come to Finland one week earlier to contest the Pirelli Rally where he won the Super 1600 category. For the first three stages of the event he was ahead of first Kosti Katajamaki then Mirco Baldacci and finally PerGunnar Andersson’s Suzuki, before he punctured and dropped to sixth. From then onwards it was Andersson in the lead, chased by Katajamaki. On the first day the top eight drivers all came from different countries. Latvala lasted two stages before he
finish there was never more than five seconds between them, usually a lot less. One overshot corner and the other would be leading, it was as close as that. In the end the Swede won, Bernardi fought back from delays with clutch failure and a spin, climbing on the final day from fifth to third in the category
STILL THE ONE: Carlos Sainz is in vintage form, winning in Argentina and finishing third in Finland.
ON BORROWED TIME: Armin Schwarz (below) got the Skoda to the finish, but was overshadowed by new teammate Paasonen. Brilliant summer weather brought the Finnish spectators out in large numbers (left).
DAMAGE CONTROL: Peugeot may have won the event, but it didn’t go entirely to plan. Harri Rovanpera (above) led the rally comfortably on day one but rolled out of the event, while team-mate Sebastian Lindholm held down second place until he, too, rolled.
went off the road (“I am sure I could have taken that bend flat out in a World Rally Car”), Guy Wilks was the next retirement when he hit a bank and punctured, followed by Saxo driver Guerlain Chicherit who firstly lost ten minutes with an electrical stoppage and then retired after a heavy landing. No sign yet of the promised Citroen C2. Meeke had to abandon when his car jumped out of the ruts and was damaged against a tree. From the moment Meeke punctured it was the Suzuki Swede versus the Suzuki Finn all the way. From Saturday lunchtime to the
and holding on to his championship lead. Nine events gone, seven, including three clear asphalt rounds, to come and with every passing rally there seems to be little chance that Sebastien Loeb and his reliable Citroen have reason to worry about their rights to the titles of 2004. It’s all go from now on. A rally every fortnight until the season is over. Minutes after the cars drove over the finish ramp, the world rally championship caravan was preparing itself for the drive down to Germany.
Final Results - 2004 Rally of Finland, WRC round 9
Winner’s average speed 1. Marcus Gronholm / Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC 3h07m16.1s over stages: 122.62km/h 2. Markko Martin / Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC +34.7s (record) 3. Carlos Sainz / Marc Marti Citroen Xsara WRC +1m44.5s 4. Sebastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara WRC +2m23.3s Positions in Junior World 5. Janne Tuohino / Jukka Aho Ford Focus RS WRC +2m36.7ss Rally Championship 6. Jani Paasonen / Jani Vainikka Skoda Fabia WRC +4m36.2s Bernardi 24 points, Andersson 7. Francois Duval / Stephane Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC +5m51.0s 21, Wilks, Katajamaki & Aava 8. Toni Gardemeister / Paavo Lukander Skoda Fabia WRC +6m03.2s 16, Cols 12, Baldacci 11, etc. 9. Daniel Carlsson / Mattias Andersson Peugeot 206 WRC +6m41.1s 10. Henning Solberg / Cato Menkerud Peugeot 206 WRC +7m04.6s WRC POINTSCORE Manufacturers: Citroen 109 points, Ford 83, Subaru 64, Peugeot 61, Mitsubishi 17. Drivers: Loeb 66 points, P.Solberg 44, Martin & Gronholm 42, Sainz 40, Duval 31, Hirvonen 18, Tuohino 16, Rovanpera 14, Carlsson & Panizzi 6, etc.
14 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Batemans Bay Rally
Sullens goes all the way at the Bay T he Bay Stages is usually a stern test of man and m a c h i n e . A g o o d c a r, carefully driven is usually the winner. This year there was little of that - it was push hard from the outset if you wanted to keep the leaders in sight. The weather was cool and dry without rain, and it stayed dry but there was plenty of talk of slippery roads, though. The entry list made interesting reading just as much for who wasn’t there as for who was. No Miles Sandy, an engine failure putting paid to his season. There was also no Chris Giddins, who was heading overseas, and no Brett Middleton, who was competitive on the first couple of stages last year. However there was Tony Sullens, and he and Dale Moscatt were hungry for victory here. The Croker brothers dragged yet another Croker with them, 19 year old Clinton, who was to be watched by all However, the early stages of the rally would be a Gavin and Eric
Photos: Andy Kerr, Neil Blackbourn
By Neil Blackbourn
shorter first set of stages around the Durras area and the Old Pacific Highway stage, Gavin set a time just over 17 and a half minutes for the 29km Western Distributor stage, this time run downhill. Championship leader prior to the event was Peter Roberts, who with co-driver Jack Terp, exited the event with overheating in their Lancer Evo 3, the result of a suspected blown head gasket before the start. The early stages saw some slipping and sliding amongst some of the crews on the roads north of the Bay. Brett Walther had an amazing save but managed to keep the car out of the trees after being distracted with a front right tyre problem. The service before the southern two stages saw some action for some teams, but not that of the Crokers. Gavin was happy with his first four stages: “We have fixed the electrical drama that we’ve had for a while
HUNGRY FOR VICTORY. Tony Sullens and dale Moscatt were too good for the opposition in the Bay Stages.
brief behind the top crews. “Those guys are driving like maniacs!” he remarked. “There’s no way they are all going to finish.” He was just behind the two fastest 2WDs of local Bradley Fitzgerald and Sydney’s Dave King and Gavin Hermann who were fighting amongst themselves for sixth
and seventh, with Jon Waterhouse and Andrew Crawford getting used to the new turbo Version 4 RX-7. The southern stages began with a sensation when Kelvin Croker parked up with a puncture, having to change it early in the stage. Brother Gavin then sped past, only to be parked himself just down the road with terminal gearbox failure. The winner of three out of four stages to that point was out, leaving his brother with a lot of catching up to do on the new leaders, Sullens and Moscatt. SS6 was the run back towards Batemans Bay, and the last of the daylight stages. Sullens and Mitchell fought over the lead whilst Kelvin Croker tried desperately to claw the leaders back. The fight for the lead saw Mitchell and Cadman have a huge off in SS7, the 21km Clyde Drury. Mitchell came over a crest too fast to take the left hander at the end and went off the road. Both crewmembers were taken to hospital, and Jo taken to nearby Canberra for a CAT scan. While they were both fine, although sore, the same could not be said for the car, but the cage had done its job well. The times for SS7 were neutralised and the three crews behind Mitchell and Cadman swung into action at the crash scene. Heffernan and Webb stayed at the scene, whilst the two
following cars went to the next SOS and the end of the stage respectively. The stage was stopped, and crews one were given the slowest time up to then, that of Sullens, as the only other car to complete the stage, Kelvin Croker, was faster again. Kelvin Croker was running out of stage kilometres to win the rally despite the last three stages all falling to the Ulladulla speedster, taking his total stage wins to five and the family’s to eight out of ten. Sullens took a most deserving win. It had been some months since he had been on gravel and he controlled the gap to Mitch Heffernan brilliantly. Heffernan admitted that he found it a little hard to get back into the event after the crash, but managed to keep second place from the hard-charging Croker. On his dash to the finish, Heffernan hit a tree with the left rear quarter and exposed the rear wheel, but without re-arranging the rear geometry. Occurring 3km from the end of the event, it would have been a bit of a heartstopper. The ACT points was a reward for a good steady but fast drive by Kiri Dirickx and Tim Batten in their Evo 3 Lancer, along with fourth outright. Group N was won by the shopping trolley drivers again, Garry Yeomans and Kam Baker beating John Stilling and Dave Stephens to the prize. They
SIDEWAYS STYLE: Dave King and Gavin Hermann were spectacular on the way to fifth outright in their Datsun 200B ‘SSS’
Croker benefit. The totally yellow Evo 3 Lancer held a significant lead over the white and yellow team car of Kelvin and new co-driver Laurie Owens as they pulled away from the battle behind that comprised Sullens/ Moscatt and Mitch Heffernan/Bernie Webb in Mitch’s Impreza. Over the
- we switched the anti-lag off,” he related. John Mitchell and Jo Cadman had been having a good run early on, even though John felt they should have been quicker. Heffernan was having a drama with the suspension setup, a sway bar in the front that was too stiff and Sullens had changed his settings prior to the last two stages. Attention to detail sometimes wins events too, and this is what Sullens’ team was trying to do. Michael South, in the sweet-sounding Silvia, was analyzing the telemetry from the Motec at the service, checking to see where the engine had been revved a little above the optimum. It was going to be tough for Sullens and Moscatt to catch the Crokers, but they were sure going to try! Doug Briscoe and Phil Morley (Evo 3) had taken up a watching
HEFFERNAN’S HEART-STOPPER: An altercation with a tree on the last stage didn’t stop Heffernan and Webb from taking second spot.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 15
Batemans Bay Rally also took a well-deserved sixth place. Who beat them to fifth? Dave King and Gavin Hermann rolled the 200B SSS late in the event, but still beat a majority of 4WD turbos in the event. They had plenty of opposition all day though, as Bradley Fitzgerald and Justin Mitchell had their Datsun P510 wound up in their home event. Engine failure meant that the pair missed out on the top 2WD finish in the long event, although they took fourth outright in the Clubman
section of the event. J o n Wa t e r h o u s e a n d A n d r e w Crawford had the new Mazda going well, and like the form of the 2WDs in Batemans, the pair finished seventh, ahead of Briscoe and Morley. The Stilling Lancer was ninth ahead of the third Group N car home, the Impreza of Kirk Marks and Michael Rourke. Robert Inall and Brad Grant finally got a good result to back up the turn of speed they have shown with the immaculate VK Commodore all
IMPENDING DOOM: John Mitchell and Jo Cadman exited the event after a big crash on SS7 which saw them taken to hospital.
TREE-MENDOUS: Mal and Burnie Hurley get acquainted with a big gum in the Bay Stages Rally.
year, to take third in class P4 and eleventh outright. The youngest Croker, Clinton, and co-driver Clyde Green in the trusty family 180B SSS, took class P3 and 12th outright. Class P2 winner was Gemini driver Paul Batten. With John Anderson alongside, they made the Gem go faster than it actually should, through sheer commitment. Bruce Hancock and Paul Fletcher
took 19th and class P6 in the beautiful
GT4, whilst the P1 class was fought out by Greg Munn and Kim Affleck and their Escort. They lost the class and 20th outright to Gwyn Mulholland and Jeremy Sims by just five seconds. Bob Blandford and Jack Brownlow had the Rover SD1 wound up for the event, but lost a bucketload of time in SS2 but soldiered on to the finish. Writing this story, the spellchecker kept telling me that the Crokers should have been ‘Corkers’, and that is a great description of their domination of the event. However Tony and Dale deserved their victory and will be made to work hard again when the first two days of the Premier State Rally make up Round 5 of the NSW State Championship at the end of August.
1: Sullens/ Moscatt – Subaru Impreza WRX 2: Heffernan/ Webb – Subaru Impreza WRX 3: K Croker/ Owens – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3. 4: Kari Dirickx/ Tim Battten – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3. 5: King/ Hermann – Datsun 200B SSS. 6: Yeomans/ Baker – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1. 7: Waterhouse/ Crawford – Mazda RX-7. 8: Briscoe/ Morley – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3. 9: J Stilling/ Stephens – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3. 10: Marks/ Rourke – Subaru Impreza WRX
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16 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
RATTRAY’S HELLYER RALLY By Nathan Myers
W
ith the running of the Subaru Safari Rally last month signalling the Tasmanian championship’s halfway point, the first event for crews in the run home, the Hellyer Rally, conducted by the North West Car Club, saw a huge swing in location from the far South to the remote North West. With the championship such a hotly contested affair, crews needed anything to give them the edge over their competition. For the Vandenbergs, they believed their advantage would come in the form of an upgrade in machinery to the ex-Tolley Challis Lancer Evo 5. With the team sitting out the last round, they were expecting big things from the car, debuting it at this event. The morning briefing saw none of the forecasted rain, with competitors greeted by bright sunshine, albeit with cool temperatures. First into the forest were the Vandenbergs, with the new car running faultlessly, they set about building an all-too-familiar lead, winning the stage by 4 seconds over Rattray/Hills. David Waldon also began well, taking third for the stage, 10 seconds behind the leaders and sharing this position with the Stoneman brothers. Stage 2 provided perhaps the biggest talking point of the day with some crews voicing concerns about a particular road book tulip, a call of “straight on, over crest”. For the several teams who did not realise, this instruction was to prevent them from turning down the intersecting road on the crest, but the slight curve after
RATTRAY LEADS: The TRC lead went to Rattray & Hills after winning the Hellyer Rally in the remote north west of the state. (Photos: Morey Photography)
GRAVE ON GRAVEL: Newcomers Grave and Groenewege were all smiles after finishing second, as was their car.
it caught them out, seeing several exits into the scenery. Although all were able to continue, perhaps hardest hit were the Vandenbergs as they managed only fifth fastest, 14 seconds behind the Stoneman brothers who took the stage by just one second to Rattray/Hills. Stage 3 was the second longest of the day at just over 16.5 kilometres and it almost spelled the end of David Waldon, as his WRX twice jammed in third gear, only releasing after he stopped the car. Luckily the problem seemed to cure itself and he continued on, but most likely cost him the stage win. The Stonemans for once had no such dramas and set equal time with Rattray. Waldon surprisingly only dropped six seconds after his clutch dramas and would have been rueing his misfortune. For the Vandenbergs, they again had a troubled run, dropping 26 seconds to the leaders and relegating them to fourth outright. With Rattray steadily building his lead after the first few stages, he left first service full of confidence and went on maximum attack taking the next three of four stages. By the end of SS7 he had opened up a lead of 28 seconds to the second-placed Stonemans. However on SS8 a flat tyre halted his run, costing him dearly, the team only managing 10th fastest. They lost 27 seconds to the Stonemans, cutting their lead to just 1 second.
With the event running nearly two hours behind due to general delays and communication problems, the leaders headed into the next stages knowing that the event would be cut short, so the time to attack was now, especially for the Vandenbergs who had slipped to fourth, 46 seconds behind. SS9 was to be the closest of the event with the top three teams finishing all within a second of each other. However for the Vandenbergs this stage was to see their demise. A broken driveshaft was hampering their progress but it was ultimately a differential failure that saw them retire on this stage. It was a huge blow for the team, putting in jeopardy their ability to defend their championship. On the next stage it was David Waldon who mounted a last ditch charge as he took his first stage win by 10 seconds, leaving him still in third but only 24 seconds adrift. The Stoneman brothers also came home faster than leader Rattray by six seconds, putting them into the lead by a mere three seconds. With three stages still to be run, but no time to do so, it looked like SS11 was to be the last for the day. Drama struck the Stonemans in an unusual form as in all the confusion and concerns about the time and what stages would still be driven, navigator Michael booked the crew in three minutes late, incurring a 15 second penalty which dropped them back into second. Luckily their penalty was of no consequence as a calculated finishing run by Lynn Rattray saw him win this stage by 7 seconds, handing him victory, as it was to be the last stage. The win now sees his championship lead (unadjusted) expand to 20 points. The Stoneman’s second place on stage gave them that position for the day and likewise Waldon/Catt’s third also gave them that position. This third place for David Waldon saw him gain another 14 valuable points and on the adjusted Championship points score (once both teams drop their worst results) the two drivers are separated by just four points. In the two-wheel drive classes things had gone according to plan for the series leaders. Despite an incident on the now-notorious SS2 crest, VonBertouch/Murfett in their turbo Bluebird had cruised through to a third in class behind winners Marshall/Anderson in their 200B. The 14 points they gain from this event now means that a good finish in either of the final two events will score them the championship. Nick Kiely had taken full advantage of the
BROTHERLY LOVE: The Stonemans took a well-deserved second place on the podium in their Mitsubishi Lancer.
absence of the top two teams by taking his Bluebird home to a strong win in Class 3, beating home newcomers Grave/Groenewege by over a minute. With only two points separating Kelly Hunt and Simon Conroy’s Lancers in Class 2, the battle between the two was hotly contested all day. Kelly “Hooch” Hunt took the spoils at the end of the day, putting the mechanical woes of the last two events behind him. The victory, by nearly eight minutes, sees him expand his championship lead to eight points. With the penultimate event, the “Mt Lloyd Rally”, being held on September 4, the championship is sure to go down to the wire so keep up to date with all the news and photos at www.500carclub.com.au
In Your Dreams
with Darren Windus If money were no object, what three luxury items would you love to buy? A turbo, 6 speed gearbox and some good diffs for the RS Impreza. If you could spend a day being anyone in the world, who would it be? Petter Solberg. What’s your fantasy job? Works rally driver. You win a trip (plane tickets and accommodation included) to the destination of your choice. Where do you go? Rally Finland. What’s something you’ve never done before but would love to try? Sky diving. What talent would you love to have? To be able to make money on the stock exchange. An angel grants you one wish. What do you ask for? A budget to do the WRC. If you could drive one rally car in history, which would it be? Colin McRae’s Group A Impreza from 1996.
T
he spectacle that is the Coopers Pale Ale Rally of South Australia once again gave local stars and up and coming talent the opportunity to showcase their skills on a national stage – and what a show it was. Our rallying community has reason to be proud. Take Brett Kipling and Mark McCarthy’s fearsome battle with some of the ARC’s best, or Jack Monkhouse and Darren Masters’ run on Sunday Morning at Maidment Road. With the much talked about fog beginning to clear, Jack obviously decided to have a go and his time of 4:00.9 was bettered only by eventual winners Chris and Ben Atkinson. The difference being a mere four tenths of second! Who can forget the spectacular driving that made instant crowd (and announcer) favourites of Mark Povey and co-driver Brendan Dearman. They finished a brilliant 14th outright and, in doing so, jumped up to second place in the SA Championship - who knows what the Hog’s Breath rally team could achieve with a dog box and a tank full of Elf juice? 2003 Champion Sam Brand showed glimpses of his best, handling the fog particularly well, but rare gearbox problems for the Subaru in both heats kept the champ from being any real threat to the big guns. A trip to NSW for the Premier State Rally will hopefully bring better results. Denise Collins managed to consolidate her lead in the national F16 Championship by fin-
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 17
Povey produces
Story & Photos by Kristian McMahon ishing second to Victorian Leigh Garrioch. In another formidable display, Denise overcame an electrical problem early on Saturday to propel her awesome sounding Honda home in front of a parochial crowd. Other memorable moments include legends Michael Dale (Datsun 180B) and Barry Lowe (V8 Commodore) and their rear wheel drive antics. Thousands of Pale Ale charged, fist pumping natives encouraged the local legends who, of course, where happy to oblige with plenty of slick sideways action. Matt Selley and Joana Fullers’
FANTASTIC EFFORT: Mark Povey was a real crowd favourite in the Hog’s Breath Cafe Impreza WRX.
LIMITED GRIP: Matt Selley on the edge in his Impreza WRX through the Forties spectator area.
charge up the SARC points table is also worthy of mention. A 4th place in the registered SARC competition sees them creep up to 5th outright, only half a point behind Jack Monkhouse! In yet another scary moment, Matt nearly lost the WRX at the slippery Forties hairpin in front of a gasping crowd. No one can doubt the effort from these two. Those unfortunate enough not to finish included fast improving Declan Dwyer/Simon Orme, Jamie Roodenrys/Terry Schutz and Devlin Griffiths/Maree Gardner. A big win is not far away for Dwyer, while Roodenrys will only get faster with more events in his new Lancer. Griffiths and Gardner joined the roll-over club on Saturday but will have the car repaired in time for Clare. While both obviously disappointed, Maree described the experience as ‘fun’! Rest assured, rallying is alive and well in SA! Clerk of Course Ivar Stanelis and every official, organiser and helper can be proud of themselves and the fantastic event that has once again put SA on the map. On behalf of 30,000 rally fans – thanks! Finally, after another dominant display Will Orders and Matthew McAdam have an unbeaten lead in the local competition and will take the SARC trophy home to Victoria. The talented young duo finished 10th outright (SARC 1st) and scared the big boys often with some quick times. While it is a shame to see the trophy head interstate, it simply couldn’t go to two nicer blokes.
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 19
Subaru Rally Challenge
Windus winds up the pace
Round 4 of the Subaru RS Challenge, held at the Coopers Rally of South Australia, was every bit as competitive as the previous rounds, and not without its dramas and controversies. 15 cars converged on the beautiful (and wet) Barossa Valley for the Coopers Pale Ale Rally of South Australia, Round 4 of the Globalstar ARC, including ARN editor Peter Whitten and Tom Smith who drove the Subaru Australia media car to see what it was all about, surprised at the intensity and closeness of the competition.
H
eat One saw Challenge leaders John Goasdoue and Glenn Weston set a blistering pace on SS1, followed by an equally spectacular crash in the multi-used Forties stage, evaporating his narrow points lead. John thinks his familiarity with the stage was a result of him not paying as much attention to his notes as he should. This left Eli and Kylie Evans as the next fastest until they suffered a similar fate, breaking a strut and demolishing a tyre. They tried to limp back to service but the local men in blue wouldn’t allow it and then booked their service crew for turning over double lines to get to them. Another perfect “Evanly” Graham Vaughan battled understeer problems - but oversteer was the culprit here!
By Michael Cains Photos: Kristian McMahon Neil Blackbourn day. This left Darren Windus and Michael Cains to fight it out with Gavin Mosher and Rene Burgess, both crews rarely more that a few seconds apart, despite Gavin holding his hands over his ears every time stage times were mentioned, so determined was he to finish. He had been lucky with two major “offs” in the early stages but then settled into a groove and started to take time off Windus as the day progressed. Winners in Tasmania, Steve Glenney and Clayton Lang, lost third gear early in Heat One and were unable to procure a replacement gearbox. They were expecting the box to implode at any minute but it held on remarkably for the whole two days, and despite the gap between gear changes, they were able to produce some very competitive stage times, especially in Heat Two. What they and everyone else hadn’t counted on was the pace of some of the other RS crews who stepped up to the mark like Matt Van Tuinen/Chris Murphy and Ian Plenderleith and his
Darren Windus won Heat 1 and was then able to pace himself during Heat 2 and build a handy points lead in the Subaru Rally Challenge.
mum, Stella. These youngsters, along with Benni Tirant and Simon Haeusler, relished these fast, cresty non-technical roads, with Matt and Ian elbowing aside the ailing Glenney car back into fifth. Tirant also finished well but was to be excluded from Heat One when his car didn’t meet the minimum ride height which was checked at every parc ferme. As a result of the retirements, Van Tuinen and Plenderleith finished with their biggest points haul to date and were both looking forward to Heat Two, despite the rain falling in the last few stages and a good soaking occurring overnight. Whitten/Smith, although not taking points for the Challenge, finished a creditable sixth.
G
oasdoue/Weston and the Evans siblings returned on the Sunday with repaired cars and a hunger for points. Goasdoue/Weston didn’t really get the handling of their RS right again after the rebuild and suffered a huge off on SS2 after a couple of spins in the wet on the first stage. Crews were finding that there was more grip on the roads than there looked to be and the trick was picking where there wasn’t. Evans was probably the quickest to adapt and despite his usual share of moments, Kylie kept him facing the right way most of the time. They finished up taking a good win by 17 seconds from a hard-charging Tirant/Haeusler, now with the right ride height, and an axe to grind. Benni has been lurking a little way back in most heats to date but on this one he cut loose as many expected he would, and easily slotted into second, winning four of the nine stages that counted for the Heat. Nathan Davis and Simone Martin were gaining confidence but on the
third stage suffered another heavy roll over after being one of the three crews along with Tirant and John Berne to be excluded for ride height infringements in Heat One. The accident may put them out of the Challenge unless they find a sponsor to help pay for another rebuild, or can find a market for used body parts. Scona/Bachmann pushed their luck a little too far and bogged themselves beyond recovery in mud in one of the Ridgetops passes. They are another crew treating this series as a learning experience, both in car and pacenote preparation. Windus/Cains cannily allowed Tirant to set his own pace, happy to take third and the series points while keeping a watchful eye on Van Tuinen/Murphy
and others. The latter were also to lose third gear, joining Glenney who by now had perfected a new driving style good enough to take him to fourth behind Windus and be in touch with the points. Mosher/Burgess may have wished they had paid more attention to the times as they slipped back behind Glenney by five seconds, although they executed a massive 400 degree spin on SS2 (Mawsons) not far from the Goasdoue crash. Gavin thought he had driven better on Day Two but the pace had in fact picked up. Ian Plenderlieth was one who did some of the picking-up and was unlucky not to have pipped Van Tuinen as the final deficit was only one second. The honours for the weekend went to Windus/Cains who backed off in the Japanese Wholesale Spares car, taking no real risks, although they were often left wondering how the youngsters where able to easily account for them. This was particularly evident in the Forties/Ridgeways multi-use stages through the spectacular Mt Crawford spectator complex, no matter how they tried. In the end the lure of a definite 14 points for a Heat win for Windus made more sense than chasing two more from Tirant/Haeusler. This is a different Windus to the man who was leading every Victorian Championship round in 2003 until crashing or mechanical problems struck. Points for the Challenge are still up in the air pending the outcome of at least one appeal (Tirant) but it is still wide open to at least six crews who make the trip to the Premier State Rally of NSW later this month.
Benni Tirant pushed to the limit in SA. It often looked impressive, but on this occasions his exuberance resulted in a 180 degree spin that ended perilously close to the trees.
20 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
I
t came like a bolt out of the blue. There I was on a miserable winter’s night, getting kids ready for bed, when Ian Chesterman from Subaru called me on my mobile phone. “We were wondering if you’d be interested in driving the RS Challenge media car in the Rally of South Australia?” he asks. “Entries close this Friday and we need to get it sorted in the next day or so.” It took me about half a nanosecond to agree, and before I knew it I was entered in round four of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship under the Subaru Rally Team Australia banner. The most popular one-make series in Australian Rally Championship history, the Subaru RS Challenge has quickly become ‘the’ series for up and comers. With 15 entries in each of the three rounds of the ARC this year and intense competition between all crews, reputations are quickly being forged. Subaru Australia have run a media car in all events so far. At the Rally of Canberra young New Zealand driver Emma Gilmour was behind the wheel, at Rally Queensland the Herald Sun’s Paul Gover was the driver, and Channel 10’s Neil Crompton showed his skills in Tasmania. Australian Rallysport News had been hoping for an opportunity to drive the car at some stage this year, but the phone call from Subaru was the first indication we’d had that we were even being considered for a run in the RS. Naturally we had been planning to attend the event anyway as part of our on-going coverage of the Globalstar ARC, but now those plans were set to be changed somewhat. Having agreed to drive the car, the next step was to find a co-driver to do the job. A quick phone call to ARN’s Queensland columnist, Tom Smith, soon had the co-driver’s seat filled and together Tom and I bantered like little kids about our ‘chance of a lifetime’ and our ‘works’ drive for the factory Subaru team. Tom and I had been talking about teaming up for an event for several years, but his residency in Brisbane and mine in north east Victoria had meant that this was always going to be hard. But now, thanks to Subaru, our plans were coming to fruition. An experienced co-driver of some note, “Tommi” is a former
by Peter Whitten Photos: Subaru, Kristian McMahonn Queensland Rally Champion, has finished in the top five in ARC rounds and has competed at Telstra Rally Australia on several occasions. He also contested the first two rounds of the RS Challenge this year with Matt van Tuinen, but work commitments forced him to forego his regular seat. My resume doesn’t read quite as impressively, but I have won a round of the Victorian Rally Championship and have finished third and fifth in rounds of the ARC, back in the days when it was a co-efficient championship. My most recent ARC outing was, coincidentally, in Rally SA in 2002. For that event I was handed the keys to Proton’s media car – a 1300cc Satria – when the Proton Trophy was in full swing. I came away from that event with a Heat win in the category, but by then the series was in its final year and floundering quite noticeably. Nevertheless, I was glad to be heading back to an event I really enjoyed and to have the chance to again compete on what are probably the smoothest stages in the championship.
P
acenoting was the next major consideration. Many of the stages in the 2004 event were the same (or similar) to those in 2002, and while I had a set of pacenotes that I’d made back in ’02, I wasn’t entirely comfortable in using them again. My notes had worked reasonably well in that event, but it had been the first time I’d written pacenotes myself and there were obvious glitches when it came to driving on them competitively. I then decided to give Subaru driver Dean Herridge a call and talk to him about his noting system. Dean uses a number system to grade the corners (1-6) with
pluses and minuses added. Fortunately for me this system is similar to what I’d used two years ago, and Dean willingly agreed to let me use a set of his notes for the event. This would give me a fantastic starting point and would make the reconnaissance a lot easier and less time consuming. On the stages that were the same as in 2003 we could simply check Dean’s notes, while on the new stages we could either write our own or get copies of Dean’s after he had completed his recce on the Thursday evening. With that sorted, it was full steam ahead with the rest of the planning for the event. The RS Challenge and the participation of the media entry is organised by Subaru’s Monica Zeaiter. Before long Monica had booked flights to Adelaide for Tom and I, and had supplied us with a full itinerary for the week of the event. The plan was for us to arrive in South Australia on Wednesday morning and spend the afternoon testing the car and familiarising ourselves with it. Thursday was set aside for reconnaissance, Friday for scrutineering and Saturday and Sunday for the rally proper. After the presentation on Sunday night, we’d fly home on Monday morning. It was all falling into place and was really making me feel like a works driver – although in truth I was just lucky enough to be in a position to be offered a drive in the car. Still, when the entry list came out and Peter Whitten/ Tom Smith were entered under Subaru Rally Team Australia, it gave me a real buzz. Right from the outset though I was under no illusions as to what I wanted to achieve from the event. First and foremost, the plan was to get the car to the finish on both days of the event. You might say that driving someone else’s car should mean you can ‘pin back the ears’ and try and set some scorching stage times, but in reality you have more to lose than you have to gain. Cruise around at the back of the field and you’ll probably create little interest, but go out and crash and there’s every chance you’ll be the laughing stock of the presentation dinner. Neil Crompton was certainly red faced after he put the car off the road twice in Tasmania, but in reality it’s not an easy task to succeed in and Crompton was probably a victim of the conditions more than any lack of ability or over-driving. Subaru are obviously aware that there’s a chance of the car coming away from an event
BULLET PROOF: A reliable car and a great service crew of apprentice technicians helped keep the Impreza RS running faultlessly for the entire event.
The RS Expe
.... or my week as a ‘works damaged, but rest assured that none of the car’s guest drivers want to damage it. Not only does it do your own reputation no good, but it will probably limit your opportunities of a similar drive down the track. Setting competitive times with the leading RS Challenge competitors wasn’t on the list of priorities either. With three events already under their belts, these guys are setting some amazing stage times and pushing right to the limit. However, if we could be quicker than some of the RS cars on the stages then that would be a real bonus – as long as I brought the car to the finish!
T
he Wednesday before the rally arrived and it was off to the airport. Arriving in Adelaide, I was met by co-driver Smith and Monica Zeaiter from Subaru for the trip from the airport to our accommodation in the Barossa Valley. After a quick meet and greet with head technician Sam Hill and our mechanics for the weekend (Adam, Ben, Adrian and Adam) it was into the rally car and off to Kersbrook for an afternoon of testing the car. The weather was miserable and it was obvious that our test session was going to be held in fairly inhospitable conditions, but looking on the bright side, that was probably a bonus. The weather forecast for the rally wasn’t good, so it was better to get some time in the car in these conditions before the rally got underway. All that was required before the test was a minor seat adjustment, and off we went to recce the stage, and then to drive it at speed. The chosen track (being shared by around eight other teams) was only 1.5km long – down a fast cresty road, turn right at a junction, and through a couple of water crossings. At the end of the road we turned
around and went back again. It immediately became obvious that the Impreza RS was a well balanced car. Handling appeared very neutral in the wet conditions and my only real job was to get used to the hard brake pedal. After a few runs in the car, Sam reconnected the brake booster, and while this made the pedal softer, the car had a tendency to lock the wheels under heavy braking and twice I understeered straight on at the junction. Disconnecting the brake booster gave the pedal a harder feel again, but with the excellent SBS brake pads fitted, it wanted to stop first time, every time. I decided this was the better set up for the event. With conditions deteriorating and the road cutting up more and more, we called it quits after about eight runs and 30km of testing. There seemed little more we could test in this weather, and I went away happy with the car I’d been supplied with. The only problem we discovered was that the front windscreen was fogging up in the miserable conditions, but this would be rectified before the event got underway. Wednesday evening consisted of completing our documentation and having dinner with the team, after which we hit the hay early in readiness for reconnaissance the following morning. Tom and I drove the rented recce car out of the motel at 6.30am for what would prove to be a tiring 11 hour day. We completed two runs of all stages to be run in the event and finished happy with the notes. We had ‘massaged’ Dean’s notes into ones that suited us a little better, and had to write the new stages from scratch which proved quite a challenge. How the notes would go on the rally itself remained to be seen, but I was more than confident that Tom could fill his part of the
READY FOR ACTION: The Whitten/ Smith media entry leaves the start of Rally SA in Tanunda.
role and keep me on the straight and narrow. The stages were an enjoyable mix of fast shire roads, although there was some tight and twisty stuff thrown in to keep you honest. There was also a seemingly never-ending number of crests that would test who had taken their bravery pills and who hadn’t. The two forest stages, Forties and Ridgetops, were a pleasant change, and both would be run five times to keep the hundreds of spectators entertained. While we had been out making pacenotes, our team had been going over the Impreza RS from head to toe, including removing the suspension and giving everything a full checking over and clean. By the time we returned from recce it was like brand new.
F
riday was a relatively easy day for Tom and I. We made a visit to the media day in the morning (where I managed a ride with Ed Ordynski in his Lancer Evo 7), then had a look around the impressive National Motor Museum at Birdwood. After a
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 21
erience
s’ Subaru driver!
/ t
along the way. ain was now looking more and more ominous as we headed for the final five stages of the day. The first three were repeats of earlier in the day and we got through them okay, but by the time we reached the final two tests the weather had turned decidedly inclement. Everything had gone to plan to date and despite being handily placed, I was determined not to risk the car on the final stages. It was now getting late in the afternoon and the sun had long since disappeared behind the rain clouds, making it more difficult to see. At the front of my mind I had visions of Neil Crompton putting the car off the road on the final stage of Heat 1 in Tasmania, so I set off ensuring that we didn’t suffer the same fate. Driving conservatively over the final two tests we reached the end of Heat service in one piece, and were rewarded with sixth place among the 16 RS Imprezas. While our car wasn’t scoring one-make series points, it at least gave us an indication of our performance. While Tom and I ventured into the team caravan for a feed of team cook Neil Rodgers’ best spaghetti bolognese and reflected on the day with Cody Crocker and Dean Herridge, the team set to work readying the car for Heat 2. New front brake discs were fitted, as was a new air filter, and the car was given a wheel alignment. After a wash and a new set of Pirelli KM4 tyres for the front, we put the car into overnight parc ferme and headed back to the motel, happy with our day and eager to hit the forests again for Heat 2.
R
H
quick bite to eat we attended the ARC competitors’ forum at the event headquarters. Before long it was time to head into Tanunda for the promotional start, with thousands of enthusiastic locals turning out to watch the large 70-car field drive over the start ramp in reverse order. With no parc ferme after the start, we drove the rally car back to the motel for an early night, praying that the anticipated wild weather didn’t arrive. Saturday morning dawned cloudy but fine as we headed off for the first day’s stages. To say I was nervous was an understatement, but with the weather still dry it put me in a more confident frame of mind. With a fine day before the rally the stages weren’t nearly as slippery as they had been in recce and we set off at a steady pace. We arrived back at service with no problems to report and were shocked to hear we’d been third fastest Impreza RS on just the second stage. We’d had a good run, but already John Goasdoue had crashed out and Eli Evans had lost a wheel, so the pace was already proving
to be a hot one. The ‘works’ driver thing was still a bit hard to believe. Our car was serviced next to the Impreza WRX’s of Crocker and Herridge and a good crowd was regularly on hand to watch our guys service the car – a buzz for them as much as for Tom and I. The first stage after service was cancelled after Mark Thompson’s unfortunate accident, so we headed off for the fast and challenging Mt Gawler test. This stage included a frightening stretch of tarmac – 2.5km and all downhill. Neal Bates described it as the most dangerous stretch of road he’d rallied on! Still, things were going well and after three more stages we serviced for a second time, only requiring a fill of fuel and a general spanner check. The team also took the time to fit the driving lights for the final stages. By now we were getting in to the swing of being ‘works’ drivers, disappearing into the Subaru team caravan to fuel up our bodies while the service crew attended the car. We were up to eighth among the 16 RS Imprezas, surprising ourselves
eavy rain during the night ensured that Sunday’s stages would be wet and slippery, and sure enough, South Australia’s winter weather threw everything it could at us in Heat 2. Rain, fog, mud and sunshine all made their presence felt during the day. We started the day in good form, feeling more ‘in sync’ from the outset and confident of a similar result to Heat 1. And while our stage times were respectable, it quickly became obvious that the guys going for prizemoney and championship points had turned the wick up considerably. The Impreza RS continued to perform faultlessly, but as the day wore on I became more aware that it was my lack of pacenoting experience that was costing us the most time. Even when the notes say “flat over crest” it really is difficult to hold your foot flat to the floor when you can see gum trees on the other side. It’s simply a confidence issue, but the fact that we needed to return the car straight was also having a bearing. The wet weather was also seeing us take a conservative approach to braking distances and again, if you were prepared to take the risks, it was easy to see where you could make up considerable time. Throughout the day the car only needed regular servicing, and apart from two cases of over exuberance on the driver’s part, all went well. The first came on the final run through ‘Forties’ when we slid way off line onto the wet and slippery grass, and the second was a big fourth gear ‘tank slapper’ on the ‘High Eden’ stage.
TEAM SUBARU RS on the podium after the finish of Rally SA: (Left, front to back) Adrian Kroemer, Adam Price, Adam Bennett and Peter Whitten. (Right, front to back) Ben O’Nians, Monica Zeaiter, Sam Hill and Tom Smith.
It was with much delight that we crossed the finish of the final stage and then drove over the podium and posed for photographs with our beaming Subaru team. It had been a wonderful experience and 10th place among the Impreza RS crews on Sunday was again a pleasing result. If nothing else, it had proved to me that the Impreza RS makes a brilliant one-make series car, and that the series is going to produce some stars of the future. In reflection we were more than happy with our results, and I’d
be lying if I said I wouldn’t like another opportunity in the car to put into practice some of things we learned over the course of the weekend. More pacenoting experience would certainly help on the driving side of the equation, while playing around with ride heights, spring rates and tyre pressures could all help make the car faster. Rest assured, the guys at the front of the Subaru Rally Challenge field are talented, and the commitment at which they are driving should never be underestimated.
After the presentation function on Sunday night, all that was left was to return the rally car to a Subaru dealer in Adelaide and board the Qantas flight home. My week as a Subaru works driver had come to an end, but it was an experience I’m not likely to forget for some time to come. ARN would like to thank Nick Senior, Monica Zeaiter, Sam Hill, Ian Chesterman and Subaru Australia for the opportunity to drive a fantastic car.
From the Left Hand Seat From its inception it was clear that the Subaru RS Challenge was a great addition to the Australian Rally Championship. From the inaugural event at the Subaru Rally of Canberra it was also very clear that a number of drivers were going to show regular speed and fight tooth and nail for supremacy, such is the closeness of the cars. As a co-driver in the initial two rounds of the series I was therefore disappointed when work commitments for the latter half of the year saw me opt out of my regular ride with Matt Van Tuinen and VT Racing. ‘When one door closes, another door opens’, as they say – and I was subsequently honoured to be asked to sit beside Australian Rallysport News Editor Peter Whitten in the Subaru ‘media’ entry for the Coopers Pale Ale Rally SA. I saw this as on an opportunity, amongst other things, to compare the speed and performance of two different series cars, theoretically constructed to the same standards, and to assist Peter to bring the Subaru home in a clean and undamaged condition. The blue and white RS had seen three other ‘celebrity’ drivers this year – Kiwi Emma Gilmour, who did a great job at the Rally of Canberra, Paul Gover who drove day one of Rally Queensland before succumbing to an illness, and the well-publicised efforts of poor Neil Crompton in the cold, wet
By Tom Smith climes of Tasmania. Unfortunately ‘Cromblie’ did not manage to finish either day on the ‘Apple Isle’, but ‘Team ARN’ was determined to find a rhythm and drive a safe rally for our trusting Subaru management. Peter and I had actually talked about making a submission to Nick Senior for consideration to drive the car in the final round in Melbourne, but when the SA offer came up we were humbled….but quickly accepted!! Monica Zeaiter has taken on the task of co-ordinating the series, and she has done a brilliant job this year. Sam Hill is the chief technician, and lays claim to having basically put the media car together. This was the first of the build run which was used to launch the RS Challenge late last year. The other great aspect of this program, which may not be common knowledge to many people, is the fact that Subaru also conscripts four nominees from each state – apprentice technicians from local dealers – who act as the rally service crew during the event. For Rally SA, we had four very capable youngsters in the forms of Adam Bennett, Adam Price, Adrian Kroemer and Ben O’Nians. The boys were also introduced to a range of other technical and safety training in the week leading up to the rally. The idea of this concept is to seek out those with high overall
potential, and while there are no promises, the factory team technicians will one day move on to other things. Opportunities may arise in SRTA, and starting off on the media team is a foot in the door. Peter and I arrived in Adelaide from our respective cities on the Wednesday before the rally, and were met at the airport by Monica. The Subaru Rally Team had arranged a formal test road for Pete to try the car and despite mud, mud and more mud (oh, and rain) – he showed immediate confidence in the car. From my side it was a case of deja-vu, feeling just like Matt van Tuinen’s car in ride and performance. Sam and the boys adjusted the seat for Pete, but I slotted in and was comfy straight away. Thankfully there was no crawling around in the mud, and after documentation we were ready to head to recce early on Thursday morning. With some borrowed (trusted) notes we had a full day, with Pete making some adjustments and writing some stages from scratch. While I had more noting experience, I was happy with the feedback I was getting and feeling more confident for us both as the day progressed. The media day saw Pete score an inspirational ride with Ed in the Ralliart car, just to get the adrenalin flowing. On Friday night, as we crossed the ramp with lights Continued page 22
22 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Subaru Impreza RS
O
kay, so I was given a free drive of Subaru’s media car in South Au s t r a l i a , s o yo u could perhaps expect that I’m going to give a glowing report on the Impreza RS car that is used in the Globalstar ARC’s one-make series. And while that would be correct, the superlatives I’m about to give the RS has certainly got nothing to do with Subaru loyalty or as a pay back for receiving the drive. At no time was I given directives about what Subaru wanted in return, nor were there ever any team orders given. “We have three objectives for our drivers at each event,” head technician Sam Hill told us before the start. “Firstly, have fun. Second, try and keep the car straight, and thirdly, our aim is to finish in the top 10 at the end of each Heat.” Thankfully we achieved all three of the objectives, but the competitiveness of the series means that a motoring journo without rallying experience would struggle to finish in the top 10, as Neil Crompton found out in Tasmania. Testing in the wet, it only took about 15km for me to decide that a little more power would be nice. The car hits the rev limiter at 6200rpm, but throughout the weekend that was only possible in first, second and third gear. The ‘sweet spot’ is anywhere between 3000 and 6000rpm. A lack of power or not, everyone is in the same boat so you just have to drive around it. That’s not to say that the car’s aren’t fun to drive though. There is ample power to build up momentum and make it enjoyable to drive, and the only occasions when you think the lack of power could get you into trouble is when you’re sliding wide on a corner and you don’t have enough grunt to pull you out of it. I guess the definitive answer is not to go wide! Similarly, it’s not easy to ‘chuck’ the car into a tight corner and be confident that the car will have enough power to keep the slide going and pull you out of the corner. On many occasions I found myself changing down a gear mid corner, but left-foot braking (which I didn’t do) may help this. Even so, series leader Darren Windus reports that he regularly dips the clutch to keep the engine revs up. The Impreza also takes a long time to build up speed on long straights. Even on a straight of around 1km in length on the event the car only topped around 160km/h, and it took some time to get there. Many would say, however, that this is more than fast enough! Handling is one of the Impreza’s
From page 19 blazing, we had smiles from ear to ear – the rally had actually started, and we were a ‘factory’ crew!! Come Saturday morning, and lots of good thoughts seemed to keep the rain away as we headed out with a brand new set of series Pirellis – which seemed to excite Pete as much as anything. A semi-cautious start to the rally was called for, but my driver certainly showed his skills and a touch of flamboyance, tossing the Impreza about like an Escort to great effect. The notes also seemed to work, and on the second stage we just did the same again – only to be rewarded with third quickest RS time! That set some tongues wagging, but as we were last car, not many people either knew what had happened or took a lot of notice of the media entry. A nice consistent pace for the rest of the day, and small reminder pictures of Monica and Sam stuck to the dashboard (not really!), kept us
Driving Impressions By Peter Whitten
TECH SPECS: Impreza RS ENGINE: 2.5-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder POWER: 112kW at 5600 revs TORQUE: 223Nm at 3600 revs TRANSMISSION: Five-speed manual, all-wheel-drive FINAL DRIVE RATIO: 4.111:1 WHEELBASE: 2525mm BODY: Four-door sedan PRICE: RS sedan $32,990 (standard road car)
THE CARS
Subaru Australia built and sold 15 white Impreza RS’s for this year’s Globalstar Australian Rally Championship. The 2.5 litre, 5-speed manual cars came with the following equipment as standard. • Homologated roll cage (fitted by Bond Roll Bars) • 2x Sparco Pro2000 seats and side mounts • 2x Sparco V type crotch straps • Hi Tech exhaust system • 2x WRX strut mounts • Subaru window banners, sponsors stickers
• 2x Sparco 4 point, 3” harnesses • 2x fire extinguishers (1kg hand held) • DMS 50mm suspension • Window tint • Sealed engine
The cars sold for $35,500 including GST, although control Compomotive wheels and Pirelli tyres were required to be purchased separately. There two types of tyres available for the Subaru Rally Challenge: the Pirelli KM4 (medium compound) and the KM6 (hard compound). Subaru Australia are currently in the process of sourcing some more cars for the 2005 season, details of which will be available in the next few months. strong points. The car is really a neutral handling beast and I found it had no real tendencies to oversteer or understeer. The neutral handling makes the car really ‘catchable’ if you happen to slide wide or overstep the mark. The combination of the Pirelli tyres
and the DMS suspension seem to work a treat, although some crews were excluded in SA when their cars were measured and found to be under the minimum ride height. Jamie Drummond from DMS reports that the suspension must be serviced
after every three dry events, or after every wet event. The previous event in Tasmania was very wet and those who were excluded reportedly had not had their suspension serviced since then. The minimum height rule may be harsh, but in a one-make series parity is of the
From the Left Hand Seat conscious of our task – keep it straight and bring it home! Another analogy is ‘Patience is its own reward’, and we brought the Impreza home sixth in the RS Challenge, and twenty-first outright. Amazingly, the gap between first and seventh of the RSs was less than 90 seconds – a little less than a second a kilometre. I guess you could say we were happy…. It rained overnight and we knew the roads would be slippier so decided to be careful but try to repeat our performance from Heat 1. Over some of the same stages, we knew the corners and crests were different, but Pete drove like an old-stager and didn’t put a foot wrong. Pete commented that he could see where we could have made up some time, but these guys at the front of the RS field were absolutely on fire, such
By Tom Smith
The impressive 2.5 litre Subaru engine is perfect for the one-make series.
is the closeness in stage times. Another quick but safe day, including the great ‘High Eden’ stage, and we pulled up at the final parc ferme in tenth place for the RS Challenge. Over heat 2, the regulars had increased their
pace but we were happy to keep on the good side of Monica and Sam, and kept a level head. The car performed faultlessly all weekend, and our crew of technicians in training did a superb job under Sam’s
utmost importance. Simon from Pirelli offered us (tongue in cheek) a set of WRC-spec Pirellis for the final group of stages, hinting that on the RS they would probably be worth around five seconds a kilometre! The brakes on the car are fantastic, and it’s hard to believe that there is no brake bias valve fitted. The Subaru media car ran SBS pads with the booster disconnected and there was never a hint of brake fade. Towards the end of the event I noticed some brake knock-off at the end of long straights, but Sam Hill believes this is simply a result of front wheel bearings which are now two events old. The team has discovered they need changing after every two events. Subaru have made every effort to ensure the car’s are identical when competing. Sam Hill personally reprograms every ECU at scrutineering before each event, and Pirelli mark and record the barcodes of all eight tyres that are to be used on each car. There is little, it seems, that can be tampered with. The only grey area perhaps involves the question of what fuel can be used in each car. Subaru would like pump fuel to be used in all cars, but this rule is currently not in place. As a result, it is believed some crews are using higher octane fuels, or a mixture of PULP and other fuel types. During the 200+ competitive kilometres I did in the car in South Australia, it didn’t miss a beat. All that was required was a general spanner check at each service break, and it’s this reliability that is making the series so popular. If I had the budget, would I buy an Impreza RS to compete in the Subaru Rally Challenge? Absolutely. The cars are a fantastic package and is the ideal stepping stone between a two-wheel drive car and a four-wheel drive turbo rocket. Reliable, easy to drive and competitive, the Impreza RS is a real winner. But having said all that, the series is not cheap. Even the competitors on the smallest budgets are expecting to have spent $100,000 by the end of the season (including buying the car). However it must be remembered that this is the highest level of the sport in Australia and things don’t come cheap. Running costs are on a par even with smaller engined two-wheel drive cars, as are the costs of getting to and from and competing in a round of the championship – a minimum of $7000 per event. Unfortunately, that’s just the price of modern day rallying, and like it or not, that’s what you have to spend at this level. If you can put a budget together for next season, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. The Subaru Rally Challenge is the success story of the 2004 season. guidance. We used fuel, and put on a fresh set of front tyres for Heat 2, but spanner checks and general maintenance was all the car required. This was the longest single period that Pete and I had spent in each other’s company and while we shared many stories and much information, we agreed wholeheartedly that this RS Challenge is a phenomenal success. With individual fine-tuning in tyre pressures and ride-height (ours was safely above the limit), these cars are providing close and competitive rallying, and we agreed that the next generation of factory stars in Australia could well emanate from its ranks. Thanks to Subaru Australia for the fantastic opportunity to compete with the car, and the team – especially to Monica and Sam for their friendship and trust in our abilities. By the way, that Whitten boy can actually drive a rally car quite well indeed!
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Taming the Big Cat It’s not every day that we get to drive a Jaguar. As well as that, it’s not everyday that we get to rally a Jaguar. However, both came together when the Jaguar Driver’s Club’s Garth Taylor contacted the ARN office with an offer that was too good to refuse. The deal was that if we were interested in competing in the JDC Mountain Rally, Garth would make his 1961 Jaguar Mk.2 available for us to drive. Now, offers like that are pretty had to knock back so we had no hesitation in accepting his offer and the arrangements were soon put into place. There were several minor problems to be overcome. Firstly, as an avowed Ford fan, I had little experience of rallying a marque other than a Ford (with the exception of a Mini in the 1960s) so brand loyalty had to be forgotten if I was to be behind the wheel of a Jag. All my reservations were allayed, of course, when I realised that Jaguar is now part of the Ford empire, even though died-in-the-wool Jaguar owners are reluctant to accept the fact. Secondly, with gun navigators thinner on the ground than snow in December, the thought of tackling the full-on navigation section, the Challenge, was out of the question. Why not re-invent the wheel? Why not ask my
ARN’s Jeff Whitten went classic rallying in a Mark 2 Jaguar. to appreciate during the event.
T
he Mountain Rally, an annual event which I’d won before (in 1995 with Jeff West), is one of NSW’ longest-running classic events, and this year (its 11th year) had attracted around 70 entries, a fair proportion of which were Jaguars of various year models and types. At the wheel of a Jag, I felt I was in good company but it has to be said that at times I did feel like “the lord of the manor” as we motored along on leather seats and behind walnut-capped doors and dashboard. There was a huge difference from this conveyance to the basic-ness of one of Ford’s
RALLYING IN STYLE – A Jaguar XK120 passes the editor’s Mk.2, stopped for a call of nature.
wife, Betty, to navigate the Jag and I around the Hunter Valley of NSW? Despite the fact that I had been rallying since 1965, my wife had never seriously navigated in a rally, but was pretty well up to speed with rally jargon, rules and regulations, and was very good with figures. It didn’t take much talking to convince her that we could enter the least difficult category in the rally, the Tour, which was for those who wanted a nice drive in the country without too much pressure. The “Marriage Friendly” phrase fitted this section perfectly.
M
y first drive of the Jag came about on the way to the start at Berowra, on the old Pacific Highway, just north of Sydney. I had been given a crash (bad choice of words) course on the operation of the car by Garth in the motel carpark earlier that morning. “The window seals are a little worn, the horn button rattles and the gear selector pattern is a bit different to normal”, was the message, “but the rest of it is typical of a car over 40 years old”. It didn’t take long to get the hang of things. In its day, a Mk.2 Jaguar was a very upmarket British conveyance for those well-heeled enough to afford one. Over the years they have gained a reputation of being a very capable motorcar that wears the “classic” title very well. As a touring car they have few peers, but there are those who still want a little more performance for motorsport, and Garth was no exception. Built solidly as only luxury cars from that era tend to be, performance from the standard 3.8 litre motor is adequate, but Garth’s car had two important improvements – power steering and a 4.2 litre engine which gave it that extra urge that we were
LOOKS MEAN – but it’s really just a pussycat. The editor’s mount for the Mountain Rally proved ultra-reliable.
Escorts. After a short crew briefing, we were away. The first day of the two-day, 640km event took competitors over a maze of roads between Berowra and Maitland in the Hunter Valley. With 185km to be covered before lunch at Maitland, pressure was really on all crews to cover the distance in time. The route generally led north through Gosford, Wyong and Cooranbong, winding in and out of little towns along the way. Our Jaguar took some getting used to. The strong action required to operate the accelerator pedal was difficult to get used to and it must be said that the car wasn’t at its best at slow speeds in Saturday morning traffic. Nevertheless, when depressed, those 4.2 litres really sparked some action from the DOHC unit. We longed for some open roads to try it out. My navigator was really coming to terms with the route chart and although we did explore a few incorrect roads, execute a number of “U” turns and back-up occasionally, we both agreed we were making steady progress, collecting the necessary information and answering the required questions along the way. We would regularly come across half a dozen competitors’ cars stopped by the side of the road while they plotted the route or looked for information, only to have them pass us again shortly after while we dithered about. Meanwhile, we motored on in comfort and luxury, confident that we’d done pretty well. Lunch at Maitland was a welcome sight – after all, it had been four hours without a break since the start and a leg stretch, a toilet break and a snack
were most welcome. All too soon we were back in the Jag again, ready for more route plotting. Division 1B was to take us to the overnight stop at Nelson Bay and wound through the Hunter Valley, exploring areas that only rally directors know exist. More route calling, more information boards to record, more passage controls to enter, the Jaguar motored along famously until Nelson Bay hove into sight on what had become a rainy, misty afternoon in a parched and dry part of NSW. Our confidence that we’d done reasonably well during the afternoon’s run was soon to be shattered - scoreboards posted on the wall of the Saturday evening dinner venue revealing that Team ARN Jaguar was not leading our class. The results showed that we had missed several information boards and we were well down the order, no fault of the novice navigator on board but more likely the neglect by the driver to keep his eyes open for information boards at all times.
D
ay Two looked like being a corker. As the crow flies, the finish at Potters Brewery at Cessnock wasn’t too far away from Nelson Bay but in between the start and the welcome lunch at 2.30 that afternoon, there was a spider’s web of roads totalling 290 kilometres to be covered. It was to be a non-stop, food and toilet-free drive. We were ready for the challenge and so was the Jag. Right from the start that morning, the big Jaguar
Continued page 27
Dealer enquiries welcome
E: velo@senet.com.au
24 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Classic
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NEWS - FEATURE CARS - REPORTS - COMING EVENTS
Bravo Bravo Mirafiori By Jeff Cameron Bill Dunn has a secret; he also has one of the world’s few competitivelydriven Fiat 131 Abarth replicas. The likeness goes well beyond the striking Alitalia paint scheme however, since this car takes its inspiration and fibreglass body panels from the only genuine ex-works 131 Abarth in Australia, as driven by Greg Carr and Fred Gocentas in the early eighties. With former Carr head-mechanic Ross Smith in the team, and spectacular full-commitment driving from Shawn Urquhart, this car is out to put on a show and bring a little of the sights and sounds of the classic era of rallying to a modern audience. If reactions from the crowds so far are anything to go by, the audience is lapping it up. Although Bill had the idea of building the Fiat in his head for five to six years, it was only late last year after ARCom announced that a limited number of classic cars would be invited to appear at Globalstar Australian Rally Championship rounds, that the idea became a reality. Although Bill describes himself as a Fiat enthusiast, the decision to build the 131 was not taken lightly. “It was a concern, because the Datsuns and Escorts were so popular in this country. I thought maybe this was a big, big limb we were going out on, rather than just a big limb.” The feedback that the car generated at the Rally of Canberra and Rally Queensland has more than put his mind at ease, however. A number of international journalists took a keen interest in the Fiat at Canberra, including one chap who had ridden in works 131s in Europe, and who spent 20 minutes talking to Bill and co-driver Tony Brandon. “Is it a real one?” he asked. Bill chuckled as he recalled Tony baiting him by replying, “You tell me”. He finally concluded that although it was very good there was something wrong with it, but couldn’t put his finger on exactly what. “It’s right hand drive”, stated Bill, putting an end to the mystery. In Queensland the interest ballooned. “We were getting kids coming up to us saying Oh wow! We’ve only ever seen these things in books!” Although the classics ran in reverse order at Caloundra, those spectators who had waited for the last car on the road were duly rewarded for their patience. A representative of Falken Tyres later told Bill at one spectator point after hearing the car coming for a couple of kilometres they really weren’t prepared for what they saw. “We all stood aghast as the car just seemed to sink a couple of inches on the road, then it was all stones and dirt going everywhere. That’s what it’s about, that’s rallying!” The Fiat 131 Abarth Rally was announced in January 1976 and won outright on its first appearance at the Italian Elba Rally in April of that year. World Rally Championship success followed soon after when Marku Alén and Ilka Kivimäki won the 1000 Lakes
Bill Dunn has built an awesome Fiat 131 Abarth replica, as Jeff Cameron reports By Neil Blackbourn
RETRO ROCKET: The most exciting locally-built retro rally car since BDA Escorts ruled the forests. (Photos: Mitchell Winton, Jeff Cameron)
REAL DEAL: Bill Dunn’s 131 Abarth replica looks just like the real deal. Only lack of Alitalia signage gives it away.
in Finland. By this time Fiat had amassed a great deal of rallying experience, and with a seemingly endless budget and some of the best crews including Alén and Kivimäki plus Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer, the Italian giant won the World Championship for Manufacturers in 1977, 1978 & 1980. The 131 benefited from Fiat’s previous experience with the 124 Abarth, and shared a similar 16-valve engine although with a full 2 litre capacity and Kugelfischer mechanical injection giving 230 bhp. As well it had the the Abarth-designed independent rear suspension and Colotti straight-cut fivespeed gearbox. Homologated into Group 4, the 131 Abarth made the most of the freedoms
allowed for the class. A special run of 400 cars were made, 350 of which were destined for road use, but all shared fibreglass bonnet, boot, wings and spoilers, while door panels were aluminium. Use of such lightweight materials contributed to a rally-ready mass of approximately 1000kg, but this varied a little depending on gravel or bitumen specification. Perhaps the greatest asset of the Fiat was its adaptability. The fully adjustable suspension featured McPherson struts at all four corners and adjustable antiroll bars, which could be changed from gravel to bitumen set-up in around 10 minutes. Enormous wheel arch extensions housed Cromoadora magnesium rims up to 11 inches wide, which were shod with a range of Pirelli tyres.
Fiat were not in the business of selling 131 Abarths to privateers, and for this reason the car never achieved the popularity of its greatest rival, the Ford Escort RS. Some cars were provided to private teams such as Jolly Club, but these were never true factory-spec machines. Indeed Bill Dunn has not tried to recreate a 100% accurate “inch-perfect” replica either, but rather a vision of what the 131 Abarth used to be. He is passionate about classic rallying and believes that the spectators want to see them driven hard like they were in their day, rather than mega-dollar museum exhibits. To achieve this the Canberra-based Cartorque Motosport team initially built up a four-door car for testing late in 2003, and ran it in a local rallysprint, the result being an A4 page of fixes and further development work. The prototype car was disassembled and much of the componentry was built into the current
two-door shell, which was prepared in a three-week period prior to the Rally of Canberra. While many people have tried to replicate Fiat 131 Abarths previously, the fact the team has access to the original moulds taken from Greg Carr’s exworks machine means Bill’s car is far closer to the real thing. Currently the door panels are a fibreglass / Kevlar mix instead of aluminium, due to the relative ease of manufacture. The Alitalia colour scheme as worn on the works cars during 1977-79 was chosen due to its eye-catching impact. However Alitalia themselves were not interested in being part of the project, so the car carries no lettering promoting the airline. The shell is extensively modified and strengthened and fitted with a full rollcage based on the original design, but with additional braces and full FIA 2004
POWERHOUSE: The Fiat 131 churns out a modest 180 horsepower but more is available if needed. Note 48mm Webers.
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NEWS - FEATURE CARS - REPORTS - COMING EVENTS
compliance. In keeping with the theme of creating the greatest impact, the wider of the two available sizes of flares were fitted and ensure more than ample wheel clearance and a presence that PRC rally cars can only dream about. Providing aural impact is a fully worked 2-litre 8-valve Fiat twin-cam engine. Instead of dizzying horsepower figures the team aimed for a flat torque curve and drivability. Running 48mm Weber carburettors it turns out approximately 180 bhp, and has great flexibility and responsiveness for such a long-stroke unit. Fiatorque’s Ross Smith was head mechanic on Greg Carr’s 131 Abarth, and knows the cars inside out. He has a 16-valve fuel injected engine under development that is producing figures similar to the works cars, and will be a future fitment. A Fiat 131 Abarth road car five-speed gearbox transmits the power, and benefits from a surprisingly close gear selection pattern. Currently the ratios are standard however a close-ratio straightcut set is being built and will better suit the 5.3 diff ratio. The rear axle is perhaps the greatest departure from a true works 131, being a modified Toyota Hilux live axle located with a chrome-moly fully adjustable Ford Escort-style five-link. The Toyota differential offers a great number of final drive ratios, and also has an effective LSD. While the live-axle has no problem putting the power to the ground, development work is continuing on an independent set up, and already triangulated chrome-moly arms based on the works car have been made. Proving more difficult to finalise is the independent differential, and the team is considering their options including the possibility of casting up their own housing. Opening the lightweight door reveals a stark dash with just a smattering of switchgear and instruments [a speedometer is only included for registration purposes] a pair of Sparco seats and a two-spoke Abarth steering wheel taking pride of place on the driver’s side. Momo made a special batch of two and three-spoke wheels for the 131 Abarth, and Bill was lucky to track down a German seller who had three of them. Genuine Abarth wheels now command a premium and are sought by collectors world wide.
“I don’t like to be the centre of attention, but I like to put on a show”, he commented after the event. “I’m sure if I’d put my arms out Bill would have given me a hug, he was so happy, he loves that little car”. Shawn now can’t wait to drive the car with more power and the independent rear-end. His wish may well come a little later in the year as the team plan to appear at the Premier State Rally and the Rally of Melbourne. Bill sees the classic cars as being like an appetiser for the main course, to draw the crowds in and increase the viewing audience for the faster modern machinery.
DOWN TO BUSINESS: Clinically-clean and functional interior result from long development period.
Just as the fully adjustable suspension was a feature of the original works cars, so too does it prove to be a significant part of Bills recreation. Canberra-based Suspension Technology Australia provided the damper units that feature JRZ remote canisters and Eibach motorsport springs, which endow the car with suspension travel that an off-road buggy would be proud of. The dampers feature a unique valving system that reduces the build-up of heat as the wheel travels over uneven surfaces. When Ross Smith first drove the car he found himself deliberately looking for holes in the road to test it out, and left him incredulous at how well it worked. “If we’d had this suspension in the 80s they wouldn’t have seen which way it [Greg’s car] went”. The original works cars also had large brakes for their day, and here Bill has ensured his car will allow similar late braking manoeuvres. BMW M3 303mm front discs and Nissan GT-R callipers are fitted at the front, while at the rear VS Commodore 290mm front rotors with twin-piston callipers take care of the balance. Original works wheels are rare and prohibitively expensive, so a BMW / Holden five-stud wheel pattern was used on custom-built hubs to allow a greater selection of rims. Having built a car that was bound to attract attention, Bill was under no illu-
sions about what he wanted to achieve with it. “People want to see them, they want to hear the noise and see the rocks being thrown. I want to build safe, fast cars, put really good drivers in them, supply really good mechanics and go as fast as we can so the spectator can see what was so exciting back then.” After a debut run in the Rally of Canberra with Stuart Maclachlan at the wheel, Bill chose Sydneysider Shawn Urquhart to take the wheel in Queensland. Shawn has a reputation as being a spectacular driver, but also a reputation for damaging cars, which Bill considered as pretty much unfounded. “I took a risk with Shawn because I had a feeling if we gave him a well prepared car he’d put on a really good show, and that’s exactly what happened. Shawn’s first drive of the car came the night before the Rally of Queensland media day, when he took it around the block in Caloundra. His initial thoughts were it needed a shorter gearshift and a different steering wheel [luckily he had brought his own] but by the second time through the stages on Sunday he was finally happy with it. In spite of losing time after smashing a front wheel, then having one carburettor ingest a filter sock, the car had been posting times in the top 20 and thrilling the crowds that had stuck around with some two-wheeling displays;
DREAM RUN: Shawn Urquhart put on a show in the 131 in the Queensland ARC round, to the delight of the spectators.
While the Globalstar ARC is the best arena for showing the car currently, Bill hopes that classic rallying in Australia will grow as it has overseas, to the point that his team can lease out cars to local or international drivers to compete in stand-alone events. But he remains philosophical about what the future may hold; “We’re trying to show it like it really was, and to do that you’ve got to drive them hard, so eventually what will happen is it will get turned over”. And just where do you get another Fiat 131 Abarth 2-door body shell? That, dear reader, will remain Bill Dunn’s secret.
CARR MEMORIES Between 1982 & 1984 Greg Carr and Fred Gocentas tackled 14 Australian Rally Championship rounds in the ex-works Fiat 131 Abarth, winning four outright and failing to finish five. Due to the inexperience of the team and a lack of funds, the car was not as reliable as its full factory-backed European cousins. In time it came to be branded with the unfortunate nickname of the “Time Bomb”, which, if the enormity of the task faced by the small privateer team is fully considered, was true but perhaps unfair. “It was like giving a 12 year-old a new-born baby and saying, ‘Here, look after this’,” recalled Ross Smith, as he described the feelings when the 131 first arrived in Australia. Although he had worked extensively on Fiats and had been a successful circuit racer for many years, Ross and his brother Graham knew very little about rallying – and even less about a full-spec ex-works rally car – when Greg Carr and Caroline Harris [a.k.a. O’Shannessy] approached them to be part of the team in 1981. Caroline had driven the only Fiat in the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial, and had hatched a plan that involved Greg driving the works car, alongside another more standard model for herself in a two-car team. With Greg on board, an approach was then made to Fiat Australia who also saw value in the proposal. At the time the factory in Italy were moving to the new Lancia Rally 037 and the timing was right for a deal to be struck. Prior to arriving in Australia, the Fiat had won the 1981 Rallye of Portugal in the hands of Markku Alen, but unfortunately very little of the full works back-up that made the cars so successful in Europe travelled to Australia. Aside from some basic spares and a book of part numbers, the team got precious little in technical support, not even the head bolt tension specifications, and had to learn everything about the car the hard way. Unfortunately lessons were learned under the glare of the spotlight, such as when the diff failed while comfortably leading the 1983 Alpine, or when the gearbox broke after taking the lead of
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By Jeff Cameron the Dunlop 2GO in the same year. Coming straight out of the Escort RS1800 BDA, which he described as being “brilliant”, Carr had to firstly adjust to left hand drive, then try to win in a car that wasn’t ideally suited to Australian conditions. “It just wasn’t as good. It wasn’t bad, but didn’t quite have what the BDA had,” reflected Greg. “It was less chuckable, it had less lock and didn’t like to be sideways, requiring more of a racing line; it was more sterile.” “The BDA was always able to give that little bit more, more revs or a little bit more sideways.” With a lack of funds to work with, the car was not seen again in 1985, but Carr’s Italian connection was not lost forever as the team went on to win the Australian Rally Championship twice more - in an Alfa Romeo GTV6 and a Lancia Delta Integrale. Ross Smith hasn’t had a reason to go to rallies since the Lancia Delta was parked, but now that he is involved in Bill’s project, all of a sudden he wants to do it again. “It’s damn good,” he says of the replica, adding that with 20 years of additional knowledge and improvements in technology “We can make this car better than the original.”
NOT JUST ANOTHER CAR: Greg Carr has fond memories of his Fiat Abarth, rallied 20 years ago.
26 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
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NEWS - FEATURE CARS - REPORTS - COMING EVENTS
Legends enter ECT Three winners of Bathurst’s Great Race, Colin Bond, John Goss and Bob Holden, have entered this year’s East Coast Targa to be conducted in and around the Bathurst region from October 27-30. A former Holden Dealer Team driver, Bond won the 1969 Bathurst classic with Tony Roberts in a Holden Monaro, and was also runner up to teamboss Allan Moffat and Jacky Ickx in the infamous form finish of ’77. While better known as a touring car driver, Bond was regarded as one of the nation’s most versatile drivers, being a former hillclimb champion. He also raced Formula 5000’s, while on the dirt, won the Australian Rally Championship on three occasions, 1971, 72 and 74, and was a rallycross champion. Like Bond, Goss too, showed his versatility and was a leading light in open wheeler racing before turning his hand to ‘tin tops’, where he won two Bathurst classics. A former works BMC driver, Holden was another to win a unique double, when he won the 1966 Bathurst 1000 in a Morris Cooper S with international rally ace Rauno Altonen, then less than a month later, also in the Bathurst region, won the International Total Rally. For the East Coast Targa, Bond will be seen in a Ferrari 355 Berlinetta with car owner Mike Gaynor, while Goss, who also competed in the event in 2003, will be seen in action behind the wheel of a Jaguar XKS with full support from
Jaguar Australia. Holden, now 72 and still a regular competitor in circuit racing, will drive the same 2 litre Ford Escort he campaigned in rallies 20 years earlier. The all tarmac East Coast Targa will be contested across 37 special stages, covering 204 kilometres of competitive driving. Among the special stages, are no less than nine at Mount Panorama, and full laps of both Eastern Creek International Raceway and Oran Park North Circuit, while there is also a sprint on the new Eastern Creek International Dragway. The event is broken into two categories – Classic (pre-1982 manufactured vehicles) and Modern (post 1982 manufactured vehicles) and competitors can further choose to compete in Competition or Touring. Competition is an outright speed attack on each stage, while Touring requires competitors to finish the special stages in a time which matches as closely as possible pre-set average speeds. A new initiative for this year’s event, is a ‘Rookie Package’ for new entrants, who wish to enter the Touring category, and will include a one day program at Oran Park Raceway where all CAMS accreditation will be addressed. It also includes supply and fitting of all required safety equipment. For those after further information, or interested in entering the event, information packs are available by contacting the rally office on (02) 9410 2411, info@eastcoasttarga.com.au, or visit www.eastcoasttarga.com.au
Coop’s Last Run The NSW Classic Rally Club is running a one-day Touring Assembly and Social Run on November 7 to raise funds for the Intensive Care Unit of the Nepean Hospital. The event is intended to recognise and mark the major contribution of the club’s former President, Brian Cooper, who died recently after a battle with cancer. Brian spent the last days of his life in the care of the ICU of Nepean Hospital, so the Classic Rally Club is endeavouring to raise funds to purchase a much-needed piece of equipment for the hospital. The event, “Coop’s Last Run”, will be divided into three categories – Challenge, Tour and Social. The Challenge and Tour will be a competitive Touring Assembly while the Social will be a noncompetitive drive using only sealed roads. The first two events require competitors to have a CAMS 2NS licence while the Social event only requires membership of a CAMS car club. “Coop’s Last Run” starts at Wilton Recreation Ground and will cover between 250 and 300 kilometres. Entry fee is just $40 and a voluntary tax-deductible donation of a further $100 which will go to the ICU of Nepean hospital. Further information is available from Jeff West on (02) 6926 3757 or you can download details from the CRC website.
300+ bhp BDA’s Legendary Gosford driver, Ian Hill, was telling ARN that it is becoming increasingly difficult to source ZF gearboxes and spares for them, now that the gearbox is out of production in Europe. Hill himself is having trouble sourceing the correct gears for his Escort BDA which is under construction at the moment. Although there are other gears that can be substituted, they need to be good and strong – a good BDA engine used to turn out 240 bhp but Hill tells us that today’s BDAs with stronger internals, are good for 300 horsepower and 12,500 revs! Now that’s serious horsepower.
Winter Wander Victoria’s North Eastern Car Club is running another of its popular Touring Assemblies on Saturday, August 14 from its clubrooms at Tarrawingee, 11 kilometres from Wangaratta. Planned to cover around 190km., the “Winter Wander” is divided into two sections – a novice section for beginner and novice crews, and a Challenge section for more experienced competitors. Route instructions for novice crews are very simple and should allow a number of crews to “clean sheet”, while the Challenge competitors can expect slightly more difficult navigation. The entry fee is just $60. With the possible exception of less than 2km of grotties, all roads used are either bitumen or good shire roads that would suit rally cars as well as family cars. Supp. Regs, are available from hotrex@ozemail. com.au or the director, Jeff Whitten on (03) 5722 1250. Start time is 5pm and the first car should complete the course in around 4 hours.
Mt Buller Sprint Entries for the second running of the Porsche Mt Buller Sprint are now open. Due to strong interest in the January 2005 event, priority applications are now being received and it looks like the field will be filled well before the close of entries. Next year’s event, to be run from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 January, will offer some significant changes to improve on the inaugural event. The Prologue will now be held in the town of Mansfield rather than at the Winton Raceway as it was this year, and facilities for competitors and spectators will also be improved. Crews will have four runs up the Mt Buller Tourist road each day, Entry fees will remain at 2004 figures - $1785 plus the CAMS permit fee. More information is available at www.mtbullersprint.com
Repco Reunion Remember the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial? Yes, it was 25 years ago this month and if you were involved in the event in any way, you’re invited to a “Repco Revisited” day in Melbourne on Sunday August 15. One of the event’s competitors, David Sheridan, is conducting an “open house” informal barbeque a 3 Leopold Street, Maribyrnong after midday on that day. David would appreciate some idea of the number of people turning up - you can contact him on 9357 2821 during business hours, 0418 334 411 on the mobile or david@wreck.com.au Those attending are asked to bring some memorabilia of the event along.
MGCC Sping Classic Classic car owners in NSW (and other states too, for that matter) are invited to enter the NSW MG Car Club’s “Spring Classic” which is being held on September 11 & 12. The popular Hunter Valley region of NSW will reverberate to the sound of dozens of classic cars that are expected to enter for this annual event. Run along the lines of classic car trials of the fifties and sixties, competitors can expect to relive the nostalgia of yesteryear while testing the teamwork between driver and navigator. The Spring Classic will commence on Saturday September 11, overnighting at Raymond Terrace and finishing the following day. There will be three categories in which to enter - two competitive categories and a touring class. Entry costs are $350 per car ($325 for the Tour) which includes maps, two breakfasts, two lunches, an evening meal and overnight twin-share accommodation. The event forms part of the NSW Classic Rally Club championship. More information is available from Robert Smith on (02) 9440 2498 AH or Dave Wigley on (02) 4739 5057 AH or (02) 8275 9736 BH.
Got any classic news? Email us: jeff@rallysportnews.com.au
Search For A Rally Star discounted The entry fee for the ‘Search For A Rally Star’ is now within reach of more of the rally aspiring public, thanks to its entry fee being reduced considerably this week. For a fee, the ‘Search For A Rally Star’ offers rally wannabes the opportunity to test their on and off track rally and driving expertise with a shot at one of three rally car and start money packages which starts with a Subaru WRX and start money to a total value of $75,000, as well as over 20 other rally prizes to be awarded. For those wanting a shot a rally stardom the new entry fee of $1695 (a $695 discount).
Frank Barker, Managing Director of Sydney Company Search For A Rally Star, said: “We first set out, with the Search, to have a concise number of entrants at the higher entry fee of $2390. Even though we were getting entries flowing in, the $2000 barrier was obviously too high for most of our potential rally stars to take part. “In considering that the whole aim of the event is to provide an opportunity to go rallying, we decided to do just that, by lowering the entry fee.” For those interested in finding out more, contact the Search For A Rally Star team on (02)
Classic
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 27
S W E N RALLY
NEWS - FEATURE CARS - REPORTS - COMING EVENTS
Qld Challenge Classic beat contemporary when Glen Wesener took his Holden Torana GTR to victory in the Century Batteries Queensland Challenge touring road rally on July 24. Wesener, co-driven by Larissa Skyring, ended an unbroken run of Subaru WRX wins in recent years. The rally, promoted by Brisbane Sporting Car Club and dubbed “Our Little Targa” by competitors, took in around 350 kilometres of sealed roads between Brisbane and Toowoomba. Between open-road navigation sections, the field of 49 starters completed closed-road tests at the Ipswich West Moreton Auto Club’s circuit, the Willowbank drag strip, and a challenging 1.5 metre plunge down Toowoomba’s Prince Henry Drive. There were also quick squirts around the Gatton agricultural campus and Wivenhoe Dam precinct and, finally, a motorkhana in the factory grounds of event sponsor, Century Batteries. Event Director Marc Austin-Zande said the Challenge was Queensland’s only stand-alone event of that nature and the new sponsorship from Century Batteries would help it grow over coming years. Also confirming the growing status of the Century Batteries Queensland
Rob Dixon’s ‘Red Dwarf’ won the pre-1986, under 2000cc class. (Photo: Marc AustinZande)
By Chris Nixon Challenge was the presence of Queensland’s “Minister for Motorsport” Tom Barton. Barton, officially Minister for Industrial Relations in the Queensland Government, is patron of the BSCC and an avowed motorsport fan, particularly of drag racing. After flagging the start of the rally, he showed competitors how it should be done on the drag strip with an expert First-time motorsport competitor Shane Topping won the speed award in his evil black Subaru Impreza WRX. (Photo: Damian Rohrlach)
performance in his new Falcon XR6 Turbo. A strong turn-out by the forest rally fraternity boosted competitor numbers, resulting in some great performances despite the “unfamiliar” surfaces and terrain. Experienced rally co-driver Melinda Both helped hillclimb specialist David Homer in his turbocharged Suzuki Swift to an impressive second outright, his best finish in the event. The first WRX came home third outright, driven by Craig Newell with Simon Grounds. Rob Dixon and Chris Murphy, in their classic 1971 Corolla known throughout Queensland rally circles as the “Red Dwarf”, were spectacular in taking a class win and sixth outright. They were just ahead of perhaps the event’s most surprising crew, 17-yearold driver Greg Latham and 18-year-old co-driver Nathan Long, who were first in class and seventh outright aboard a Daihatsu Charade in their first-ever competitive motorsport event. The other class winners were Brian Kreiger/Gary Gray, who finished 11th outright in a 1974 Hillman Hunter. RESULTS: 1. Glen Wesener/Larisa Skyring, Torana GTR 2. David Homer/Melinda Both, Suzuki Gti Turbo 3. Craig Newell/Simon Grounds, Subaru WRX 4. Myles Frost/Emma Bromley, Subaru WRX Sti 5. Mark Neary/Tony Best, Falcon XR6
Taming the Big Cat From page 23
Long time supporter of Touring Road Event, Glen Wesener, was the outright winner in his Torana GTR. (Photo: Tim Gepp)
Coming Events CLUB SECRETARIES AND EVENT ORGANISERS: If you’d like to include your event in our “What’s On” section each month, just email or fax us the details and we’ll add your event to our list. Simply email us at jeff@rallysportnews.com.au and we’ll do the rest. GLOBALSTAR AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Aug. 28-29 Premier State Rally (Mid North Coast) October 2-3 NGK Rally of Melbourne (Yarra Glen) Western Australian Rally Championship September 18 Stirling Stages October 17 TRA Trial Event November 27 Darling 200 Victorian Rally Championship October 2-3 NGK Rally of Melbourne November 6 Silverstone North Eastern Rally
(Yarra Glen) (Wangaratta)
NSW Rally Championship August 28 Premier State Rally October 16 Port Macquarie Rally November 6 NatCap Rally
(Sydney) (Port Macquarie) (Canberra)
South Australian Rally Championship September 11-12 Clare Rally
(Clare)
Queensland Rally Championship July 17 Rally September 11 Rally November 27 Rally
(Byfield Forest) (Benarkin) (Gallangowan)
Tasmanian Rally Championship September 4 Mt. Lloyd Rally October 16 Multiclub LTA Rally
(Mt. Lloyd) (North East)
seemed anxious to stretch its legs and the more open roads were the perfect stage for it to perform on. We drove through towns and villages I’d never heard of – Heddon Greta, Marshdale, Oakvale, Irrawang, Stroud, Brookfield, Thalaba and Clarencetown. More careful about recording the information today, we explored the mix of good, bad and ordinary roads that the route used, but there were none that fazed the Jag. Uprated suspension coped with the worst of the patched bitumen roads and gave confidence as we cornered hard through the hills. On several occasions the car bottomed out but, with stiff upper lip, the Jaguar tucked up its skirts and carried on with hardly a murmur. Now fully into swing, my navigator was calling the turns like a veteran and our progress was good. We were determined to be eagle-eyed today (something that navigators, particularly, need to be to do well in these sorts of events) and it was satisfying to arrive at a passage control to be told that we had all the information asked for. Creek crossings, old timber bridges, fast open roads and tight and twisty shire lanes came and went until the finish appeared on the horizon. My first thoughts were for a drink and a meal but my navigator was more concerned with the availability of the ladies’ rest room, thanks to the six hour, 290 kilometre non-stop drive. Did I mention that the directors were males? We had clean-sheeted that run, a big improvement on the previous day, and to see our final score go up with a series of ‘zeros’ was pretty rewarding, par-
By Jeff Whitten ticularly for my first-time navigator. Thanks to the expertise of the other more observant crews in our class, we finished well down the order, something that the Jag was not used to. Still, it had been a great day and a thoroughly good weekend sharing classic car conversations with many of the other crews.
A
s we drove back to Sydney on the freeway amongst the frantic Sunday afternoon “get home as soon as possible” traffic, the Jag showed no sign of hesitation after all it had been through. While Garth Taylor would be the first to admit that technology has come a long way in the past 40 years, it held its own against all the buzz boxes and hot hatches that passed it on the freeway. In its day it was one of Britain’s most refined gentlemans’ carriages – today it’s still a classic car in the true sense of the word. I can’t deny it was good to get out of the Jaguar and into a modern automatic, cruise-controlled, economical Falcon to drive home through Sydney’s mad suburban traffic. But the chance to drive something completely different for a couple of days had been a great experience. Will we look back on a Falcon in 40 years as being a classic car? Somehow I doubt it. Thanks to Garth Taylor for the use of his car and the invitation to enter the event, and to Michael St John Cox who, with Garth and Geoffrey Bott, put the event together. Anyone out there
got a Lamborghini they’re not using next year? Final Results: Challenge Section: 1. Rob Worboys/Jeff West, Capri RS3100 2. Tony Wise/Bruce James, Alfa Romeo Alfetta 3. David Wigley/Robert Smith, MGB V8 Novice Section: 1. Andrew Kiprios/Tobias Cooke, Porsche 911 2. Beb Fox/Ashley Yelds , Volvo 142S 3. Stephen Clifton/Warwick Clifton, Jaguar XJ6 Touring Section: 1. Brad Higgins/Kelly Higgins, Datsun 260Z 2. Paul Morton/John Lovell , Nissan Patrol 3. Ross Warner/Kim Warner , Jaguar E-Type
28 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Classic
S W E N RALLY
NEWS - FEATURE CARS - REPORTS - COMING EVENTS
T
erry Naish and Ross Runnalls have once again shown they are the crew to beat in long distance, navigational events by taking out this year’s shortened Olde BP Rally, Naish’s second and Runnalls fourth victory in this particular event. Despite their win, the final results were closer than expected with Ian Swan and Matt de Vaus (Volvo 242) chasing them hard all the way and finishing just 32 points behind the Datsun 1600-mounted crew. Starting in Melbourne’s Federation Square on Friday August 6, the 1500km event had attracted a field of 41 crews which included some well-known names from previous BP Rallies. All but five crews finished the event – fancied crews who did retire including Kim Harper/Dave Gallacher (Escort, broken gearbox on Division 1), Alan Upton and Mark Laidlay (Peugeot 404, blown engine, also in Division 1), and Darryn Snooks/David Johns (Datsun Stanza, sick navigator) but who stuck it out until section 26. Every Olde BP Rally has been remembered by one section or via location, just the same as the original BP Rallies were in years gone by. True to this tradition, the 2004 Olde BP Rally will be remembered by a previously little-known dot on the map, “Daisy Hill”, 15 km south of Maryborough in Victoria’s Goldfields area. Daisy Hill was the finish location of just the third Control of the event; it was still early on the Friday night and was one of the shortest stages in the event at just 7.7 km. The instructions read: Location: Junction of the white and yellow map roads immediately SSW of Daisy Hill Entry: From the SE along the vestigial white map road. Time Allowed: 7 min. The majority of the section traversed a blank white area of the Broadbent’s Western Half of Victoria map, with the control located on the only road entering Daisy Hill from the direction of the Start control. The task therefore, on paper, seemed simple enough, follow one’s nose along the best road in the approximate direction of the control and see what happens when you got
Runnalls still the one
By Simon Brown Photos: Brendan Brown
CLASS ACT: Winners in 1998, Terry Naish and Ross Runnalls again won the Olde BP Rally, although this time rain drastically shortened the event.
close to Daisy Hill. In the space of a few hours, only 11 of the 41 starters found the control within their Late Time allowance and it appears no crew did it via the director’s intended route as no one visited a passage control along the way! The crews who missed it then spent the rest of Friday night fighting the Late Time clock, skipping a control here or there, or more, to make the division end at Nhill, still eight to ten hours and 560 km away. That’s the story of how the fifth Olde BP Rally panned out for many crews. It started at the Ballarat Airport on Friday evening, August 6, with 41 crews gathering for what was expected to be a wet rally, most of Western Victoria having received a good drop of rain during the week beforehand. The entry included all the regular Historic Rally Association crews along with some Olde BP Rally and BP Rally veterans. The organisers, lead by Rob Knight
2002 IN 2004: Greg Gibson and Geoff Byron again proved that a reliable BMW and accurate navigation are the keys to success.
and Bob Watson from the HRA, had planned a 1500km route covering most of western Victoria with the first division, a lengthy 650 km and 10 hour overnight run to Nhill, near the South Australian border, always going to be the hardest part of the event. The night started off with a straightforward tour of the Campbelltown area, although the results show that many crews were already having trouble adapting to the BP style navigation and the supplied Broadbents map. Then came the Daisy Hill control. The die was already cast even before the crews headed into the dreaded Goldfields area, with locations to be found including Tarnagulla, Rheola and Wehla before reaching Wedderburn for service. At this point the field was already well spread out but as expected Terry Naish and Ross Runnalls had already showed their style. Results at that point were: Terry Naish/Ross Runnalls 56 pts Greg Gibson/Geoff Byron 75 Graham Wallis / Phil Nicholas 88 Ian Swan/Matt deVaus 98 David Officer/David McKenzie 148 DavidHodge/Tom Seymour 162 At this point only four crews had visited all controls within their late time allowance; it was going to be a long night! The route then headed north into the Wimmera area where crews were to encounter the first of many kilometers of muddy lanes on the way to Wycheproof, with heavy fog adding to the strain on crews and time. Then it was north to a mysterious control at Warne where the directors had found a great trap to bowl plenty of crews over on what was once the Calder Highway. Many crews were now skipping controls to keep up with the event whilst those on schedule headed west via more little-known locations such as Watchupga and Rosebery East, and onto Galaquil for a short service break. Ellam was next, the muddy lanes adding further drama with some crews stuck on and off the road, winching under now clear but cold early morning moonlight. Finally, the route turned south with a run around Lake Hindmarsh, for a few
Continued page 37
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 29
Dell Classic Stages A large field of 37 cars started the DELL Classic stages rally on July 10. Primarily a novice event, there were many first timers and quite a few old chargers returning to the sport. Being a novice event there weren’t many 4WD turbo cars entered, although a couple of notable ones were Matt Dyne in his newly purchased Celica GT4 and Carlos Casmiri in his Evo 4. Mark Kent turned out in his immaculate RX turbo with his son Tristan calling the shots for the first time. Gavin Neale debuted his newly-built VR4 and Ray Day returned with his RX Turbo. Novices having their first run were James Elliott in his Hyundai Lantra and Phil May, swapping from navigating to driving in the Datsun 1600 while Steve Willett was making a long awaited return in his mighty Commodore. With some famous stages like Padovans included in the event and East West being run in reverse (now called West East), it was going to be a tough rally. The first stage was the BMSC testing ground at Hyles block, but without any trees it looked totally different. Matt Dyne set the pace with a 3:29 for the stage with Carlos Casmiri second on 3:35. Third fastest was Brett Walther in the Charade with a time of 3:43. Matt Durand rolled and was out on the first stage, while first timer Phil May had an off but was able to get back on the road. Stage 2 (West East 1) again went to Matt Dyne with a time of 17:25 ahead of Casmiri. Third was Gavin Neale from Rob Sharp in the Datsun by only a second. Notable DNF’s on this stage were James Elliott with ECU failure only 5km in from the start and Brett Walther who cut a corner and damaged his suspension only 6km in. Dave Ferris (RX Turbo) also
Matt Dynes out in Canberra Matt Dyne produced a great drive to win the Dell Classic Stages in his Celica GT-Four.
By Ray Baker Pics: Epic Photography went off on this stage and was unable to continue. After two stages Dyne had a 22 second lead over Casmiri. The all girl team of Kelly Caruana and Sophia Moody had engine failure on the way to the stage so their event was over. On Stage 3 (Padovans 1) Matt Dyne extended his lead over Casmiri by another 22 seconds with Ray Day putting in a third fastest time of 12:58 in his Subaru RX turbo. Steve Willett equalled Day on this stage in his Commodore but Dave Boyd wacked a tree with his RX3 and did a bit of rear end damage but was able to continue after some panel beating by his crew and managed to complete the last three stages. Phil May, pushing hard to regain lost time, managed to have another off and filled a
hole that had been marked as a caution. Stephen Horobin put on a show at the spectator point in his 180B, giving the crowd something to cheer about. Another blistering time by Matt on Stage 4 (Laurel Camp) saw him extending his lead over Casmiri by 13 secs. Gavin Neale was settling into the VR4 and set third fastest time with a 15:24. Tim Borough was the only DNF on this stage in his RX2.Carlos Casmiri recorded his first stage win on SS5, equalling his first run with a 3:35, just one second quicker than Matt Dyne on 3:36. Dyne was nursing some mechanical woes but was still soldiering on, aware that Casmiri had had gained a four minute time penalty for booking in errors. Third fastest was Ray Day with a 3:51. The second-to-last stage, West East 2, went to Casmiri again with a stage win 40 secs up on Dyne with Neale only two seconds behind Dyne in third.
Mark Kent slides to fifth place in his pretty Subaru RX Turbo.
Coming Events in the forest CITY CAR CARE DATES The dates for the remaining rounds of the City Car Care ACT Regional Rally Series are September 18 (Caltex Airport Star Mart Rally, Queanbeyan), October 9 (Safari Rally, Canberra) and November 6 (National Capital Rally, Canberra). These events make up part of the 8-event series which has proved to be so popular this year, The Canberra Light Car Club’s
Tony Maxwell also advises of a public rally ride day on October 23 to publicise ACT rallying and to raise funds for the Snowy Hydro SouthCare rescue helicopter. The ride day will be held in the Stromlo Forest. More details are available from Tony at tony. tj.maxwell@centrelink.gov.au NORTH EASTERN RALLY Planning is well advanced for this year’s Silverstone Tyres North Eastern Rally, a
round of the Racetech Steel Victorian Rally Championship. Set down for Saturday November 6, the all-daylight event, under the direction of Clerk of Course, Michael Fitzgerald, is also a round of this year’s Victorian Clubman Rally Series and as a result, is expected to attract a full field of entries. Supplementary Regulations will be available soon. Contact Neville Bell at hotrex@ozemail. com.au for more information.
Peter Norton rolled his Corolla but managed to continue on – he could be doing a bit more photography for a while instead of driving! Fastest time went to Ray Day took the fastest time in his Subaru on the final stage, his first fastest stage time ever. He and his sponsors were suitably impressed. Casmiri and Neale were equal second fastest on 12:47, only 3 seconds behind Day. The overall winner of the event was Matt Dyne from Gavin Neale in his VR4. Casmiri was third with Ray Day fourth by a few seconds. Mark Kent was fifth in another RX Turbo while the first 2WD was Steve Willet (Commodore) ahead of Long and Austin in their Datsuns. There was a great battle between Kagan Skipper and Tony Maxwell, with Maxwell coming out ahead by only five seconds.
Third place went to Carlos Casmiri and his Lancer Evo 4.
No holiday for safety Channel Ten’s coverage of the Subaru Safari Tasmania highlighted the incredible amount of pressure that is on directors of events that are part of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship (or any rally, for that matter). One planning slip, one wrong decision by an official, one organisational breakdown, and the whole event, not to mentions competitors’ safety, is put at risk. Simon and Sue Evans’ accident in the event, though the final outcome was thankfully not as bad as first thought, could equally have been much more serious if, as the Channel Ten program suggested, the following SOS point was without radio contact to the outside world. Had Simon’s injuries been more life-threatening, rallying in general might well have had some serious questions to answer. I am not suggesting for one moment that the event director or any of the officials were negligent, but I am suggesting that even the best laid plans sometimes come undone when the pressure is on. And the pressure of running a full ARC event in 2004 is a huge undertaking, even for the most experienced of Clerks of Course. Months of planning involving hundreds of officials both before and during the event, thousands of pages of instructions to officials, countless phone calls, emails and faxes, as well as verbal instructions on the day, are all required to ensure the smooth running of an event. And no matter how
By Jeff Whitten many “i’s” have been dotted or “t’s” crossed, the success (or otherwise) of rallies comes right down to good organisational planning and a little – no, a lot – of luck. Although the Clerk of Course may have done all in his power to guarantee a faultless event, an unforeseen glitch, a human error or a lapse in concentration is all it takes to leave the rally wide open, not only for a mistake to occur, but for an accident to happen. We rely heavily these days on communications to manage stage security and the safety of competitors, but when all is said and done, there still remains the human aspect to consider. And while humans are involved in running rallies we must expect that humans make mistakes. There’s also the very real problem of using officials who may only help out on one event per year and who may know
very little about the intricacies of rallying. Today’s rallies are hugely complex affairs. Long gone are the days when we didn’t insist on competitors wearing crash helmets, roads being closed for special stages, radio points every 10 kilometres or three course-opening cars. These things are taken for granted now and for very good reason. But all these safety measures require yet more organisational work by the team who, behind the scenes, put the event on the road. Our self-imposed standards are now so high that we, as competitors, have come to expect that all events will be run in a faultless manner. The reality is that we must never believe that this will always be the case. There must be no compromise on safety, there is no doubt about that. But we must also understand that we are all human and can all make mistakes. The real test is to ensure that we make as few mistakes as possible.
A.R.N. DEADLINE The editorial and advertising deadline for the next issue of ARN is Monday, August 30.
30 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Queensland Rally Championship
Son of George wins After making the decision not to pursue the ARC Super Series this year, Brisbane driver Steven Shepheard set about chasing the Queensland Championship for 2004, hopefully following in the footsteps of his father George, a multiple QRC winner. Despite missing the first round at Cooloola in the south-east corner, Steve made up for that with a maximum points haul at the Falken Tyres Rally Queensland. He and co-driver Dominic Corkeron then went to Yeppoon on the Queensland central coast and took a win in the Rydges Capricorn Rally. The QRC returned to the Rockhampton area in 2003 for the first time in many years, and the event was warmly received by the competitors who had travelled from the south-east corner and from the north of the state. Word must have spread as the ’04 entry list grew to a healthy 41 including 27 nominees for the Queensland Rally Championship, the balance running the Clubman component of the event. The event is held on the private roads of the vast Rydges Resort, with some typical forest roads in the nearby Byfield Forest thrown in to up the competitive distance. Shepheard headed the entry list, with Matt van Tuinen at car 2, but he was a late withdrawal when his WRX suffered engine damage. Ian Menzies was the third starter in his XR8, with Dave Gaines in the 240K in fourth and John and Peter Darby (VR4) rounding out the top five. Down the entry list were Pete Menzies/Bruce Fullerton and Ralph French with Wayne Hoy making a return to the sport in the ex-Graeme Wise Datsun 200B. Of the quick Clubman drivers, Dave Ovenden led the category in his RX2, while Rob Dixon (Corolla), Glen Mitchell (RS2000) and Andrew Lord (Lancer Turbo) were also likely to impress.
By Tom Smith With a short blast over a spectator stage to kick off the action, Shepheard/Corkeron established a lead in the powerful Evo 6 that they would not relinquish all rally long. Coming out of the blocks quickly was the Keith Callinan WRX, crewed on this occasion by his sons Daniel and Tim, while Mark Neary in his Suzuki Baleno was always going to push hard. Sadly Ralph French/Fred Schotte blew a turbo in their WRX in SS2 and called it a day, while the father and son Darby team holed a piston in the VR4. With Shepheard driving confidently at the head of the field, it was the WRX of Bruce Fullerton/Hugh ReardonSmith which was quickly cementing the second spot. On SS2 they grabbed a break and then fought off challenges from Mark Neary/ Angela Fackrell, Ian Menzies/Bob McGowan and the Dave Gaines/Nikki Doyle crews. Gaines’ 240K – ‘The Fat Lady’ – continues to set amazing times in his talented hands. On SS3, Wayne Hoy’s challenge was delayed with a broken throttle cable mid-stage, losing a frustrating 16 minutes . The Falcon XR8 of Ian Menzies/Bob McGowan was stuck off road and drybogged in SS6 and on the same stage Mark Casper/Mark Malpas rolled their Mazda 323. Dust emerged as a problem from SS7 onwards for the field, even with the organisers running a three minute dust gap. Craig Aggio and Tony Arbon developed brake problems in their Toyota Supra and did well to stay on the road as the brakes basically failed by the end of the event. The Clubman teams contested eight
stages and provisional results showed the win and maximum points going to Allan Griffin in his Datsun Stanza. He held off the hard charging RS2000 of Glen Mitchell/Bryan Zelinski by less than a minute with Andrew Lord/Anthony Tanzer grabbing third in the category in their tidy Lancer EX Turbo. Fourth place went to Steve Ebenestelli/John Delaney (Commodore) with Wayne Menzies/Chris Baxter rounding out the top five in their Celica. Unfortunately SS9 was cancelled for a number of reasons, mostly to make up some lost time, which left three night-time stages to be run including the ‘traditional’ short, fast finish stage back at Rydges. After showing his speed all day, Mark Neary ran out of oil after SS10 and he retired the Baleno (he reports after the event that another motor was sourced from SuziSport and the car will be back at the next QRC). Pete Menzies took the experienced Andrew Crawford along for the ride and the Falcon team were throwing the big V8 around with gusto, chasing down and taking the top 2WD spot from Gaines/Doyle. In the washup, Shepheard/Corkeron won nearly all stages with Fullerton/ Reardon-Smith claiming wins as well. Feedback from competitors suggest that the event was enormous fun with a couple of minor hiccups along the way, but Clerk-of-Course Gordon Fischer
With Dad George injured, Steve Shepheard stepped up to the plate and won the lastest round of the Queensland Rally Championship.
delivered a popular event. Consistency paid dividends for the Callinan brothers who brought their dad’s car home in one piece, while Michael South, the new owner of Paul
Final Results for Yeppoon 1. Steve Shepheard/Dominic Corkeron 2. Bruce Fullerton/Hugh Reardon-Smith 3. Peter Menzies/Andrew Crawford 4. Daniel Callinan/Tim Callinan 5. Dave Gaines/Nikki Doyle 6. Phil Mason/Ken ‘Stumpy’ Long 7. Gary Meehan/Greg Gifford 8. Terry Scott/Tony Best 9. Michael South/David Holding 10. Brian Falloon/Ben van Wegen
Lancer Evo 6, 1:20:06 Impreza WRX, 1:23:38 Falcon XR8, 1:25:09 Impreza WRX,1:25:17 Datsun 240K, 1:26:04 Datsun 260Z, 1:27:14 Datsun 180B, 1:30:19 Liberty RS, 1:31:47 Lancer Evo 1, 1:33:42 Triumph2.5PI, 1:34:09
Andrew’s old Evo 1 Lancer debuted with a top-ten finish. The next round of the QRC is the Bailey Powerlines Rally at Benarkin Forest on September 11.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 31
Western Australia
Champions Elect Craig Bignell and Joan Percival have an unassailable lead in the Western Australian Rally Championship. Three round wins and a third outright were enough to clinch their first WA Rally Championship title. Second in the series though, is one of the closest battles in years! Three drivers are covered by one point and two co-drivers are equal. A strong result from Alex Stone & Dianna Madlener at the Experts Cup sees them leapfrog the Dunlops to be equal second with Bradley Markovic & Jon Mortimer. John Macara’s win at the Experts Cup settles him in fourth and threatening second just one point away.
Outright Point Scores after Round 4 Experts Cup Rally 1 2 3 4 5 =6 =6 =6 =6 10
Drivers Leo Iriks Kevin Sleep Nigel Anderson Ben Searcy Nigel Bombak Nicholas Box Paul Feaver Andrew Hannigan Graham Miles Matthew Green
Points 57.0 49.0 36.0 33.0 24.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 18.0
1 2 =3 =3 5 =6 =6 =6 =6 10
Co Drivers Alexandra Kirkhouse Michael Rowston Rhian Glover Daniel Smith Penny McKenzie Jill Fitzsimons Glen Martinovich Todd Payne Greg Miles Brian D’Arcy
Points 49.0 36.0 24.0 24.0 23.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 18.0
In the 2 Wheel Drive Championship Leo Iriks has extended his lead over Kevin Sleep by two points. With one round to go a consistent finish from both these competitors should see the series finishing in this order. The worst case scenario for Leo Iriks is second place while worst case for Kevin Sleep is fourth. Nigel Anderson and Ben Searcy are locked in battle for third and fourth with Ben picking up ground in the Experts Cup. The 2 Wheel Drive Championship for Co-Drivers looks quite different because drivers that have had more than one co driver take 3 of the top 5 places in the series. Alexandra Kirkhouse picked up 2 points on Michael Rowston at the Experts Cup but no one else can take a place from her. Rhian Glover only has two events under the belt though they are with series leader Leo Iriks. Daniel Smith picked up second place points at the Experts Cup with Ben Searcy while Penny Mackenzie has collected points with Ben Searcy and Nigel Bombak. There have been four different round winners in the 2 Wheel Drive Championship and it appears if you take full points from a round you either did not start all events or did not finish any others!
K
arl Drummond and his promotions committee have been hard at work promoting the events in the WARC. For those interested in the promotion of rallies to the outside community Karl wrote… “Much work has been done on promoting the Experts Cup this year. There should not be too many people who are not aware the rally came to Collie. Advertising of the event included the following media; WA Car Club, Lyndon’s www.rallywa. com & Light Car Club web sites; Auto Trader; Hot FM and ABC Southwest radio stations and the local Collie Mail newspaper. The Collie Tourist Bureau also has a media release and spectator guide, as well as several other businesses in Collie. This will be an ongoing process that we hope to grow. Thanks to those people who passed on their media contact details and assisted to make the community more aware.
Coopers Rally SA Western Australian’s continue to have a presence in the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship - it may be cheaper to charter a plane! Involvement reaches most levels of the GARC from Peter Macneall as Sporting Director for the series through to the factory crew of Dean Herridge & Glenn Macneall, and plenty of other competitors and service crew members at factory and privateer level through to scoring and photographers. Dean and Glenn again took a top finish with third in Heat 1 and sixth in Heat 2. Toni Feaver, co-driving for Mark Pedder, finished ninth in Heat 1 and 11th in Heat 2 and took a second and a third in the Privateers Cup. New West Australian Darren Windus, with Victorian co-driver Michael Cains, managed 16th and 19th outright and took the Subaru RS Challenge round win with a first and a third. Ross Dunkerton & Bill Hayes took the Aussie Car Cup win on both days and finished 18th and 22nd outright. Ben Searcy, co-driving for New South Welshman Graham Vaughan, had a challenging event yet managed to finish seventh and ninth in the Subaru
RS Challenge. While Brad Markovic & Jon Mortimer went out with engine failure in Heat 1. In the SARC portion of the event, Roman Watkins & Paul van der Mey improved through the first heat to take third. Heat 2 brought disappointment with a fuel delivery problem taking them out of the event after setting a great time on the first stage.
Rospen & Swift
The Rospen Motor Sport team of cars had a great Experts Cup Rally with no mechanical delays. Ross Mackenzie and Paul van der Mey drove to fifth outright while the Rospen Motor Sportassisted cars of Andrew Hannigan and Jill Fitzsimons, Ben Searcy and Daniel Smith and Nigel Bombak and Penny Mackenzie, filled the 2WD Championship podium. Can’t ask for better than that! The combined Swift Motorsport and Rospen Motor Sport service crew also did a sterling job turning the two cars around in a fast and professional manner. Thanks guys!
In The Paper
Not all weddings get into the
By Paul van der Mey photo section of the West Australian Newspaper but a sharp-eyed scrutineer spotted the Saturday 10 July article covering the wedding of Mandy Place and Tony Flood.
Mike Hawiley
Long time rally competitor Mike Hawiley has unfortunately suffered a stroke and is not likely to compete for some time, if at all. Our thoughts are with Mike at what must be a difficult time. Mike has shared ownership of a WRX with Shaun Whitehead and as a consequence it is now for sale along with Mike’s Terratrip 404.
Web sites
Here are a few essential web sites for West Australian rally fans. When it’s important to catch up on the news the following sites provide excellent coverage; http://www.rallysportnews. com.au; http://www.rallywa.com; http://www.wacarclub.com.au; http:// www.lightcarclub.com.au; http://www. facom.au.com/swtcc/index.htm Another site to hit the web recently
Continued page 37
Super Store
• Unit 3, 13 Penny Place Arndell, NSW 2148 • Only 1km from Eastern Creek Raceway
Phone (02) 9676 8655 Fax: (02) 9676 5300
32 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
SA Snippets
Victory made to Orders
Beautiful Clare to host round 5
By Kristian McMahon Will Orders and Matthew McAdam have ended their run of second places with an emphatic win at the Velo Seats Walky 500 (Robertstown Rally) on July 10.
After clearly having the required pace in the first two rounds the Pedders Racing duo finally had a relatively drama free event, although a wheel bearing failure and resulting lack of brakes did provide another final stage scare (10km from the finish) for the young Victorians. This time it wasn’t enough of a problem to cost them the rally and, remarkably, they still managed to set the fastest time on the stage. Winning (or equalling) a further 8 of a possible 11 stages, proving their dominance. Series leader prior to Robertstown, Roman Watkins, had a day he’d rather forget posting his first DNF for the year after overshooting a slow corner on Special Stage 4. The resulting trip down a small embankment bent a lower control arm on the Subaru, immediately ending his rally. His difficulties began with an unexpected last minute co-driver change and only got worse when a tyre supply drama left the team with only six second hand tyres for the whole day. A new and as yet untested (apart from recce) six speed gearbox also proved
STRONG WILLED: Will Orders took his first rally win with victory in the Broken Hill Rally, giving him the lead in the 2004 SARC. (Photos: Kristian McMahon)
tricky for Watkins who admitted to pushing too hard while trying to make up for the problems. South Australians Steve Winwood and Jeremy Browne pushed their EVO6 into an impressive second place with Mark Povey and Brendan Dearman (proving that pigs can fly) finishing a strong third. Despite a DNF in round 1 Povey is still hungry for championship points and will continue to put pressure on the leaders - a healthy seeding at Rally SA was a good indication of the Hog’s Breath team’s capabilities. The infamous World’s End Creek (Special Stage 4) claimed its first victim for the day when an unlucky Declan Dwyer and Simon Orme’s Mitsubishi burst an intercooler hose after making the crossing. The problem cost them around four minutes and any chance of snaring an upset win. Prior to the mishap they had matched or bettered the leaders on 2 of 3 possible stages. With the generous help of the Pedders Racing service crew the problem was found and the boys were quickly back out on the dirt, again matching or bettering Orders/McAdam on several
How to Start Rallying
stages before the hose split again, costing them another two minutes on the final stage and slowing their jump from 26th place to 12th. Dwyer, who had earlier commented on the adrenaline rush that came with battling for the lead, was obviously disappointed with the result but is remaining positive. Mastering a new braking/cornering technique, making the right tyre choice, and the blistering stage times that resulted were enough to give the team the confidence that they had the pace to pose a threat leading in to the Rally of SA. Meanwhile, consistent drives from Tim Ramages/Matthew Gooding and Jamie Roodenrys/Terry Schutz earned them 4th and 5th places and some valuable championship points. And the father/son battle between Mick and Brett Baldwin that is becoming a regular feature of South Australian Rallies, saw Brett take 8th outright, only 16 seconds ahead of Mick in 9th. The Datsun 240k was also the first 2WD home and the result puts Junior ‘Baldy’ in an amazing 5th place outright for the championship! The win placed Orders and McAdam comfortably out in front of the Championship on 130 points (Wat-
kins 2nd on 85) with only 2 rounds to go. Will’s goal to enter what is arguably the best state championship in the country and to do well enough to attract get a high profile/factory drive next year is beginning to take shape. Just a couple more performances like this, and with a championship under his belt, one would suspect (if it is not happening already) that he will be carefully considered by a number of teams for next year. All in all, the event was hailed a major success (again!) and a fitting celebration for Walkerville All Cars Clubs 50th Anniversary. Congratulations to Scott Hochwald, Scott Atkinson and their team for putting on a show that, for competitors and spectators alike, continues to set the standard. Outright results: 1st Will Orders/Matthew McAdam 2nd Steve Winwood/Jeremy Browne 3rd Mark Povey/Brendan Dearman 4th Tim Ramages/Matthew Gooding 5th: Jamie Roodenrys/Terry Schutz 6th Devlin Grifftiths/Maree Gardner 7th Matt Selley/Joana Fuller 8th Brett Baldwin/Jay Burns 9th Mick Baldwin/Mandy Rudham 10th Bob Whyatt/Russel Marker
The beautiful Clare Valley region this year hosts the fifth and final round of the South Australian Rally Championship, which will be held on Sunday, September 12. Despite our Victorian friends taking an unbeatable SARC lead into the event, the battle for the minor places has hotted up with Mark Povey and Roman Watkins on 110.5 and 102.5 points respectively and a number of others close behind. In the likely event that the ‘postponed’ Mid-Murray Rally is not rescheduled, the Clare Rally will decide the winner of the Autosport SA Clubman Series which will again ‘piggy back’ the SARC fixture. It is tight at the top and there will be plenty of capable crews looking to challenge series leader Howard Ryan. The SARC component will consist of 14 stages (including two new) over 120 competitive kilometres, with the Clubman Series covering 80. An introductory/novice will again be part of the rally and will cover 45km. The first car will set off at 9am from the Sevenhills Hall, with a SARC finish likely to be at 5:10pm. Unlike last year there will be no central service area, only some roadside servicing. Two new spectator points have also been finalised and the popular Benny’s Hill location is now more weather proof. This is welcome news for spectators as poor weather kept numbers down somewhat at last year’s rally. Rally fans can also view the cars at a special display during scrutineering at Profix Melrose Park on Thursday the 9th of September from 7pm. Keep an eye on the new website for the naming rights sponsor. Supplementary regulations, spectator guides and updates are also available from www.rallyofclare.com
T
he definitive book that shows newcomers to the sport the best way of getting into rallying. Over 100 pages of useful tips, ideas and facts gained from many years of rallying. Produced by the editors of ARN.
Great value for money at just $25 including postage. Phone (03) 5722 1250 to order.
BACK IN BLACK: Steve Winwood and Jeremy Browne came out of retirement and fnishished second in their Lancer Evo 6.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 33
Out of control - Victoria COOPERS RALLY OF SA
Recently I saw the future of Australian rallying and the future is the Mt Crawford Forest. Like it or not, the pressures for a marketable product, continuing restrictions on where we can rally on public land, and creating spectator friendly environments (read: somewhere for the corporates!) is going to lead to similar setups. Mt Crawford, in the Barossa Valley of South Australia, has a maze of roads that lead through a central area where the organisers can set up (with government department labour, I suspect) the biggest marquees you have ever seen, as well as grandstands and truckmounted video screens taking live feeds from cameras in the forest. There are two 8km stages run through this area with the capacity for several thousand people in the mud, and a 2.5km Super Special to finish on the podium. This is the closest I have seen to making this sport of ours a true spectacle, not just on T.V. I haven’t seen such crowds (reputedly nearly 30,000 for the weekend!) since the heady days of the Alpine in the 70s. It was a definite improvement on the artificiality of Langley Park in that it still has “real” rally roads, although to some it has the feel of a large Autocross, however I think the 11 passes through were a bit too much and should be reduced for next year, especially after it chopped up badly in the rain. It may be this is what an entire event will consist of in a few year’s time, which will suit many, but equally offend as many others who still relish longer events with long stages. I guess it comes down to how much we are prepared to compromise or change our sport for media consumption. In doing a full ARC season this year as part of the Subaru Challenge, I find it fascinating to watch this process as ARCom act with increasing confidence, some might say arrogance, now there are serious sponsors on board.
VICTORIANS REIGN SUPREME
In the Coopers Pale Ale Rally of SA, Simon and Sue Evans once again proved they are Victoria’s favourite legends with a gutsy effort in rallying so soon after a very hard hit in the last round in Tassie. It didn’t take much of a conversation for me to realise that not only do they not even think about it, they don’t even want to be reminded of it, such is their total focus on winning the Championship with Toyota. The Pedder boys had a better weekend than they have in the past, and they were very nearly overshadowed
Nightstalker Trial
PLAYING GOD: Stuart Lister plotting the course of the Nightstalker Trial. Photos: John Doutch
By Michael Cains pants, not ARCom, manufacturers or sponsors. We entrust it to ARCom to administer, not alter beyond recognition, however much we all may want the sport’s profile lifted.
CLUB EVENTS
SWANNING AROUND IN A VOLVO: Ian Swan and Matt de Vaus won the Nightstalker in their Volvo 242.
by Cousin Will, with Matt McAdam. Although entered in the ARC and doing very well in winning the Privateers Cup points, it was the SARC that the youngsters were eyeing off, and a win in this round wrapped it up for them in that old Evo 1 Lancer. Their strategy of gaining pace note experience outside the Globalstar ARC has paid dividends for the pair. Cody Crocker once again proved what a class act he (and Greg Foletta) has evolved into, but still being big hearted enough to laugh at what he called the silliest trick in the rally where he turned up into a farmer’s driveway and had to do a 14 point turn to get out, costing them nearly 30 seconds. As a result of all the dramas in a very close series, Cody is hanging on to a narrow and well-deserved points tally and wishing that Chris Atkinson would stay in Finland. Leigh and Ken Garrioch struggled to get to SA after the service truck down broke on the way to Adelaide, but still managed to take out F16 in their second pacenoted rally in the little Mitsubishi Cyborg. Leigh has found the switch from a Datto 1600 to front wheel drive quite easy - as long as he doesn’t back off on the pedal then the back wheels follow the front ones! We don’t usually hear much about the father and son combo of Brett and Graham Comber who are chasing the privateers cup in their Evo 7. They bounced back after a rollover in Tassie to finish well in both heats, although they are finding that the pace has lifted considerably in the GARC in 2004.
Graham keeps trying to retire but just can’t kick the habit!
SUBARU CHALLENGE
In the Subaru Challenge young gunners Eli and Kylie Evans, and Benni Tirant with Simon Haeusler, had mixed fortunes. Eli lost a wheel early in Heat One, while Benni was excluded from the results for having his ride height too low. This was high farce as I believe cars were measured on an uneven surface with mud under the car and occasionally crew members inside. After resetting his suspension 25mm over following scrutineering, like most crews Benni and father Paul were incensed enough to put in an appeal when accused of cheating. They engaged the services of Rob Dyer QC, 12 hours before CAMS asked him to chair the tribunal. We’ll wait for the result and the impact on the points allocation with interest. Both bounced back to take the major points in Heat Two, with Darren Windus and yours truly driving with an eye on the points but winning the weekend with a first and a third place. The Subaru RS Challenge is nearly as exciting as the outright ARC and it is good to hear that it is being extended into 2005 with an option for current car owners to continue. It was a shame that such a good event was marred with such a poor quality end-of-event function where everyone was crammed into a standing-roomonly venue that only offered finger food. I’ve done club rallies where this has been done better.
MAMMI MOTORS
SIZE DOES MATTER
There was an interesting competitor’s meeting with ARCom’s Garry Connelly prior to the SA round where he outlined some of Rallycorp’s strategies and gained some opinions from the invited crews. I still walk away from these things wondering about the impact of elitism and the widening gap between this level and the rest of the sport, and will continue to watch and comment on this. However, it was good to see that the ill-thought-out rule setting the indistinguishable font size for co-driver names on rear windows at ARC level has been changed to 80% of the drivers name size. Although not a perfect outcome at least it doesn’t send out that same message that co-drivers are unimportant. ARCOM really didn’t like that petition we raised with over 600 signatures, and in fact made the rule change before this was able to be presented. I suspect they did realise the level of passion this rule had invoked (with several competitors writing direct), but doubt that they understood the fact that it was an insult to a critical aspect of this sport which has always been about the co-operation between a driver and a co-driver or navigator. No amount of advice from working parties who claim to represent the sport about promoting drivers as heroes, or making the sport less complicated for the mass media rather than educating them to that fact, is going to convince the rest of the sport that difference in font size is necessary. The sport does belong to the partici-
For the majority of competitors it is club rallying but there is nothing to report on for this month, except the Grange Property-sponsored Night Stalker where old dogs reigned supreme with Ian Swan and Matt de Vaus taking out this HRA-run event from David and Kate Officer. Steve Coutts-Smith and Steuart Snooks (the only Snooks Clan member running this year) came in third. Another old boy team of one Robert Watson and Stuart Lister finished a fine seventh.
TAILPIPE
Simon Evans isn’t the only one learning to use crutches. Our own illustrious VRC Scorer and Keeper of the Monaro Faith, Ken Cusack, was recently involved in a traffic accident which did quite a bit of damage to the tendons in his knee, meaning he will miss the Olde BP Rally and skiing. Of course he will have to taste more port than usual (for medicinal purposes to aid in recovery, of course). The really weird thing was that in extricating himself from his car, he managed to hit ‘last number redial’ on his mobile phone, meaning that I have the strangest message of the aftermath of the accident and poor Ken’s pain and agony on my phone - just when I thought I was over watching Channel Ten’s footage of the Evans accident!
NEXT VRC ROUND
The next round of the Racetech Steel VRC is Day One of the NGK Rally of Melbourne in October. The Yokohama VCRS continued with the Tunbridge Memorial on August 14 so you should be reading this as you are either competing or doing a control. See you in the Forest. Michael Cains
● Rally Car preparation ● Dyno Tuning ● Mandrel Bent Exhaust Systems ● Hand-made Extractors
Call Gerald or Chas on (03) 5977 7973 bh
● General fabrications
34 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Queensland news
ARN go RS in SA If all goes to plan, I believe the cover photo for this month’s edition will feature a certain RS Challenge entry with a couple of familiar names on the side windows. For those who didn’t notice, it is in fact Whitten and Smith, and the ‘Team ARN’ entry was nothing less than the Subaru media car which has run each event of the ARC Super Series this year in a range of experienced hands. When Subaru approached Editor Whitten to see if he was interested, he went in search of a co-driver, and with my being available (having withdrawn from the VT Racing Team due to work commitments clashing with some ARCs) he asked and I accepted. Hence you saw us at the Coopers Pale Ale Rally of SA, and there are some column centimetres dedicated to the effort in this issue. Needless to say, the SRTA crew was very accommodating and professional and we thank Monica Zeaiter and Sam Hill for having us along. What I can confirm is the closeness and similarity in performance between Matt van Tuinen’s car and this one – the series is truly one about the best driver. The past month has been busy, with a round of the Queensland Rally Championship at Yeppoon near Rockhampton and a large Queensland presence in the SA event.
Atkos finish, then go off to Finland In the week leading up to the Coopers Pale Ale Rally, there were some smiles and mirth as Chris and Ben Atkinson were asked what they were going to do if they took a podium finish. The reason for this is because some three hours after the finish of the rally they were at Adelaide airport (with dad John) catching a flight to Sydney where they joined an international departure to go to Finland.
Chris and Ben were to drive in the Finnish round of the WRC in a Group N Subaru prepared by Tommi Makinen. Although built by Tommi’s local outfit, the car was also sporting some Aussie technology with DMS suspension and an Albins gear set. There has been some local press about this Aussie effort being supported by Rally Australia, and Chris and Ben were not only going to represent their country (as important as that is!) but
putting their name and talents on the world stage again to press for recognition and a top-level drive. They did the recce in Finland last year and had a good feel for the event which was run during the Finnish summer. Oh, and yes they did win the weekend in SA and no, they were not present at the after-event function. However their trophies were collected for them to a rousing cheer.
VT Racing The VT Racing RS Challenge entry of Matt van Tuinen and Chris Murphy came away from the SA Rally with
Matt Van Tuinen put in his best performance of the year in South Australia, but gearbox problems slowed his progress in Heat 2. (Photo: Neil Blackbourn)
Shep takes out Yeppoon QRC Steve Shepheard and Dom Corkeron took a fine win in the recent Rydges Capricorn resort rally, held in the grounds of the Yeppoon resort and the nearby Byfield State Forest. The organising club put on another good event, by all reports, with a healthy field and representatives from the south-east and north of the state. This event was great fun last year, and it seems the same formula was on the agenda for 2004. There were eleven stages (after one was cancelled) with two of those being short blasts designed for the spectators at the resort and a solid win was recorded by the GSA/Falken Tyres Lancer Evo. 6. Bruce Fullerton/Hugh Reardon Smith took second after problems with a slipping clutch and dodgy fuel pick-up in their WRX Subaru. A report appears elsewhere in this issue. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the event and thanks go out to those people who answered my call for feedback.
By Tom Smith
R.SOUT RALLY TEAM
An interesting name for a rally team but accurate in so many ways!Ross and Jonno Cox provided me with an event report after their Yeppoon adventure, with this being their first event for the year. A newly bored-and-stroked engine in the new Gemini caused a few flutters but the father and son team took the bull by the horns and headed north to Yeppoon for this event. After a great start, a flat tyre caused some time loss and then dust annoyed the crew even more. On the longest stretch of the event, the little Gemini saw a terminal velocity of 148 kph before the road ran out, and both Ross and Jonno were quite excited at the performance of the new car. The crew had a list of people to thank including David Chilton Engineering, Ross Perry from Saabcare, Bruce Dummett (rollcage), Wayne Williams from Pittsworth Auto Electrical and Peter Millear at ARB Gympie. Ross also suggested that the man cleaning the cars at the rally service point in Byfield (Gernie under a ramp) should have been given a medal, considering the cold conditions.
DESITROL RALLY TEAM
The name may not be familiar but the crew certainly is, and it’s probably taking some time for rally spectators to recognise the new yellow RS Impreza running in the RS Challenge, as belonging to John Goasdoue and Glen Weston. After a brilliant start to the series, the SA event turned topsy-turvy for the crew with two DNFs recorded for the two heats.
A fast nerf into a bank during Saturday’s stages certainly made impressive television, thanks to the Network Ten cameras on the corner and the in-car camera installed for the weekend. Needless to say, too much entry speed saw John and Glen pirouette the Desitrol entry and land hard on the back wheel, basically ripping the right hand rear corner out of the car. A super effort by John and his team saw them back in action for the Sunday restart, but the car was not handling well thanks to a bent rear cross-member. Whether this was the result of the ‘off’ on Sunday or not, the RS ended the day about 4 metres down a bank on its side, having slid off the edge of the road. While damage is relatively light, John will need to find the budget to fix the car properly. With no points to bring home from the South Australian effort, he has lost the lead in the RS Challenge but with two rounds to go, anything can (and probably will) happen in this great one-make series. Hopefully, John and Glen will be able to rejoin the Challenge and see out the season, as one of the definite crowd favourites of the year.
GEORGE’S FINGER
Just a quick update on George Shepheard, following the news last month of his accident during the London to Sydney Marathon. Son Steve reports that George has undergone surgery to repair his left hand but at the moment has a bit of stiff middle finger, which doesn’t want to curl around a steering wheel. Apparently a different dish steering
wheel is already being measured and ordered to fit to the Evo 6, but hopefully that finger won’t cause any problems with driving. It’s handy for rude gestures but not for optimum steering performance in the car!
BAILEY POWERLINES RALLY
The next round of the Queensland Rally Championship will be the Bailey Powerlines Rally in the Benarkin Forest on Saturday September 11. This event has been a regular event on the annual calendar for many years and in the last couple of seasons has taken on the well-deserved QRC status. Sponsored by one of our favourite sweep drivers, Rod Bailey, and his company, it is always well organised and provides great competition. The Benarkin Forest was used extensively many years ago, but has not been done to death in recent times. The roads are both demanding and testing, and last year there were some retirements along the way. One of the more interesting features of the event about six or seven years ago was the use of an old disused rail corridor as part of the competitive stage, racing along the firm foundation through cuttings about one and a half cars wide. Great fun at speed! But it’s probably best to do it at night, so one doesn’t realise how close the banks are on each side. The Brisbane Sporting Car Club is presenting the rally, so keep an eye on their website for supplementary regulations.
some good series points, but also with a gearbox that needed third gear. On Saturday, the team took third in the Challenge, and followed that up in heat two with sixth place. The second day’s effort was all the more creditable considering third gear was lost during the morning’s stages and with not a huge amount of horsepower to play with, the Impreza RS – as agood as it is – is difficult to get maximum performance out of with only four gears. Steve Glenney, another RS competitor from South Australia also lost third gear and the Subaru technicians were very interested in this fact, just four rallies into the season. It’s said that the best research and development comes from racing, and hopefully this might be beneficial feedback to the company. VT Racing will be at the Premier State Rally to increase their points tally.
Top comp Just in closing, I wanted to comment on the great series that the ARC Super Series has developed into in its current format. Everyone is aware of the apparent closeness of the top cars and teams in this championship, but its only when you really sit down and analyse the times being recorded that it is clear that fractions of seconds are being chased, and huge risks are needed to be taken for success. At the end of the first heat in the Coopers Pale Ale SA Rally, the top seven cars were separated by just under forty-nine seconds, with the winning margin less than 9 seconds for Juha Kangas/Julia Rabbett over Ed Ordynski/Iain Stewart. Nine seconds is about what it takes to recover from one single overshoot, and this proves how precisely and accurately these teams are working to ensure that every corner is taken right and every crest is hit flat out where possible. This is what a championship should be like – where any one of those seven crews could win the heat, and the event. This is where our state-level youngsters can aspire to be.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 35
NSW Notes BAY STAGES
The North Shore Sporting Car Club ran the Bay Stages with their usual aplomb, and the rally attracted 62 entrants. The event went off with just one hitch - the ambulance that was on standby for the event ended up being used when John Mitchell and Jo Cadman went off in SS7. Hope they’re both back on deck soon. The report of the event can be seen elsewhere in this issue.
SPEAKING OF OFFS AND SAFETY
The accident that Mitchell And Cadman were involved in on Saturday night led me to think about the costs of an item that may have made the impact easier to bear than without it. There is a lot of talk around the world at the moment about the introduction of the HANS device (Head And Neck System) in all FIA World Championships as a mandatory measure. What do crews in the state arena think of this? Is it viable for rallying? There are at least two WRC teams who tested them recently with mixed results. Drop me a line with your feelings - I am intrigued by this one!
LIGHT CAR CLUB RALLYSPRINT
Mark Sessions from the Light Car Club in the ACT advises of the rallysprint that his club will run at the Kowen site of the jump at the recent Rally of Canberra. The event will run the weekend before the Premier State Rally, and in an interesting twist, the cars will run under the bridge in the normal direction near the service area. Then they will complete the seven kilometre loop and do the jump (over that is!) on the way back
so service crews will be able to see some action. The event is about 47km competitive, so the two versions of the stage will be used three times each. There is a limit of 35 cars and a 100 minute window for ‘familiarisation runs’ so it would be ideal for those who wish to learn pacenoting. River Road, which the event partly runs on, has been regraded and looks like a highway. As it is only the one week before the NSW ARC round and would make an great shake-down opportunity. Supp. Regs. can be found at http://www. lightcarclub.org/downloads/JCHRallysprintSuppRegs.doc
By Neil Blackbourn
EAST COAST TARGA
From all reports the East Coast Targa will be a cracker. The event is open to all road registered cars, classic or modern and is now open to utes as well. Four days of action will see crews cover around 200km of closed public roads and include blasts over sections of Mt Panorama, full laps of the Oran Park North circuit (I’ve been around it and it’s great fun!) and a full lap dash around Eastern Creek. There will also be a 400m sprint at the WSID drag strip across the road. Closed road stages are included around the towns of Lithgow, Oberon and Orange. In addition to the Competition category, the East Coast Targa is the only tarmac event in Australia which has a fully “timed speed’ competition in the Touring Category. This provides the excitement of true competition, on a “spirited drive” basis, without the risk and expense associated with the Competition category. For more details of eligible cars and categories, see www.eastcoasttarga. com.au . Entries don’t close until September 30!
SOS CALL: John Mitchell and Jo Cadman had a nasty accident in the Bay Stages, requiring an ambulance to be sent into the stage. (Photo: Andy Kerr)
The never ending search for officials continues and East Coast Targa are looking for officials particulary for the last two days of the event, Friday 29 and Saturday 30 October. The event can supply accomodation, meals, polo shirts and caps for those who work two days or more, and all officials will be invited to the Presentation Dinner at the Bathurst Civic Centre on Saturday night. Contact Lui on 02 99267061 or 0418 645623.
F16 DATABASE
There are currently 37 interested parties in the F16 class and this grows each day. An e-group has been set up so those interested can log on to yahoogroups to join the F16rally chat group, or email me and I will send you an invite. It’s up to everyone to participate in this exciting category (even in a small way) otherwise the class will slowly decline. You can call Russell Dixon on
Capital Clippings It’s been a big month in rallying in the ACT with the DELL Classic Stages, the Bay Stages and competitors heading to SA for the ARC and to Taree for the Rally of the Manning Valley. Bay Stages With 28 ACT series crews competing in a large field of 68 cars, it had the makings of a good battle and many crews were looking forward to the coastal roads. The Gold Cup was headed up by John Stilling running his Evo 3 but the pacesetters were Jon Waterhouse in his Series 4 RX7 and Kari Dirickx in his Evo 3. Waterhouse recorded a commendable eighth outright and second Gold Cup behind Dirickx, with Series leader John Stilling in third. The silver Cup was won by Waterhouse ahead of Geoff Stewart who was returning to the Bay Stages in his well-prepared Celica. Brett Wright had a good battle for second with Stewart but was finally beaten by 23 seconds. The ACT Clubman was won by Nathan Senior by just three seconds from Brett Walther. This season has been one of reliability for Senior and he’s had some very strong finishes. It looks like being the battle of the ACT series between Senior and Walther for the ACT Clubman title. Third in Clubman was Russell Battison in his Lancer with a consistent drive. ACT Novice was won by Battison from Sophia Moody in her Datsun, Moody struck with a series of punctures which dropped her right back. Tony Maxwell was an eventual third place but should have been second if not for a penalty which dropped him behind Moody. With Battison’s lowest score being 22 points, he looks like being in a fairly
good position for the title. Coopers Rally SA Doug Wright headed over to South Australia for the ARC round with his Proton Satria. Doug entered the F16 class, knowing he had a bit of a horsepower deficit to the other competitors in the class but he had to bank on the good handling of the tiny Proton. Ending up third in class each day, he was happy with the performance but is looking at getting some more horsepower for the Sydney round in a few weeks. Doug commented that the Sunday was quite interesting with thick fog on one stage and then having a dust problem later in the day. His new sponsor, Advance Security Systems, were happy with the way that the team performed. Rally of the Manning Valley Only one ACT crew headed north to Taree for the NSW Novice round. Sophia Moody and Phil May made the trek north with their Datsun. Drawing a starting position of 24, Sophia was intent on moving into the top 20 and ended up 14th outright which put a large smile on the crew’s faces. We’d like to see more ACT crews head north next year for this rally - it was my first time up in this part of NSW and I was very impressed with the way the rally was run. I plan on going up next year with the Charade. News Rumour has it that the Tranbell Rally in October has over 200km competitive which would be awesome. Some National park areas apparently are going
russell@augment.com.au
CO DRIVER’S NAMES
I think about this regulation often as I am on three egroups, but the crux of the matter is the way that it makes co-drivers feel cheated, and as an exco-driver it makes my blood pressure a little higher! Really, why do it? Anyway, the petition set up by Mike Cains is well known by now, but in support of the cause here is the petition: www.vicrally.com. au/petition.php.
PSR AND LAND LOSSES FOR RALLYING
If there is anyone out there who would like a private spectating point during the Premier State Rallplease go to www.rally.com.au and click on Premier State Rally and let us know as we are still approximately 100 officials short. All volunteers’ names will be put in the draw for a Clarion car stereo, a ride in a Top 10 car, Bosch power tools and will get a free event T-Shirt as well as access to discount tickets for others. The organisers are also in need of some responsible drivers to assist with the transport of film crews and media but they must have a sound knowledge of the area.
THE SOUTHERN CROSS RALLY
By Ray Baker to be available after many years of not being able to use them. I might be on the lookout for a new co-driver if Matt Harriott gets into the Air Force as a pilot. Matt is currently undergoing a test for the position, so good luck Matt. The LCCC Khanacross Series is being held again this year with the second round on 24 October and the final on 21 November so keep these dates free. That’s about all from me for the moment. See you out in the forest.
Surely this will go ahead one day! The Alpine is now a bi-annual event in Victoria so maybe the net should be cast wider to attract entries for this event, or it needs to be at the beginning or end of a season, as is the Alpine when it is run. According to the director, Dan White, they regret the inconvenience this has caused for a number of crew members and many of our volunteer officials who had arranged leave from work or had put aside holiday time in order to be involved in the Southern Cross Rally. “Keeping in mind the financial concerns of crews who had entered in good faith to compete in the event, we had to weigh up the consequences of maintaining the support of the poten-
Coming Events in the ACT Jerrabombera Club Hotel Rallysprint, August 21, Kowen Forest Canberra Caltex Airport Starmart Rally, September 18, Canberra Tranbell Signs & Shirts Safari Rally, October 9, Canberra Snowy Hydro SouthCare Canberra Rally Experience, October 23, Canberra National Capital Rally, November 6, Canberra As you can see there are plenty of events scheduled, so we will be quite busy for the next couple of months. The Rallysprint on August 21 will be a good event using some roads in Kowen forest and I’m looking forward to getting some pacenote experience in the Charade. If you aren’t competing why not help out by officiating? Plenty of road closures are required for this event.
tial competitors for the future and also the reputation of the Southern Cross Rally name. Had we continued to run the event, each of the crews would have every right to feel cheated in outlaying costs to compete against such a small field. The bills would amount to around three times the average budget for most events.” White said that a number of people both here and abroad have indicated strongly their enthusiasm for the return of this great event. “We are heartened by the depth of the feelings that many people still hold for the Southern Cross Rally - support for the event is obvious and genuine. Several sound ideas have been put forward already that could attract more entrants in the events. Shortly we will be assess these suggestions, particularly how they may be implemented within the structure of the competition and the ongoing effects of integrating these ideas with the event overall.” “For those who would like to openly discuss options for future direction or wish to be involved in sourcing a solution, we welcome your input. Please feel free to either call us on (02) 6581 4595 or send your email to info@southerncrossrally.com and include `Regroup’ in the subject line.”
CLASSIC RALLYING
Gerald Schofield advises that the event that may replace the cancelled Southern Cross Rally in the calendar should possibly be the Premier State Rally from 27 - 29 August. The entry fee is the same as the State Series at $660 (2 day event - Friday and Saturday). There will be a total distance of 299km of which 117 will be competitive. The classics will run on Friday night and Saturday only as the event is piggybacked on to the State Series event. The entry fee includes 2 dinner tickets for the Saturday night and Ross Dunkerton will give out the awards. Schofield is urging all classic competitors to enter. “Last year we had a poor turn out for this event so this year let’s make a big effort to get 15 cars on the start line. These types of events for classics need support or else they will disappear.”
NSW COMPETITORS IN SA
Mark and Rita Thompson took the bad luck pill again in SA, with a crash managing to end their weekend about half way though Saturday. A steady run up to that point had seen the mother and son pairing close to the other top NSW team of Brad Goldsbrough and Dale Moscatt. Brad and Dale went on to claim Privateers Award for the weekend, which they seem to have taken as their personal property this year! Coral Taylor was with Neal Bates and a spectacular run on the stages was rewarded with more good championship points for Toyota.
THAT’S IT
That’s it for another month. Keep the information coming. I’m not getting a lot from teams so keep me informed and give your sponsors a run in print. It can only work for you! blacky@blacky. com.au . See you in the forest!
36 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
Tassie Torque
Hellyer Rally Byron Murfett finally managed to drag his big grunt Skyline home for a finish in the fourth round of the Tasmanian championship. Byron, an ex stadium and off-road racer in a V6 supercharged Rodeo, has been knocking on the door for a while now and along with navigator Julian Moore, managed a second place in the 2WD class and looks like now being able to take it up to the likes of Rose (V8 Commodore) and Marshall (200B). Congratulations also to Craig Brookes who finished his second rally in the exWylie Subaru WRX. Craig and navigator Tony Chatwin got home in fourth place and showed that he will soon be on the podium as he approaches the 4WD scene with much maturity. Just to show he hadn’t lost his 2WD touch, the great Brookes dropped a driveshaft out for a couple of stages and attacked Leeroy Marshall and his 200B for old time’s sake. All this was only made possible by the help he received from his crack service crew and a fellow competitor, Peter O’Reilly, who worked all night to build a gear box from two broken ones after second gear exited stage left on the media shake down on Friday afternoon. Robert and Michael Stoneman also had a good sniff at their first outright
win as they battled hard with Lyn Rattray and David Waldon at the top of the field. The final winning margin was only 19 seconds in what could have been a disaster if you remove the 15 second penalty for booking in late. They lost by only 4 seconds - the penalty was for booking in late after someone was busy explaining to fellow competitors the finer points of eyewear! The reigning State Champions and 2004 current leaders, Jamie and Simon Vandenberg, the Flying Dutchmen, had it tough at the front. What a rally the two boys from the Netherlands had! Their efforts on stage two left them in two minds: “Do we pull the pin on rallying and start a new Dutch Airline or get into pre-fab windmills?” The two hard-charging lads left the ground over a crest (suspect helium in cage) and came to ground - HARD - sustaining significant damage, tearing off a brake line, bending the front rail and doing the usual panel misdemeanours. This left the boys with no option but to block off the brake line, fill the front brake circuit with H20 and tape up a storm. Yes, that’s right, water for brake fluid! Good ‘ol bit of bush mechanics, that! It got them to service, but with only rear brakes and the front braking on one wheel… just. It was a case of ‘better
Bits ‘n’ pieces Nick Grave
Putting an excellent show on in his first event was young Nick Grave who showed plenty of promise and good car control. Let’s hope he can entice a few of his mates to put a car together to come and chase him. I heard he had his delightful girlfriend in the silly seat and after a few little ‘barneys’ it was all apples and they finished strong showing some good speed.
Nick Kiely
The champion of spectators once again spent most of the rally on the lock stops, impressing one and all with his trademark style of cornering. It entails coming into view 20 clicks faster than anyone (and I mean anyone!) on the lock stops, and washing off speed ready to pin the corner at the earliest convenience. It was good viewing !!
TRS5 THE LLOYD
The Mt Lloyd Rally is the next stop for the TRS circus as we head for the roads previously (and hopefully returning soon) made famous by the ARC. Rossco Ferguson and Alby have put together a gun road book that includes two runs over the famous Styx River Rd. Scheduled for September 4, it looks
to be a cracker event with a new start venue at the Granada Tavern.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Ross Ferguson has been forced out of the navigator’s seat in the big Tim Rose V8 after a fall left him with a broken leg which leaves him with a bit more time on his hands. This also leaves Rosey in the position of putting a third navigator for the year in the seat after his new co-pilot, Peter Angel, resumed his position back in the six pack VL of Craig Sault. That’s about it for the month. Remember - keep up to date with all the goings on as well as all the TRS series
By Adrian Morrisby points and photos on www.500carclub. com.au
Kelly “Hooch” Hunt I sent an early good luck text to the hairiest man in Tasmanian rallying, Kelly Hunt. The reply came back rambling on about some Markku Alen bloke and Hooch’s plans to run some maximum attack. He sent all this from the toilet block at the rally start while taking care of some nervous ablutions. So as I went about my business some 300 kms away, I was thinking of where we might find a new shell for his Lancer hatch. This was not needed though, as he got the thing home in good shape. His efforts would not have been so easy if he was not assisted in service by the delectable Miss Dyno Girl and DJ, Dee Dobson. He won his class by 7 minutes and slotted the little 4 cylinder car into third outright rear wheel drive. And all this with a green horn navigator. Young goer Ben Dobson stepped into the seat after Jason White had been forced to vacate by a dubious decision by CAMS. As you know, Jason and John White had their licences suspended for three months for a minuscule problem in Targa this year. Jason found himself in the unusual position, out in the bush spectating with Hooch’s Ma and Pa. A great day was had by all, although he did mention he was missing a sock.
Safari set to go Brock has V8 Rodeo as he aims for victory Preparations for the 19th annual Australian Safari are well underway with event organisers Octagon promising the toughest international cross-country off road event staged in Australia to date. The Safari is open to motorcycles, 4WDs and 2WD vehicles. The eight day event commences in Bathurst on September 13 from where entrants will travel over 5,000km. throughout outback NSW. Overnight stops will be at Tamworth, Moree, Bourke, Tibooburra, Broken Hill, Cobar and Narromine before weary competitors finish back in Bathurst on September 20. The Safari will include both Auto and Motorcycle Divisions, promising competitors the ultimate test in endurance and stamina for both their machines and themselves. Motorsport legend, Peter Brock, will drive one of two V8-powered Holden Rodeos in the highly competitive Open Class in the Safari. Brock, who contested the event last year in a V6 Rodeo and finished second, will team with experienced navigator Ross Runnalls, while defending Australian Safari champion, John Hederics and navigator John Williams, will drive the other V8 Rodeo. A third Holden Motorsport entry, a V6 Rodeo, will run in the restricted Production Class and will be piloted by TV personality and motorsport enthusiast, Glenn Ridge, along with long-time navigator Bob Edwards. Brock said: “Last year in the V6 Rodeo we were running in a restricted class and were never going to catch John (Hederics) so we were always driving for second placing,” he said.
“This time John will still be my main rival, but we will both be driving these incredibly agile but very powerful Rodeos. Ross (Runnalls) is a highly experienced rally and off-road navigator, so I think we’re going to have a bit of fun!” The two V8 Rodeos have been prepared by Mildura-based Kelly Motorsport, with Brock’s Holden Racing Team teammate, Todd Kelly, overseeing the work which has included stripping back the two chassis driven by Brock and Nathan Pretty in last year’s event and shoe-horning in a 5.7 litre Gen III engine which is matched to a six-speed Hollinger sequential gearbox. Twin dampers have been added at each corner and additional body strengthening has been added as well. However, Kelly said the most important component of the vehicles’ preparation was the driveline. “The driveline is where the greatest potential exists for something to break, so we’ve made all of our own axles, driveshafts, transfer cases and gears,” he said. “We’ve done everything possible to make these cars indestructible - we’ve tried to look at every case scenario. They should be stronger and faster than the cars that finished second and ninth last year.” Steve Riley and John Doble, supported again for the 2004 Australian Safari by Cashcard, will again punt their Pajero against the best of the factory and privateer teams. “As usual the competition is very fierce with John Hederics in a new V8 Rodeo and top privateers like Andy Brown always being a big threat in this immensely difficult event”, said Steve, a farmer from Leongatha, Victoria.
Peter Brock will have Ross Runnalls calling the instructions as he bids for victory in the 2004 Australian Safari.
In the off season the Pajero team has been working very hard checking the Pajero’s bodyshell and the 6 speed Holinger gearbox. Their Safari entry package, which includes even more horsepower than in last year’s Safari, was tested in the Condo 750 event where the vehicle performed very well, the pair finishing second outright. “We were very pleased with the Condo 750 result because it gave us confidence in the changes we had made. Since then we have stripped the car again and gone back to basics to make sure that we have an even stronger, reliable car for the Safari. We have gone for some new shock absorbers, which we think will withstand the punishment better” said Steve. He added, “This year’s Safari will cover roads which have not been used before and to some extent it will be learning experience for all the teams. The choice of new stages this year is a bit of a leveller and a few flat tyres
Seemore launch new website Ballarat rally enthusiast, Ian Crook, has launched his company’s motorsport equipment website with an impressive and growing range of products from many leading suppliers. The site currently features products from SAAS, Sparco, Penrite and other manufacturers, with new listings to come from Cibie, Narva and other suppliers. Response so far has been ‘highly encouraging’ with hits on the site rising rapidly in response to advertising in ARN. According to Ian Crook, the company’s aim is to provide a virtual one-stop shop for the typical cash strapped club competitor who is looking for high quality products at competitive prices as they juggle commitments to family, mortgage and the running costs of rallying. “We are maintaining a good range of specials,” said Ian, “as visitors to the site will soon realise. “Response from competitors is going very well and we are expanding all the time. We are also fielding requests and enquiries for products not on the website and I am pleased to say we are achieving a good strike rate on these items too.” As a result of taking on the extensive Sparco range Seemore Motorsport are now able to supply a diverse range of products including FIA approved, handheld and plumbed-in extinguisher systems, and FIA Approved race suits. “We are also pleased to be able to supply the full range of Penrite oils and other fluids, Cibie lights, including the famous Cibie Oscar, Super Oscar and Turini systems,” Crook added.
Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 37
Paul’s Pacenotes From page 31 is for the Enjo Speed Event Series now at http://www.speedeventseries. com where you can get a full run down on all the events, results, photos and regulations.
WA Virtual Rally Series
The next instalment of WA’s newest rally series will be held on Thursday evening 19 August at the WA Car Clubrooms. The event is named the “Champions Challenge” where you will able you to pit your virtual rally skills against former WA State Rally Champion Drivers and Co-Drivers! On the night the results will be available stage by stage so you can see exactly how you fared and there may be some other interesting ways of interpreting the results. All for fun of course! Series rules favour a class win for the series and no rounds are dropped from the results so get in from the start for the best chance. Classes are Men, Ladies, Male Teenagers, Female Teenagers, Boys and Girls. Bring the youngsters along, one will come out with an equal series lead as this is round 1 and registration is $10 when accompanied by a WACC member and free if they are part of a family membership. More information is available at www.wacarclub.com.au from the ‘WAVRS’ link. Get plenty of practice, send in your WA Car Club membership application and we’ll see you on August 19
Thank You
Thanks to those who contributed. If you’ve any rally news or stories please let me know at paul.
vandermey@rallysportnews. com.au or by phone (08) 9472 5885
or Mobile 0419 201 477.
Naish, Runnalls class of BP Whites get From page 28 crews at least, then through Jeparit to an old BP via at Lorquon where the correct road turned out to be nearly impassable. The tired crews who had made it this far gathered at the Nhill truck stop, having to spend the short break coming to grips with the next Division instructions which included much paper juggling. The ‘Wet Weather Alternative’ and even the ‘Submersible Very Very Wet’ Instructions were issued for the long run to Naracoote, just over the border into South Australia. The progressive results were as follows: Naish/Runnalls 120 pts Swan/deVaus 145 Wallis/Nicholas 163 Officer/McKenzie 219 Hodge/Seymour 351 Gibson/Byron 358 With many scores now over the 1000lost mark common, the Olde BP now seemed to change character; maybe it was the wet weather alternatives, or the breaking daylight, but the route now skirted the Little Desert National Park and then headed west to the South Australian border, and was an enjoyable but straightforward run with most controls being easy to achieve on time. The run to the unmapped control at Tallageira held none of the drama of Daisy Hill much earlier and was a most enjoyable drive. It was then on to a shortest map route section across the Victorian/South Australia border with a realignment right on the border being a nice touch. A highway realignment at Kybyolite followed as the rain continued on and off as crews headed into Naracoorte for a breakfast break. Here at Naracoorte the directors and competitors all took the chance to “regroup” before embarking on the last 280 km to the overnight stop at Horsham. Back on the track, the route wandered around the sheep and wine
The deadline for the next issue of Australian Rallysport News is Monday, August 30th.
country of Wrattonbullie, back across the border and onto a snaking drive to Powers Creek. Some glorious roads around the Glenelg River area followed to a lunch break at Harrow where the alternative instructions and a tricky realignment off the main road into town caught many crews unaware. The wet weather stuck again here with two sections having to be deleted, leaving just one long run to Natimuk before the weary crews crawled into Horsham for the end of Division Two. Seven crews cleaned all but the tight run into Harrow over this Division, although the outright positions remained much the same. A highlight of the event, as it was always more than a rally, followed on Saturday night with a dinner attended by more than 200 people and crammed full of memories of past BP rallies. A
special part of the night was the presentation of 2004 BP Rally Badges to one of the original Directors Graeme Hoinville and to the five past winners in attendance; Reg Lunn, Frank Kilfoyle, Mike Osborne, Robin Sharpley and Bob Watson. The following morning the organisers had to make the agonising decision to call off the planned Sunday division as rain had continued overnight and more was expected during the day. All that was left for the 36 remaining crews was a drive back to Ballarat Airport for a “Special Test” motorkhana and the presentation of the BP Rally medallions. Results at the finish were unchanged from the previous night and saw Ross Runnalls prove once again that he is Australia’s best navigator, particularly in events of this nature. - Simon Brown
Provisional Results: 1. Terry Naish/Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 2. Ian Swan/Matt deVaus Volvo 242 3. Graham Wallis/Phil Nicholas Peugeot 505 4. David Officer/David McKenzie Galant 5. David Hodge/Tom Seymour Peugeot 505
123 points 155 points 203 points 290 points 364 points
Next month in A.R.N. l Don’t miss our report on the Premier State Rally, the penultimate round of the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship. l We look at the history of Mitsubishi’s marvellous Lancer Evo, highlighting the improvements in each successive model. l Our report on the Deutschland Rally, one of the least-liked WRC rounds, makes interesting reading. l Restoring a Datsun 260Z. We get our hands dirty on our own classic car restoration. Is it worth it? l John Bryson – Australia’s elder statesman of rallying, comes under the microscope as we discover why he’s won over 400 trophies. l All the latest classic news, ARC and WRC reports, plus our state roundup – it’s all in our October issue, on sale from Wednesday September 15. Don’t miss it.
excluded from Targa Tasmanian motorsport was dealt a disappointing blow when CAMS disqualified giant killers John and Jason White from 2004 Targa Tasmania results. They also had their competition licences suspended for three months. The WHITE HOT Motorsport team battled valiantly with both man and machine to eventually finish second outright in the event. This was a remarkable achievement given the mechanical difficulties encountered throughout the event. The amazing drives of Jason and his “Uncle John” were eventually for nil return as scrutineers found their Nissan R34 GTR V-Spec N-1 to be ineligible. A spokesperson from WHITE HOT Motorsport said today that the three points the Eligibility stewards found fault with were: a strut brace that was “as delivered”; a tiny sheet of aluminium mesh; and a factory intercooler water spray. The spokesperson was disillusioned with the process and way in which CAMS arrived at their decision. White Hot Motorsport will have a point to prove in next year’s Targa Tasmania. All is not lost as the little operation from Tasmania is still over the moon from their resounding win in the inaugural Rallye Burnie. It was in this event that Jason and “Uncle John” beat Targa legends Jim Richards and Barry Oliver by 60 seconds.
CLASSIFIEDS Your rally car supermarket
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Mitsubishi Evo 3 Gp N. Last Evo 3 built for Michael Guest. Autronic, Ralliart cage, diffs, gasket, bushes and pump. New turbo. Proflex, HO engine and gearbox just rebuilt. ‘09 3” Harnesses. Momo seats. Terratrip 303 plus Terraphone. 1250kgs. In storage for last four years. 12 rallies, never rolled or crashed. 10 Speedline wheels with good tyres. Comprehensive spares package included. Ready to rally. Can deliver half way to eastern states or WA. $27,500. 0429 678 014 SA.
SUBARU Sti 01-02. Jap.-spec import. 14,000 kms. Ideal rally car. No reg. Chassis No. GDB 004858. Missing front bar cover. $26,500. See photo. Call Matt 0418 533 164.
MAZDA FAMILIA 1989 1600 TURBO 4WD. Air suspension, fully loaded Jap. Spec. 70,000km. No reg. Goes like a rocket. Chassis No. BFMR 103713. Ideal rally car for beginner. Phone $6,500. Phone 0418 533 164.
SUBARU Sti 01-02. Jap.-spec import. Unknown kilometres. Missing some parts. Starts and drives fine. See photo. Chassis no. GDB 011753. $21,500. Call Matt 0418 533 164.
38 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004
CLASS IFIE D S Your rally car supermarket
SUBARU WRX RA. Group N. Full chrome moly cage, Proflex, STi front and rear LSDs, 20kg. centre diff, Autronics, Prodrive light pods, Sparco seats, 6 point harnesses, spares included. Reg. 1ALE 499. $35,000. Phone Peter Shaw 0438 942 973. For more info and photos email shaw2bshaw@optusnet.com.au MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 7 rally car. Built to FIA specs. Recaro seats, firebomb, kevlar underbody protection. NSW rally registered. Reg. AMM 42V. $60,000 neg. Phone Frank Neale (02) 9636 6666 or 0429 081 248. LANCER EVO 1 – 2 and some 3 parts. Engines, gearboxes, diffs, suspension arms, cross members, drive shafts, tail shafts, body parts, brakes, radiators, intercoolers etc. I have dismantled many cars over the last 12 months so I have many bits. Call or email for more information. Phone (03) 5823 1911 BH or email cvapbigpond.com
SUBARU WRX Sti V2. P5. Reconditioned blueprinted motor with CP forged pistons (being run in), 34mm sealed turbo, gearbox reconditioned one event old, Drummond 50mm suspension, front & rear LSD, new exhaust, underbody protection, front STi lower control arms & ball joints. Homologated Bond roll cage, RA roof vent, full STi interior & A/C plus 2 x Velo seats and fittings, 5-point 3” harnesses, 2kg fire extinguisher, spare turbo plus some spares, current log book, 11 months rego. Reg VUH 755. Very tidy, straight car. $28,000. Phone (BH) (02) 4969 4188.
SUBARU WRX STi V. Version 4 STi upgraded to Version V STi. Prodrive 450Nm engine, ECU and Turbo (quick release), 5-speed STi gear box with latest Group N gear ratios, STi front LSD, STi 20kg. centre viscous, R180 rear diff with upgrade kit running 4.4 ratio, chrome moly cage including mounting through dash to towers, full intrusion bars, seam welded, strut tower plating and integrated side dowels for jacking. Proflex 55mm suspension, floating bottom bush, large diameter springs, adjustable bump and rebound, remote canisters, full Group N suspension bush kit. Special front and rear driveshafts, MRT Group N clutch and plate, FIA FT3-approved bladder tank, carbon fibre surround, firewall and rear parcel shelf, Bosch fuel pump. Kevlar underbody and side skirt protection with rear diff plate, FIA-approved 4 litre fire bomb system, Momo Corse kevlar FIA-approved seats, Sabelt 3 inch 6-point harness, Prodrive carbon fibre dash and gauge pod with boost gauge and pyrometer, 40-channel in-dash two-way radio, Coralba trip meter, 5 Compomotive wheels. Reg. AOF 05Q. $57,950. Phone (02) 9712 3177 BH or 0419 712 317 AH.
1993 HYUNDAI LANTRA. Ex-Wayne Bell factory car. Fresh 1800 twin cam, Drummond 50mm suspension, full chrome moly cage, 3” harnesses, underbody protection, Terratrip, light pod, engineer’s report. Heaps of spares. Reg. QPQ 456. $6,800 ONO. Phone Rob 0410 604 651. MITSUBISHI MIRAGE CYBORG RS. 1600cc MIVEC engine, Ralliart ECU, 130kw. External oil cooler, stainless steel mandrel-bent exhaust. Modena close ratio dog-engagement gearbox (2 rallies since new), Ralliart LSD, 50mm DMS suspension, all suspension components with Ralliart competition bushings and joints, strengthened rear trailing arms. Evo 6 front brakes and Evo 3 rears, braided brake lines. Genuine RS bodyshell with chrome moly cage (CAMS homologated), aluminium full length sump guard, Kevlar underbody and side skirt protection, Sparco seats, Willans 4-point harnesses (all end of 2006 approval). Momo steering wheel, hydraulic handbrake, adjustable bias valve, Peltor main intercom and Terraphone headset unit (or backup), Terratrip, UHF, FIA fire bomb, aluminium navigator’s footrest, 18 ROH 15” wheels with assorted rally tyres. Reg. SI 0033. Heaps of spares including Cyborg side skirts and front spoiler, standard gearbox, sensors, clutch, pads, CVs etc. – enough to run an ARC program. $29,500. Will consider trade Lancer or WRX rally car. Phone 0418 141 762 or email leepeterson@bigpond.com PACE NOTE BOOKS. The best way of writing your notes is in one of our A4-size Pacenote Books. 70 pages for pacenotes, (6 calls per page) plus 5 pages to record other details (tyre sizes, incidental notes etc.) Clear plastic cover, hard cardboard back and wire-bound so that the book folds back on itself (pages can’t come out). $25 each including postage. Rallysport Promotions, P.O. Box 784, Wangaratta, 3676. Phone (03) 5722 1250 or email: merchandise@rallysportnews. com.au
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US: Australian Rallysport News are celebrating our 15th birthday, but it’s you who gets the savings. Buy anything from our merchandise advert on page 39, and we’ll give you 15% off the total price - you can’t get better value you that. So whether it’s a video, a DVD, a model or a CD you’re after, we’ve got something for you! But go to it, this offer is only available until September 5th.
HALDAS WANTED – dead or alive. Spares, gears, T pieces, servicing, repairs and restoration also available. Phone Mike (02) 6238 3159, 0412 904 638 or email mikemorris@ozemail.com.au.
SUBARU WRX Sti 01. Silver sedan. Body shell complete less running gear, headlights and grille. Has everything else. Call for photos etc. Chassis No. GDB 005430. $11,000. Phone 0418 533 164.
BMW 325. Fully equipped and ready to go. Ultra reliable, low cost, great fun rallying. Car in immaculate condition. NSW rally rego YBA 228. $15,000. Also 4-wheel car trailer for sale. Phone Gary (02) 4973 5851. (Photo wintonphotographics.com.au).
Sell your car through the pages of Australian Rallysport News ● 25 cents per word - 1 word per box ● Min. of $10 per ad (plus 10% GST) ● Additional $5 for use of photo in ad Advertisers name and address Name: ......................................................................................... Address: ...................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... Email: ..........................................................................................
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Australian Rallysport News - September 2004 39
15% OFF EVERYTHING
It’s our 15th birthday, but you get the savings!
AUDI QUATTRO NEW TO DVD Audi Quattro Experience
SUBARU KEYRING
Audi Quattro The official story
Brand new to DVD, this famous film on the Audi Quattro features some awesome footage, including Walter Rohrl at the wheel of the phenomenal S1 Quattro. If you loved Group B rallying, this is a must for your collection.
Originally titled ‘Triumph of an idea’, this tells the Quattro success story, beginning with rally victories around the world, before focusing on Pikes Peak, and the car in touring car racing. Includes rare interviews with Hannu Mikkola, Michele Mouton and Walter Rohrl.
$49.95 plus $6 postage
$49.95 plus $6 postage
60 minutes
60 minutes
Pirelli World Rallying 2003
Internationally recognised as the bestresearched and most informative rally annual in the world. Covers all World Championship rounds, Asia-Pacific series and local championships. Stories, loads of color photos, results and technical information. 200 pages
$69.95 inc. post.
* Back issues for last 20 years still available. Call for details.
These fantastic Impreza World Rally Car keyrings. Painted in Petter Solberg colours, the keyring is an official Prodrive/Subaru World Rally Team product and comes in a special decorative box.
LIMITED STOCK - ORDER NOW! $18.50 each, plus $6 post & packing The official Possum Bourne autobiography “Bourne to Rally.” It’s an enthralling story on the life of one of the world’s most well-known rally drivers. 260 pages, 20 pages of photos. A great read that you won’t want to put down.
RALLY WORLD 2004 Full review of the 2004 WRC, APRC, ARC and NZRC. Produced by Willy Weyens, with reviews by Peter Whitten and David Thomson. Foreword by Petter Solberg. 142 pages in full colour. Great value!
$39.95 plus $7 post & packing.
‘The Dominator’ Possum plaques In memory of Possum Bourne, this limited edition plaque features his Subaru Impreza World Rally Car in action. STILL AVAILABLE 46.5x38.5cm, framed. All Full colour A3 Possum Bourne commemorative plaques feature Possum’s signature (printed) and are poster, officially individually numbered. commissioned by Limited stock. Subaru Australia. $129 plus $10 P&P $10 including postage
$49.00 plus $10 postage
Diecast scale models
1/43rd and 1/18th l Range includes Mk1 and Mk11 Ford Escorts, Audi Quattros, Peugeot 206 & 203, Citroen Xsara, Datsun 260Z, Lancia Stratos, Lancia Delta S4, Mini Cooper. l Phone to see what’s currently in stock.
$63 + $10 p&p
T
he Southern Cross Rally may have been cancelled, but you can still sit down and watch these two great videos of some of the best years of the “Cross”.
SOUNDS OF RALLYING CD Great to listen to at any time especially when there are no rallies on! 12 tracks featuring all the great cars of the 70’s and 80’s including such legends as Escort BDA, Datsun 1600, Mazda RX7, Monaro, Torana, Galant, Datsun 240Z and more. Rematered from the original recordings onto CD. Runs for approx. 50 minutes. $24.95
EUROCRASH Exclusive to Rallysport Promotions, we bring you 60 minutes of some of the best(?) crashes you’ve ever seen. Action from rallies in Sweden, Belgium, Ital, France and Finland. Fortunately, only the cars get hurt! Recommended viewing. 60 minutes. $35.00 * Currently on VHS only
1976 SOUTHERN CROSS RALLY (VIDEO) Fabulous video footage (a full hour) of the ‘76 event depicting all the drama of one of the toughest events Australia has ever known. Southern Cross rallies were legendary – watch this video and you’ll understand why. Don’t miss out. 60 minutes. $49
1977, 78 & 79 SOUTHERN CROSS RALLIES (VIDEO) Each of these three years is covered in a 30 minute video segment that describes the titanic battles between the various works teams and the privateers as they contest the renowned Southern Cross rallies. We may never experience the likes of an original Southern Cross again – so this video captures those great events. Exclusive to Rallysport Promotions. 90 minutes. $59 * Currently only available on video.
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40 Australian Rallysport News - September 2004