Starmart

[Spac]

Twenty things I can remeber about the Starmart Rally.

1. Being WAAAY nervous before the start. More nervous than EVER before. No, I still don't know why.

2. getting a flat tyre half-way through SS1. F!@K, F!@K, F!@K! Only good point was that it gave me an opportunity to moon Matt and Jason.

3. Catching car 32 after fixing flat, then dropping way back on the rough stuff, and then catching again at the end of stage.

4. Driving like a sook on SS2.

5. Driving Ok on SS3.

6. Not coping at all well with bright sunlight coming through the trees - partly the threat of blinding direct light, but mostly my inability to read the road when its half light, and half shade.

7. SS4. Love it. I'll be perfectly happy if next year's rally is just SS4 repeated three times. The dust was a hassle - we weren't catching the car in front, but the dust was just sitting there... Pulled 5th gear twice too - I'm doubting my calculations, but I've worked out that we were over 200kph... Probably not quite that fast in reality, but definately at least 185kph...

8. All the transport... Ugh. My arse still hurts thinking about it.

9. Seeing we were given a very good time for SS(3?). Even beat the EVO 7... Adding a minute brought it back to reality... Still not as good as Bede's MINUS two minute stage time for SS4...

10. Mal and Fiona, service crew par excellance. Mal was just cruising around, and I was thinking "slack bugger" but everything got done, with no fuss and no hassle. Thanks heaps guys.

11. SS5. A repeat of SS2. Was one of few competitors to improve the second time 'round - something to do with how soft I was the first time, rather than any brilliant feats of bravado or skill this time...

12. The bridge on SS6. Exactly like last year, I did it OK the first time (SS3) and then nearly stuck it off the bridge the second time...

13. The weird wobble the car got on the really fast run up the hill, along the fence in SS6. Seemed to be pivoting the car from the centre of the car, rather than being caused by front or rear suspension. holding it flat and gripping the steering wheel really hard seemed to work - we're both still alive!

14. The big over-shoot in SS6 - "Crest, then turn right". Daveee called it spot-on, the call was spot-on, but my brain was elsewhere. We hit the crest well up it in 4th gear... Cleaned up some-one else's broken bumper bar, too.

15. Start of SS7. Get off the line cleanly, go for second gear and there's nothing there, just this "Wrrrr Wrrrrr" noise in time with the engine - no Bang, no graunching, just no more go. First thought was "dead gearbox", but picking other gears made no difference . Daveee asked if he should get out and have a look, but I tell him that I think we're already buggered.

16. I was right. Damn. Two DNFs from the last three starts. DAMN!

17. Jen off the start line of that stage. Didn't rev it that hard, but was very obviously very hard up it.

18. Nearly being cleaned up by another competitor in transport earlier in the day. Same competitor broke Matty T's windscreen too... Not goood enough buddy!

19. Getting my own windscreen broken by f!@kwit local in 4WD. We followed him patiently out of Captain's Flat, and after 15kms of travelling at 40 to 45kph, Dave points out that we're gonna be late to the start of next stage, so I put the RX-5's nose up next to his rear corner, and instantly get "the finger" and can see him yelling abuse in his side mirror. If I'd been ANYWHERE that didn't mean I have competition numbers on my car, I'd have dropped it back a gear or several and sprayed the f12ker with rocks as I went past. Social responsibility got the better of my anger, and we got to control late.

20. getting to the end, having beers, and Marla comes in and tell me that my rally car has just run down the hill into someone's trailer. F12K! Another f!@k up in an already f!@ked day... Grrr. Fro and Daveee push the car back off the trailer. Two dead Super Oscars, one bent bumper, one bent nosecone, and one Spac too tired to be any more pissed off...




And that's about the sum of it all. I was a good event, well run, on mostly good roads - it was just unfortunate that I was too wrapped up in my own dramas to appreciate it properly. Thanks to everyone involved in the running of the event, particularly DustBrother. /

[rwinks]

Event Video footage required.

I want to put together a sequence of footage suitable to be displayed at the next club meetings, BMSC and LCCC.

If you have or can get your hands on some digital video footage email or call me so I can arrange a time to take a copy off onto my computer.

rwinks@insightech.com.au
0407 403 163

[Matt Sosi]

After the DNF in Bega, TK Motorsport was looking forward to the challenge of the Caltex Starmart Rally. With Mark having never driven on the roads before except for the Kowen bit, and myself competing in the same event last year with Mr Senior, I knew what to expect.

However, other things decided to play a part during the event.

SS1 - Kowen
Started on the Gorge Rd and we only had driven 450m into the stage where we spun the car in front of the spectators. Did a 360-degree doughy with much applause from the crowd and continued. The first 10k or so was rough, but that is typical Kowen. Part of the stage was what Shakedown used for ROC so I knew the conditions and road was like. Coming up to the depot was magic. However, the last couple of kms a strange noise started to appear and as we pulled into the Stop, Mark exclaimed that it was the diff. A quick check and we headed to service and the noise was getting bigger.

At the service, Mark was prepared to pull the plug. Kev, Paul and including Dennis went and see if there was anything to be done. Dennis suggested putting new oil into the diff, which had to be done at the next service. He also thought it was something to do with tyres we had on the rear so both tyres changed. Although the noise was still there, we continued on.

SS2 & 3 (Main Range & Lowden)

Some of the best stages I have competed on and noticed that he was back on song. Love Main Range and the best way to describe it is being fast and flowing for drivers. However in saying this, Mark was concerned about the diff seizing up but it managed to hold in as we headed into Captains Flat. The noise was still there and decided to run into Late Time to try and resolve it. Put new oil in and Kev/Dennis convinced mark to continue on and do South Forest Way.

SS4 (South Forest Way)

Booked into South Forest Way with three minutes to spare. As we were down on the road, we were catching a number of people's dust, which reduced visability down to zero. About 25km in, the front left tyre exploded and we lost about 6 and a half minutes changing it. Three cars passed us and we had to endure more dust. Passed Brett's charade facing the wrong direction and you could see someone whom he was following effected his concentration.

At service, did further examination of the diff and then we put the spots on. We had trouble putting these on and I knew at this point that we would run out of OLT.

SS5 & 6 (Main range II and Lowden II)
When we did arrive at the start of SS5, we were 15 seconds late and were pretty devastated. We continued on though and Mark decided to attack. However the noise in the diff was getting bigger and louder and by the time we pulled up at the Stop Point, we knew our Rally was run. However, the problem was that we needed to get back to service, which was 50 km away. We managed to get back to the last service, mind you in 2nd gear and at 60km/h.

Although it was our second DNF in two events, it was a credit to Kev Lovett and Paul as well as Dennis Stevens for Mark and I to continue as far as we did. In particular, to Dennis who came over at his own and assisted where needed. Jo and Mel for being there and to keep us feeding with food. We won’t know the full extent until another week when the diff is pulled out and further examined. I hope that the problem can be fixed so the LNB Stanza can be ready for Nat Cap in November.

[Daniel]

Twice I've written an event report and twice its disapeared!

**** this - We started - We finished.

End of story

[Dave Ferris]

you could of mentioned the tree

[Matt Sosi]

Twice I've written an event report and twice its disapeared!

What you might want to do is type it in an editor like Notepad and copy/paste into this box. I know there is a time limit if you stay on this page and after the time limit expires, then it logs you out and you loose everything.

Zen or one of the moderators might be able to answer this question.

Matt Sosi

[Dave Ferris]

We also started and finished

had a great run 1st stage 16.15
from there we battled with dust and slowly went backwards
We got seeded very badly, "should of complained"
SS4 came through a wall of dust to find that the road goes right,
so off the road we went, suffered a bit of damage
Finished with a broken motor"might just be a valve spring or cam" and a $200.00 speeding fine

I think I had a good time

[Daniel]

Originally posted by Dave Ferris
you could of mentioned the tree

We started, we clouted a F%cking tree, we finshed

Had a ****ty event (no reflection on the people involved - just couldn't get it together)


Scariest moment was when I caught myself thinking "If I just stick it into the trees here I could just go home" on South Forest way


Thanks to all the people who wouldn't let me pull out - at least we got a finish.

[rwinks]

Quick As A Wink Event Report

Thanks guys for putting on such a challenging event. As part of the rally seen we have to be a very patient bunch with all the waiting, so the Airport Caltex Star Mart had a lot to offer as a venue catering to almost any culinary delight with ample parking.

The Airport Caltex Rally was a very important event for me to finish as it was last years event were I had my first mechanical DNF. Last years event saw the dif center strip after completing the South forest Way stage. Lately I have had two DNFs in a row, both times stripping the input shaft of the gear box. What can I say but there is a down side to having too much torque mixed with power.

After tracking down a T5 conversion kit, the most recommended solution to my problem of stripping gear boxes from “Power Play Difs and gear boxes” in Sydney one would expect that all was on track. Well to cut a long story short he let me down after two trips to pick it up @#?@. He’s a great guy and he knows his stuff, even lent me a M21 gear box for the Dell Classic but he doesn’t know how to manage his time or tell the truth when he can’t get the job done. The last trip to Sydney was Saturday before the event but I couldn’t let a little thing like no gear box stop me. Unannounced I visited someone who responded to an add I put in the paper almost 3 months ago when I first had gear box problems. To my relief he still had it and $150 later I had it. It wasn’t really what I wanted but I knew with a few modifications we could run the event. The gear box was an weak M20 which is a 6 cylinder box that was put behind the 4.2L V8, but to make matters worse it had a noisy lay shaft.

The modifications started,
1. Reserve and pick up a car trailer,
2. Choose some worn rally tires ,
3. Disable the secondaries on the carby (You can do that when you have power to burn)
4. Adjust the brain, start slow, finish fast and don’t go over 4,000 rpm

What’s the go with a spectator point 400 meters into the first stage. You don’t race a Commodore to drive the best line, you go out there for serious side ways action. Lets face it we are all show offs and I was torn between lets see if we can finish and go for it these someone watching. I entered the corner well but the side that wanted to finish kicked in and shifted the car into third gear haft way through the corner. It might of looked spectacular but it must of sounded sick.

Driving in a very casual manner I cut the inside of corner hitting a deep wash out which knocked the front indicator out but worst of all tore the strut tower and bent the strut. I could see another DNF being printed at this rate. Thanks to the Kennards crew, Simon Leigh and Kate servicing for Daniel Andres who welder the damage so we could continued. That Kowen stage must be one of the most technical stages around Canberra. Driving up to the ROC jump was filled with excitement thinks we were going to run the jump or the tunnel but we where left to driving a zig zag on the grass. That would have made a great video point, if I’m not running next year I bags that road closure.

I have to admit Main Rd has a great rhythm but I can’t imagine how fast the top guys must go. Lowdens had a nasty bare left call which was on a sweeping left which when you the two together turns into a road goes left. Well needless to say it caught me out and I was left dancing with the wheel as I tried to get car up the escape road. I had a major mile stone after we got back to service after the South Forest Way stage I knew the curse had been broken.

Nick the navigator and the service crew tried very hard to talk me into cutting the cable tie that was holding the secondaries shut but thanks to my stubbiness I didn’t let them and we finished 19th out right. Thanks to all those who helped me out and Datavoice, Capital Steering and Tuggeranong Tire Power for sponsoring me.

[fro]

I pretty much gave updates along the way, and have posted previously in a seperate but similarly titled thread, but the story goes something like...

Friday 8:00am - Get up and tidy up a few things on the car for rego....after having fitted the Ty Hooper specialty handbrake catch the night before.
9:00am - Run out of petrol 250m away from rego. Walk to servo, fill up can, walk back, put in car, drive to servo, fill tank...swear a lot, drive to rego.
9:30am - Drive into rego. They're all cool with all the other things that I had to fix (thanks to Tim Batten and Tortfeaser), and the only thing that the car gets held up on is the exhaust...it's down to 99dB from the 101 it got at the test last week.
10:30am - Get home and have a think about the exhaust...do some stuff, and take it to Belco exhaust, where they fit a different rear muffler for me.
11:30am - Go back to rego with more restrictive rear muffler and sandwich plate fitted. Get tested - 98.2 dB...closer. But still no cigar. Spew a bit and start to get desperate. Car starts to drive like a dog (no power), but that's mainly due to the exhaust restriction.
2:30pm - Go back for the third time, with more exhuast modification. This time they pick the sandwich plate, and refuse to do the noise test altogether. The rego rules don't permit the use of a sandwich plate unless it's engineered, so it's pointless arguing with anyone...

I start calling people to see what else I can do that I haven't already....I duck past CarCo with Tort, but there's not much that Russell can do in the limited time that I've left him, so it buggers everyone...we rush back to rego in the vain hope that we can get a last minute re-test with the induction side muffled a bit more, but arrive 5 past 4, and they're all locked up...

I drive home like a bit of a ***head, 'cause I'm angry and grumpy. Tort and I discuss our options, but really, there was bugger all we could do. I have a couple of beers, and head to scrutineering.

In the end, I was glad to help out "The A-Team", and helping Jen gave me some feeling of satisfaction. It was tempting to kneecap Brad and reclaim my seat, but he's too nice a guy to do that too.

I'm booking the car into CarCo late this week for a quiet exhaust, and then rego early next week for a re-test.

And then, it's Bondo.....and NatCap. I'm not gonna let the man bring me down! No Way!

Bring it On! Cowboy...

[fullysick]

Originally posted by fro

9:00am - Run out of petrol 250m away from rego. Walk to servo, fill up can, walk back, put in car, drive to servo, fill tank...swear a lot, drive to rego.

You should have known there and then. Someone had it in for you big time on Friday... at least you'll be the first ready for Natcap.

[Daniel]

Photos and a event report here

http://triplecaution.ms

[Dave Ferris]

Did you throw out the pictures of Ray's car?
nice tree hit

[Rallyray]

must have...as well as everyone else!!!!


NEED PHOTOS FOR SPONSERS!!!

[TKM]

Was nervous as hell at the start (after crashing in Bega), and ended up spinning at the spectator point. Diff started making horrible noises at the end of the first stage. Contemplated pulling the pin, but figured if the diffs stuffed, it’s stuffed, so decided to plod along in the hope of finishing and getting some points. Was worried the diff was going to lock up or lose drive in the middle of a high-speed bend or something, consequently drove pretty conservatively. Got a flat front left on the long stage (as if our times weren’t slow enough as it was). Diff slowly got noisier throughout the event and by the end of the second last stage it was banging horribly. Decided to pull the pin as I didn’t think it was going to make it through the last stage.

Was a pretty disappointing event, especially after I had worked so hard to get the car there in the first place, but at least I have the monkey off my back now (after Bega). Looking forward to the Nat Cap where I can hopefully make amends.