See the car in action via this link. National Capital Rally SS8 Video

2013 Round 1 ARC wrap up and event report

It was decided last year, that my wife Fiona assist the Clerk of course for this event Adrian Dudok as his Safety officer. With this in mind, I thought it might be good to do the Nat Cap.  It would be a good shakedown prior to the SARC. And good it proved.
We transported the Familia all the way from Adelaide for the event. I had just rebuilt the trailer but after a few kilometres at Balranald we discovered the brakes were smoking. A bit of adjusting to back the  had them ok.

When we left on Monday morning, it was raining. The rain followed us most of the way on and off. We knew it would be in town when we  got there Tuesday arvo and we tried to plan everything out in regards where we should be and what we should do. With no service crew arriving until Thursday night, we could not get to scrutiny on the Thursday due to pacenoting.  We arranged first thing Friday morning.

Recce was interesting. It was good to see some of the old roads I had learnt to drive on again and to get a feel for them. A little  wet in places (Bluetts and East West) and the fact someone put a car off is nothing new for Canberra Recce.

I took my service crew member Fordy to scrutineering Friday.
The  little 2nd gear problem seemed (I noted to myself earlier) to have sorted itself out. Change into 3rd, and  then back to 2nd and all good.  Apparel check was not without its drama’s.   After about a dozen calls, we found that my Nav had left his socks on the unit floor. A quick trip upstairs to Neal Bates V-Sport shop had  it sorted. We sat out the ride day hoping not to exaggerate the 2nd gear problem.

No “real” problems on Friday. We arrived at the start and sat before the entry as we arrived a few minutes early. We got called forward. We put up or EVANS Coolant banner and had a few inquiries.

We left  the start line without hassle and no box problems and proceeded on.

On the way to service Saturday  morning the gearbox was good. Service setup, and away we went.

Spoke too soon. We  lined up at SS1 start only to have the fellow filming the 4WD Australian series  leave. What the.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go. 1st gear up to the gate, select third and  then second. Bugger, bugger, bugger. We had left 2nd at the start. Our long  weekend of clutch and gear shuffling commenced here.

We made our way through  with a bit of pace on the straights and flowing corners, but really, you do need  2nd in Canberra. In SS2, we were stopped at first SOS due to the crash. We  returned to service and tried a few things, but no luck. I  sent some sms’s out  to get box spares and organise a possible workshop. Great  that the rally  community stepped up and offered us some help. The last 2 stages  went well  considering no second gear. A little heart in the mouth moment on the  right 5  over crest that was near the end of stage. Should have stuck keep right in  there. We jumped the crest only to land on the left side of the road. Kept the foot  planted and raced to the braking area for the left 4 at crossroads.

Back at service we had a gearbox delivered. We discussed our options. Withdraw and spend the night attempting to make a good gearbox out of 2, or take the points and continue on with no second. Continue it was. Will fix when we get home.

Sunday morning started OK. Much quicker than Saturday and we did not need 2nd too much. Although some of those corners and uphills had  us struggling up them. The jump on stage 1 with the camera crews caught us out,  and the left 4 with the hole on outside looked like it might suck someone in…… SS2, and we attempted to run John D over. Nice photos were a result of our close  proximity. Stage 3 of the day had a strange knocking occur. At service we found  the retaining nut for the shock shaft had gone west. No one had a 1mm fine  threaded bolt. We attempted a Kludgy fix and we were back out.

Bluetts  was wet in places, and I needed 2nd. Struggled in places, but our notes had some  of the blind crests well sorted and we carried a bit of speed. Almost did a  Michael Thompson on the Left 3 near the end of stage and we accelerated up the  hill. Not much room to stop from 150k after the flying finish.

At the end  of SS5, I smelt gearbox fluid. The new seal in the reverse switch was not  sealing and fluid was pushing past. I attempted to tighten it as best I could  and we continued on.

On SS6 for the day I cut a corner a little too tight  with 2 k to go. R5 don’t cut was the call, but I did. As soon as we came around  the blackberry bush I saw the rocks next to the guide marker and bang. The  inside of the tyre fell apart within 10-20 metres. The outside of the tyre was  still fine, other than the small cut near the rim and the gouge in the rim.  Probably because of the alignment specs with all the  weight on the inner edge.  The Car dropped off the jack while changing the tyre and it broke. After  collecting and spraining my middle finger on the Sainz bar in SS4 on Saturday, I  could not form a fist. I did not have a hammer in the tool bag, and trying to  use the back of an adjustable wrench sort off worked. It took us 8 minutes to  repair the jack and change the tyre. We finished the next stage and got back to  service.

Thanks to Fiona for letting me play. I miss the work she does in  service behind the scenes for me. Bananas and water bottle filling along with  windscreen cleaning to my liking. But I did know she would be keeping a close eye on me as we passed through the stages.

Damo my Nav for calling some really good notes. Only  fell off once.

Greg Ford for travelling to service for us. Our gig makes his  West Race car one look like a NASA Mission.

Also a big thanks to all the  wonderful officials, from the road closures to the
controllies and the spectators.  Without them we cannot get out and compete.  I hoped those who got our promo cards a great reward.

Next event is Milicent near Mt Gambier in South Australia.  It is round 1 of the SARC.