99 Posted July 23, 2004 Report Posted July 23, 2004 Wow, no Mick Jones?? the event won't be the same without Mick & Harald. That is a HUGE deal, haven't they've won the event a couple of times now? My tip will be one of those WRXs to win - perhaps Allan Kelly? Harry and Tim are obvious HOT contenders and that Fiat looks fat too. But if you go by my (biased) theory that the winner almost always comes down to the nav, I think that Mark Neary/Tony Best (XR6 ute) could be a dark horse. Then there's always Craig Hornibrook and Brant Rayment (Commodore) - they've come 2nd and 3rd a couple of times. Not to mention Glen Wesener and Larisa Skyring (Torana) who have a couple of podium finishes previously too. Should be a GREAT and highly competitive event. As for Dave and I - the car has huge mumbo, the driver is bloody awesome ... gawd, my stomach is in knots just thinking about it.... *vision blurres* :) I'm more nervous about this than I was for Rocky!! feeling the pressure.... ... feeling sick!! :D Quote
demuire Posted July 23, 2004 Report Posted July 23, 2004 Heh, yes the event will be rather different without Mick & Herald. And yes, they've won the events several times now, Mick is an awesome driver and Herald knows his way around too. If I'm not mistaken Harry and Tim won in 2001? I think. And yes, Craig and Brant also have a good shot at Gold i think, they came in 2nd or something last year. Glen and Larisa would probably do very well too. Haha, where does that leave Haikal and I? We'll be out for a ball. If we get a podium (even just in class) I'll be stoked :) Quote
demuire Posted July 24, 2004 Report Posted July 24, 2004 Just got back from ken & nikki's (to fix my front splitter), am absolutely spanked and will be retiring to bed immediately after this. All I can say is: Oh Gawd did you guys miss out or what! What an awesome day. Prince Henry Heights at Toowoomba is an awesome drive, if you think Mt Glorious or Nebo or even Mt Cootha are cool, you haven't lived to taste what "cool" is yet :) That would have had to have been one of the best 1:20 sections of my life ever! Unfortunately I got a bit overenthusiastic towards the end of the day and ended up with a few scratches, some minor-ish panel damage and a rather unhappy looking front splitter (and a lot of grass, sand and stones in the cabin and in my shirt), but all in all I had an awesome day :D Haikal did an awesome job as a nav too! Quote
Redwarf Posted July 25, 2004 Report Posted July 25, 2004 Great day had by all! Didn't get to see you run all day though Fook. :sad: Alternator crapped itself just on entry to driveway at home, must have heard about the replacement plans!! Great photos as always, Fook. God I love the low springs and grippy tyres!! Quote
demuire Posted July 25, 2004 Report Posted July 25, 2004 Rob: Haha, don't worry you didn't miss too much :) I think the only 2 special stages I drove well were probably Prince Henry Heights and Gatton, all the other tests I was very average, especially at the dam, what with the lost time when I decided that cross country driving was more fun... I did fairly well in the first half of the motorkhana, and then I got to the 2nd half and absolutely sucked... Had a great time though! I only saw you run at the last motorkhana too :) Would've loved to see you run on some of the other tests. Are those plans final yet? If they are, you MUST repaint it red. The baby blue is just very ghey, and after seeing you in Marc's Stanza we all know that blue just isn't your color :D I can't wait for the results, I don't think we did well at all, missed a few VRC's which probably would have sent us a fair way back, and all the time I picked up in Prince Henry and Gatton I probably lost at the dam... Quote
99 Posted July 25, 2004 Report Posted July 25, 2004 Warning, big rave below!! An absolutely FAT day, really well organised, GREAT super special stages, quite a different flavour to previous years. I noted a lack of race tracks, just mostly super special road stages on normal roads. Fook, I absolutely agree with you, that Toowoomba stage was AWESOME and spectacular (great views, but for navs only!). As for the ride in the Swift.... man, it has simply stupid amounts of power. Dave spends most of his time trying to keep it on the road! Consequently doesn't feel as smooth as other rides I've had, but it's hell quick. We think we did okay on the speed tests - no major errors- but we have no idea how we went compared to the major horsepower + traction behind us (read: WRXs). We hopefully clean sheeted the questions but missed a VRC in the morning and 1 minute late time. Bugger. So I hope we land somewhere within the top 5. My top tips for an outright win are GlenWesener/Larisa Skyring (Torana) and Mark Neary/Tony Best (XR6). They are the only people that I heard got the full number of VRCs. Perhaps Craig Hornibrook/Brant Rayment (Commodore)? Harry Doling/Tim Gepp apparently did not have a good event!! :-( But, as predicted, the competition is absolutely fierce, and I bet it's extremely close. Like I said, bloody brilliant event - I wonder if Marc is accepting entries for next year?!! :) The upshot is that I didn't annoy Dave within an inch of his life!! and I have accepted a return invitation to the nav seat for the Kilcoy Canter (bitumen rallysprint). That's if we can get in!! Quote
demuire Posted July 25, 2004 Report Posted July 25, 2004 Kilcoy Canter? Is that the one on the 14th of August? I know there's some classic event going on somewhere but I'll be at Mt Cotton for some driver training thing that Sideline are running (organised by Peter Newell)... Quote
99 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 Yep, it's Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August. REALLY looking forward to it!! Quote
demuire Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 When I spoke to Ted (from Sideline) about it it sounded like a heap of fun :) You lucky girl you, get to do Targa, get to ride in that mad turbo Swift with Dave, get to do this upcoming sprint thing... You've got it all set don't you! :D Quote
99 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 that's after 3 years of navigating for Rob though - it just doesn't land in your lap! It's hard work sometimes but eventually people need navigators and they think of ones with experience. There aren't that many. I paid for my training and experience with Rob with 3 years worth of entry fees - believe me it wasn't cheap! Now, I'm lucky enough to grab the occassional great free (or cheap) rides and more expensive machinery. I'm definitely not complaining but it gets to be a bit of a conflict sometimes.... ie, do I accept an awesome free nav (and the pressures that go with it) or do I drive and pay big $$$? At the moment I'm lucky I don't have to make that choice because the datto is being repaired. I guess what I'm trying to say is - it might seem like I'm lucky and fluke great rides but I feel like I'm in this position because of the hard work and money I invested over time. But when I get a free ride, I'm being paid to do a 'job' so I have to take it much more seriously. Hence the big nerves for Saturday and sometimes I'm not much fun! I am pleased that Dave thought I did a good enough job to have me back again. Although, having said that, I never co-drove for Rob ever thinking I would get to do Targa - I just wanted to have a blast!! and we did so I guess I'm doubly lucky in that respect. Quote
demuire Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 Hehe, no not saying that it has all been served to you on a golden spoon, but not everyone (including people who do the hard yards) gets a chance to do some of the things you have gotten to do (like Targa). Putting in the hard yards, knowing the right people, being at the right place at the right time, and persevering - I think that's the secret... I hope I get there one day too... *cross fingers* But for now I suppose I have more pressing things to look at, hopefully I'll have a chance to keep doing motorsport and all that. I guess I'll find out by the end of next month... It's all rather unfair, but I suppose life isn't fair. Quote
wyldephyre Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 Copy and paste from my Joural entry on DA (Read by none motorsports people, which is why some things are explained): Well, well, guess what? We finished!. We may not have won, or even gotten a podium place in our clasd, but we bloody finished!. And not only did we finish, but we completed all but one navigation stage early; On the first stage, we missed a question (due to excitement), so had to turn around and start again from the beginning. That was about 2 minutes lost. We also lost two minutes before that as we sat around and tried to decide what to do next, which was highly unnecessary as we had it all planned out beforehand anyway. We also lost valuable time by getting stuck behind a slow moving truck on a single lane road (This was a tarmac rally, on public roads), and there must have been about three or four cars cursing the truckie. At least we all had the patience to get on without firing a single horn. Missed a VRC on that leg as well, because we missed a small road which we had to turn in to. All in all, we must have arrived about 7 minutes late for that stage. We stopped for lunch at the Gatton UQ campus after the Gatton Special stage, with two more speed tests and two more nav legs to go. In the final nav leg, we missed one turn and missed a VRC, and we also failed to spot two additional VRCs, so that sucked. Missing a VRC or question is equivalent to being 30mins late in terms of penalties, so that is no good. We went off the road on the Wivenhoe dam speed stage, car slipped off the road headfirst into some bushes. Lost traction because the road was covered in a layer of dry grass. It was quite interesting. It was a bit like smashing into a puddle, except with seeds and dry grass instead of water. What's more, both of us had our windows open, and got covered in that crap. There's a Fook-shaped outline in his seat from that, as he's a hella lot smaller than I am. Car took a slight beating, but we managed to drive off and book into control, covered in grass. It must have been quite a sight. The day ended up with a motorkhana type speed test in the Century Batteries (They sponsored the event, and said they will do so again next year) carpark. Much excitement there. The sweep car slammed into a kerb and took some damage, a crunk that made the whole crowd cringe. All in all, a great day. Maybe next year, we'll win. Quote
99 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 Fook, I agree, there is benefit in knowing lots of people and being around and making the right noises when the opportunity becomes available. Apparently the reason I was accepted into the Targa team was because I was drinking and being generally rowdy with the boys after the Cooloola Classic rally - they decided I fitted in just fine!! And what's unfair? Have I missed something? Great article Haikal!! Quote
Redwarf Posted July 26, 2004 Report Posted July 26, 2004 So I don't look like a complete ogre, I should point out that it is normal for the nav to contribute to the running of the car, and to Mel's credit, she also did a lot of help in the preparation of the car, too. Rallying is not a cheap sport, It costs me over $400 to $500 each time I do a rally, and that's with someone else paying the entry. I know some navs who never pay for a ride, some of them aren't that good, either, and hence, you don't see them that often. I was very lucky with Mel, in that from the very beginning she worked hard to do the best job that she could, she learn't quickly, and although made the occasional mistake, never made the same one twice. She is now reaping the rewards of three years hard work, and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that I may have helped contribute to the success she's having now. It's not an easy or cheap raod to follow, but if you have the commitment, you can succeed. ....You do, however, need an extremely strong stomach...... Quote
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