2002 Sharp National Capital Rally

[fullysick]

This sums it up for Fro

[MattHarriott]

Well that was a short event for Ray and I, all of 9km competitive was completed before the car and its crew ended up in between three trees.

Although the results at the pub said we had rolled this is not the case. We slide sideways then the righthand rear tyre found a log and that made us airborne, we bounced of the front right corner of the car and landed back on four wheels, in between three trees with have a tree under us.

We tried our best to get back onto the road but the car wouldnt move. Once Sweep 1+2 had come through and the 4 wheel drive had pulled us out of the trees, Ray and I spent about one hour waiting for Dad, Rick and the rest of the service crew to come and get us.

Thanks to Dad and Jason and Brett for servicing (not that we got to any service points), a big thanks to Rick for driving his big tilt tray truck into the stage and loading the charade onto it, (and for the grand entrance he made before the event with his big yellow forklift)

The damage doesnt seem that bad, a few bent panels, one suspension locator that looks like the sydney harbour bridge and the front right wheel doesnt spin (broken drive shaft we think).

Congrats to all those who had a drink at Ray and my expense, and Daniel for ringing us up reminding us that the bar tab was growing and we should get there soon to pay it .

With an entry free of $490 and only completing 9km that worked out to be a very exspense rally. $54/km

Cheers,

Matt

[jem]

As most people already know, I DNS'd again. This time the problem was much more terminal. I spun a bearing in the motor, and now I have an excuse to do something with it.

The worst part was actually driving into caltex with the motor sounding as awful as it was. It's surprising how low you can feel when everyone turns to look at you all at the one time cause the car sounds like crap.

As disappointing as it was, I was over joyed to see Fro rock up. Having been through the excitement of driving my first rally not long ago, I knew what was going through his mind.

By this stage I knew I wasn't running, so I offered my slightly used tyres to Fro. They looked like they would do a much better job than the two steer tyres he was using, so at least part of my car ran the Nat Cap.

I knew there were a few road closures that needed to be done, so I went and sat out on tidbinbilla lane for a few hours. I had a really good corner and a camera handy. Unfortunately by the time all the cars started coming through, the sun was looking right at me, so the pictures haven't turned out as well as I would have liked them to.

Most people took the corner pretty well. There were a few people who went pretty slowly around it, but the award for the day went to Ray Day. He was one of the quickest around the corner as well as holding a nice tidy bit of drift.

Celebrations afterwards are always fun too. Congratulations to all the people who picked up a trophy and/or secured themselves a championship. Commiserations to those who didn't quite make the finish (or start) line.

See you all next year!!!

Jem

[Matt Sosi]

A great event and an excellent result.

Nat Cap is one of the events I was looking forward to during the year. Seeded Car 34, Mark and I were feeling very positive about the event.

SS1 - Fernside Way in Kowen was fast in spots, tight and twisty in sections and rough. As is usual the case, we took it easy for the first stage, not realising that people around us were flying.

SS2 was twisty with some fast roads, especially on Kowen Road, just after the speccy point. All was well until the KL and BL call. A road went to the right which we took. A big mistake because it was not the right one and we quickly turned around the log, and lost at least 10 seconds. There was other tyre marks around so we knew that other people did the same thing.

Arrived at the first service when Mark realised that his mirror was missing. Tyres held up well after the Kowen stages but we decided to change them for the stages out west.

SS3, Champagnes, was a tight and twisty stage with some fast bits right at the end along Warks Road. Got put off by Frank Barker's off, and did the next 2km trying to work out where we were on the road book. One thing I learnt, is that forget about whats happening outside, and concentrate on your job on hand.

SS4, Sinclairs was a stage I ran for Adrian last year, except for the last bit as it was new. Was fast in parts, but rough in spots, especially when the top leading cars were pulling onto the racing line large rocks bigger than Ben Hur. Only did one major stuff up, on Bullock Paddock Road, when I was saying, "THL" instead of "THR". **** happens I suppose.

SS5, Tidbinbilla, a stage I knew very well, as well as Mark. Flew through the stage, and got plenty of air on a lot of the crests. Almost nailed 5 ways perfectly, except that we mucked up the last part of the corner, and ended facing two photographers. Reached to the end of the stage, I was so happy. Finally after many attempts, my Oakey Creek curse has finally been broken!!

SS6, Sherwoods, was a stage that was new to me, but knew a few parts from Dell. Nice sweeping corners, tight and slippery in parts. Past a number of cars that had problems, including Doug Briscoe. Arrived at the stop point and we finally had completed the ACT/NSW novice component of the event, not knowing how we went.

At the service point, our crew knew how well we went, but did not want to say anything. They did tell me privately that we were about 3rd.

The next two stages, Padovans and Greenhills, did not count towards the ACT or NSW Novice Championships. But we still drove 10/10'ths all the way. Almost to the end of Padovans, and Mark and myself smelt some smoke and we thought we had a flat. That will be right, I thought, however, as we passed the Warks Road jump, Graham Thompson was going fairly slowly in front and realised that it was him, not us. Phew, I thought as we arrived at the Stop.

Then onto Greenhills and had fun. Almost overshot where you come back towards the start. Mark was giving a running commentary on which way the road goes. At one point, he thought we had to go right, but then realised that the stage was modified and the road went left.

Arrived at the finish and I was exhausted. Went up to have a few beers and talking to people. When the results came out, was supprised to see that we came 2nd in ACT clubman, 2nd in NSW Novice and 13 O/R. The 2nd in NSW Novice turned into 3rd and I was awarded first in ACT clubman. I knew Tamsey was registered so I went up to Adrian and this was changed.

Sharp's slogan is "Simply the best", and that is how I feel at the moment. I was very humble in getting up there, and still some 24 hours later, I can not believe it.

For next year, there is a few plans I am persuing. I will still be with Mark doing the ACT series. However, there might be something else around the corner. Stay tuned for an announcement!!

Matt Sosi

[Daniel]

Again thanks Adrian and co for the event.


Everyone here knows what my plan was, have a ball, finish with a straight car and if possible knock off Ray

Well we did all three. WOOHOOO

Stage 1 - With the straight car plan in my mind I started really slow, driving about 70% braking early, backing off over rough bits and humps etc, got to the end and wasn't enjoying myself enough

Stage 2 - Decided I needed to go a bit harder, so started out at about 80% and immediatly felt better, still not taking any chances but having fun now - about halfway through we hit a big rut sideways (yes yes Kate did tell me it was there) and with the rear suspension at full bump we gave it a hard wack sideways, enough that the caliper clouted the inner guard and loosened the banjo, and the next time I went for the brakes the pedel went to the floor (VERY scary!) (By the way some delicate panel beating with a sledge hammer has insured that it'll never happen again ). We contined through the stage very slowly, and saw Rob and Richard walking down the road. I stopped and told them to ring Simon and let him know the problem. Drove through the spec point really slowly and passed Richards car on the side of the road thinking "poor bugger - 4 engines in 3 rallys, that should qualify as a year to forget".

Stage 3 - After Simon and Tommy gave us some brakes again we headed off to Champers - I love that stage, and it didn't disappoint, still only driving 80% the time was down a bit but I had an absolute blast - I wound on heaps of rear bias and spent my time throwing the car around

Stage 4 - The brakes died again just as we were about to leave service (damaged banjo washer as it turned out - got my head bitten off by Lizzy when I asked if they had a spare one ) . But as usual Simon and Tommy saved the day - swapping a brake one with a clutch one and we had brakes again for the rest of the event - bugger all clutch but good brakes. (PS Bernie - thats why the wheels spun on leaving the service, you try driving off smoothly when the clutch is pissing fluid all over the extractors and the line is half full of air ) The stage was awsome, nice fast left right combinations, don't remember much but I do remember having a dumb grin on my face a lot .

Stage 5 - Tidbinbilla is cool as usual, but half way through we started getting dust and I decided it wasn't worth sticking it off and backed off - could have taken fiveways better but washed off too much speed to hold a drift all the way round, but at least I didn't spin.

Stage 6 - Never run in Sherwood before and loved it, seeing lots of cars off was a bit of a worry and the down hill run was bloody slippery and we had our only moment there (just after the WRX in the bank facing the wrong way) when we ran a bit wide - but it was a pretty woosy moment by my standards.


I'd like to say a couple of big thankyous -
Firstly my wife, Vicki thanks for putting up with all my sh^t.
Kate for telling me where to go all year, organising me, the services, paper work, well everything actualy.
Simon and Tommy, you guys are the absolute best, I wouldn't have finished a single rally this year if it wasn't for you guys.
All the people and businesses who have helped with my insanly expensive hobby.
And probably most importantly all the people who have organised and helped out at events this year - thankyou.

Next year I'll be out but I'll be back with more grunt and hopefully cash in 2004

PS Ray - No excuses mate

[Rallyray]

Interesting to see the times before hand though....
Event report to come when I stop

[Martino]

We lost our Breaks 11km from service on Tinbilla going way to fast at the only tree in sight.

We still made it in one peice the the end of the long event. with only a hand break.

All hale Mark

Martino

P.S. We were still able to take out the P2 Class

More to come when we have time to write a full event report

[smee]

We lost our Breaks 11km from service on Tinbilla going way to fast at the only tree in sight

And what Breaks would these be. A break in the weather, A break in the dust because you where catching the car in front, or are they some sort of nutritional supplement that helps you go faster.........

[Martino]

Please replace breaks with brakes.
It is Monday morning give me a break.

Now if you excuse me I have a rock to hide under.

[tamsey]

Originally posted by Matt Sosi
I knew Tamsey was registered so I went up to Adrian and this was changed.

Thanks again mate.

[TKM]

Well the Nat Cap was worth the wait, and I was wrapped just to finish the event after our last 2 disappointments. Picking up a couple of trophies was an added bonus and quite unexpected as I didn’t think our times were that flash. Being behind Dave all event I kept checking his times at every stop point and thought I must have been coming last, turns out he was driving like a man possessed and wanted that beer.

SS1, wasn’t really looking forward to this, as I don’t particularly like Kowen and being the first stage I knew I’d be off the pace. However, as it was 21 km, I was hoping I’d been warmed up by half way and pick up the pace a bit, which was pretty much what eventuated. It was rough to begin with, but got better as we progressed through the stage. The car was running very hot, almost off the dial and had me worried. I wasn’t backing off at all, but the constant glances at the gauge were a distraction. Got to the end of the stage and Dave had knocked a minute off us, it was about what I expected after the blinder he put in on the first stage of the Starmart, but Mark S had knocked 30 seconds off us and I hadn’t expected that (was expecting more around 15 – 20). Left the stop point feeling a little disappointed, and determined to go harder next stage.

SS2, went out harder this time, but was still glancing across at the temp gauge far to often. Wrong roaded along with just about the entire field, but knew straight away Matt had given me a bum steer, with a log across the road and handbrake marks from the cars in front of us. Quickly turned around after the log and probably dropped around 10 seconds in the process. Did the specie point ok, but nothing spectacular. Got to the end of the stage and Dave had knocked another 30 odd seconds off us, so I resided then and there that I would be buying him a beer after the event. Didn’t catch Mark Session’s time, so wasn’t sure how I was going there. Looking at the times on the results we were 9 seconds behind Mark, which is more like I was expecting.

Got to the service and as I got out and shut my door, I noticed the mirror missing. I remember the very end of a branch brushing my helmet in SS2, so I guess the rest of the branch must have taken the mirror. Decided to replace the front tyres with some new ones, and move the old ones to the back now we were out of Kowen. Plus I figured that if Champagnes had just been graded, and with no rain, it was going to be soft and slippery, I wanted to make sure I had as much grip as possible. Also decided that I was spending way to much time watching the temp gauge, and that I should be concentrating on my driving more, if the head gasket went, then too bad, not much I could do about it anyway.

SS3 was just as I expected, very soft and slippery, especially after the lead cars had softened the RGL’s and RGR’s up even more. Was a bit disappointed when we turned onto lower champagne, I was hoping to go straight on through the little creek and out onto the top end of Warks, always loved doing the full length of that. Matt then got distracted and lost his place on the road book, so we did a couple of km blind which slowed me a little, as champagne’s is not a road to do blind, especially in those slippery conditions. Got to the end and Dave had taken another heap of time of us, and I was feeling a little depressed.

SS4, wasn’t feeling very confident, felt our times had been pretty ordinary and I’d never done the roads in this stage other than the first couple of kms. Apparently we were pretty fast through the specie point as I was straight lining it as much as I could, cutting the grass slightly on the left. Got onto Bullocks Paddock road and Matt’s counting me down for a THL, at which point I see the arrow going right and say “don’t you mean right?” All was ok though. Much of the rest of the stage was completely new to me. As we turned back on to Bullocks Paddock road, I line the car up to avoid the bloody great hole on the inside, only to be faced with a rock the size of a house (well not literally), and had to kill my speed considerably to change my line, For the rest of the stage there were big rocks everywhere on the line through the corners (bloody 4WD turbos). Got to the end to have the stop point controlie tells us we where slow (“yeh, thanks mate, I know I’m *****en slow, I don’t need you telling me too”). Another 30 odd seconds dropped to Dave.

SS5, now these roads I was familiar with, and looking at the map before the start of the stage, I pretty much knew exactly where we were going, I just hoped the roads hadn’t changed that much. Went a lot harder in this stage, foolishly thinking I might get some time back on Dave through local knowledge (yeh, right). Had a ball in here, but was still a little tentative in spots I should have been going harder. Got to the end and Dave had taken 30 seconds off us, but I didn’t feel so bad this time as I thought that wasn’t bad for a 29km stage.

SS6, not much to report here. Hadn’t run on any roads in Sherwoods since the mid 80’s, so not much was familiar. Found the last half of the stage very slippery (as did some of the front runners), mainly where they had been logging as I think the trucks had really dug up the road. Was using a slight lift of the handbrake a lot here to avoid 4-wheel drifting into the banks. The sun was also bad in a few spots, I was hard on the brakes a couple of times because I couldn’t see jack ****. Got to the end and was wrapped that we had made it through the short event, only 2 more stages to go for the full event.

Service and regroup were very short and had no time to catch up with people and compare times, all I knew was that Dave was kicking our arse and I was up for a beer.

SS7, pretty much a repeat of SS4, except for the last half, which I was pretty familiar with and enjoyed heaps. Slowed a little at the end of Warks when we got Graham’s dust as he was limping along in the VR4. End of the stage, and another 30 seconds to Dave, bloody hell, how fast is he going?

SS8, Greenhills, this was what we paid the extra money for. Was a little disappointed the route had changed as I had always enjoyed the grassy stretches through Greenhills West, and I knew we could get all 4 wheels off the ground coming down the hill and across the drop over Forest drive, but that was out too, damn!!! Despite that, I still enjoyed it immensely, and like Matt said, I was giving him a running commentary most of the way as I usually knew what was coming up next. It had still been a long since I’d been in there though, and I was backing off on the crests along Forest drive when I should have been holding it flat. Still we did probably our most respectable time in the event, only 6 seconds off Dave, but then he did slow a little as he was keen to make it home, and had his beer in the bag.

All in all it was a great event, thanks to Adrian for all the work he and his team put in, and for having the guts to run it in these weather conditions.

Mark

[fro]

Well, where to start?

Okay, well, after repairing the two items that we got failed on for scrutineering (replace Rear Main Seal to fix the Oil Leak and weld up the sliced Gearbox Mount),Tortfeaser replaced teh front lower control arms, and Guy helped identify the shagged left rear wheel bearings. When we hammered the axle out to replace the wheel bearings, there was just shavings in there... no good. I stuffed the axles thread when I was bashing it out, so Mr Brown fixed that up while I went to work, and went on a parts mission.

Armed with new wheel bearing, I got home about 6pm, and Paulie, my roped-in service crew, helped bash out the remnants of the old one that's stuck in there... It only took an hour and a half to get the bastard out! Mainly thanks to Paulie, we made it to scrutineering Friday night, with about 2 minutes to spare.

Saturday morning, I woke up, and went out to Revell for a wheel alignment. We then packed Mrs Fro service ute, and headed out to the Starmart. On the way there, trouble began. The car just sounded off. It was just not right. SO I ran around the start area, trying to find someone who could give me some direction. I roped Guy in to have a look, and he synchronised the carbs, but the wasn't much else that he could do.

Jem and Jon had to pull out with their very sick Lancer, and generously donated their tyres to the cause. And Jon offered to help service for me.

We set off to the first stage, and whatever changes were made made the car even worse. I tried some minor roadside adjustment, but to no avail. We arrived at the first start control with a car that sounded like a train, and felt like a dud.

I had a little knowledge of Kowen from RoC, but it actually worked against me. I kept backing off, knowing that if I went hard, I'd stick it off. It was probably a good thing in hindsight. We passed Rays wreckage, and I felt conflicted. I wouldn't ahve to buy beers, but I would have liked to beaten Ray fair and square. Anyway, about 10-12kms in, after the "RGL-Caution Power Pole", the car just stopped. No power.

We jumped out of the car, freaking out. My first event was about to end in the first stage. Marc quickly assessed that the problem was in fact that the bolts that hold the alternator bracket to the engine block had gone. One had completely sheared, flush with the block. We pulled bits off the car, looking for a bolt to fit. Eventually, Marc found one from the front caover that did the job. But still no go.... In the mean time, the battery terminal had come loose. Thanks to the sweep for pointing it out!

We were off again!

We barrelled through the stage, our ten horsepower setting a furious pace, as indicated by the in-car footage. I completely backed it in to the "Fro-Cam" hairpin left, only to completely run out of gas...

We finished the first stage with the alternator going crazy. I was sad to see Jen parked up after the stop. Such an awesome competitor deserves better. Knowing that we had not much time, we soldiered on to the start of Stage 2.

On arrival, we have the radio guy trying to tell us that we can't start, 'cause we haven't finished the last stage. I let go with a torrent of abuse, which was very unsportsman-like, and I apologise for. Luckily, John Green was on hand to calm me down, and get me back in the car.

We do the whole second stage with a very close eye on the ammeter, and watch it go off the deep end, reading off the top of the guage. First service, and Marc re-wires the voltage return line to the battery, so the alternator doesn't go spastic anymore, and Umby carries out some more permanent repairs to the alternator bodgy mount. Luckily Ballast's brother Jimmy was there to donate some bolts and a couple of nuts to the cause.

We're off to the third stage, Champagnes. We arrive with a couple of minutes to spare. The NSSCC guys are packing up, but they wave us away. With 10 seconds til we start, I realise that I haven't got my gloves on. Convinced we are going to end up DNFing on this stage, I insist that we wait till I put them on... and so we lose 20 seconds before we even begin.

We suffer from a massive lack of grunt. So much so, that going up one long hill, the engine just refuses to play anymore. We end up rolling all the way down the hill to the previous corner, and spend about 30 seconds trying to restart the car. Eventually, it restarts, and we slowly climb the hill. Once we get to the "scary" part of Champagnes, the road turns to dust, up to a foot thick in places, that makes the road incredibly slippery. So much so, that I slap my first bank with the back of the car. Inspection at service indicates that it was just a tap with the left rear wheel.

We celebrate finishing our third stage, and head for service. Here we find out that we only have one minute of late time left? What? Our calculations leave us with five? We're still in it, and we're gonna keep on trucking!

Sinclairs Settlement was the start of the hard charge, with a bit of crazy driving on my part. We come over on crest, and the car gets sucked into the dust on the left, and all of a sudden, we're sideways, sliding down a downhill straight. We slide for about 100 metres, and a tree starts looming large, aimed right at Marc's hip. I have time to look at Marc and shrug my shoulders, as we both become increasingly nervous passengers. At the last moment, about 10 metres from the tree, the car snaps straight on the road again, and we both sigh with relief.

A couple of crests later, I get sucked into a 2 foot deep gutter, again on the left, and we slap yet another bank, this time with some minor panel damage behind the rear wheels. Everything seems to be going OK, the car still on three cylinders, and then as we approach the flying finish board, the car just dies. Marc jumps out, opens the bonnet, and identifies the HT lead from the coil has come adrift. Plugged in, he tells me to go, and that he will run to the stop point. I do this, adding to the confusion of the stop point officials... Not only are we half an hour behind the rest of the field, but there's only one person in the car! Marc catches up with us, and we head to service again.

This service we remove the broken bonnet pin from the left, and replace it with cable ties, and add some fuel. Then off to Tidbinbilla.

Sorry to the start controllie of Tidbinbilla... we were keen to get going! We did OK on this stage, but the engine was really starting to falter by now. We were starting to lose a lot of power. We collect two more banks, and almost bail up some local wildlife. As we come in to Cottage Five, we see people jumping up and down. I hold it flat and just turn in... instant understeer. We mount the bank, and continue on in simlair slow fashion.

Service sees us trying to change spark plugs while refuelling. We go to Sherwood with a very sick sounding automobile, and pull into control with 20 seconds to spare. I negotiate the back up plan with Karl that he'll push us with the Recovery vehicle should we need it . This is my favourite stage, and made it all worthwhile. It was hard to enjoy it with a car on it's last legs, by now feeling like it only had two cylinders in operation. We chug through the stage, and putt back to the pub...

No matter the dramas, I really enjoyed myself. I thank everyone who helped out so that we could havea day in the forest.

Special thanks must go to:
Mrs Fro for being incredibly understanding, and supportive. And looking after me when I was stressing out and completely irrational.
Mr Brown for always being on call to help me gt over my mechanical incompetencies.
Mr Kelly for taking on the risk of not even starting. When we came out of stage 3, he told me that was as far as he expected to get, and anything from there on was a bonus!
Paulie and Fullysick for servicing and putting up with my temper.
Spac and Jen for helping me in those moments where I couldn't help myself.
The Barretts for letting me use their spares before we even got to the event!
Umby for pointing out the stuff that would have made me DNF at scrutineering, and then helping me continue on at Service.
Everyone else (and there's a long list on the inside of my boot) who's pitched in over the last few months to get me out in the forest. I do appreciate it, adn I'll be buying beers for a long time to come.

Now, just to fix some stuff, find some horsepower (or a motor that works), and bring on Narooma.

I said Bring it on. Cowboy.

[fro]

Ooohhh, oooh, ooh.

I've got to add a few things.

Thanks to <a href="http://www.versus.com.au">Versus</a>, our official rally practice/e-battle gaming centre and tyre sponsor.

I've also been reminded to point out that every time we had a moment, it was Marc's side of the car that was put in danger. Every tree, rock and bank that we threatened was on his side! And he still reckons he enjoyed himself!

And finally, the one stage where the car wasn't going so bad (Stage 2 - Kowen Road), we managed to beat quite a few people... including Daniel!

Wooooo Hooooo....

Man. You people are gonna get sick of me real soon. I think that Spac and Tweety already are!

[Rallyray]

Our day could have been better...plain and simple.
I make no excuses about the way I drove. It was the fastest I have ever driven...especially Tibinbilla.

1st and 2nd stage we went ok...No intercom so mark had to yell. A wire had been cut or something. went to fix it at service...Turned kill switch off and cut the wires to fix and it just went up...Plumes of white smoke coming out of the car...Dove in and got the fire ext and sprayed at the fire...Mark did the same on the other side but I managed to breathe in some off the fire ext...I went down like a sack of ****. I could hardly breathe for about 30 secs...Fire out. but no intercom for the rest of the day.
Thanks to Car 45 for running to our aid and help fixing the remaining mess.

Our other downfall was SS4. Flew through the spec point and then about 4 corners later our gearshifter got jammed in 3rd. we pushed on and our times were really suffering. We reached the uphill section about 3-400 metres from the finish and the car couldn't go uphill anymore. We had to stop and I pulled the shifter out and wasted more time trying to find 1st with a screwdriver...we found it and were on our way. Sorry to Russell and tim behind us... managed to loose abut 10-12 minutes on the stage.
Limped back to service in 1st gear...slow trip.
Fixed the problem. One bolt was stripped and was replaced.
Tidbinbilla....what can I say...At the start of the stage I was still fixing the car and was determined to drive as hard as I could. The long straight was like a rollercoaster and we managed to peg 5th over all the humps until we HAD to brake...
Good time 16th fastest...not bad for a old lancer which used 14 litres of oil that day.
The next stage was just as bad as SS4. We had major dust problems resulting in us stopping to a full stop at least 5 times. I was just laying on the horn hoping that he would hear me...but to no avail. We had done a terrible time and that was the end of our Rally.
Thanks to our service and everyone who came out to watch.
Thanks also to Adrian and all the volunteers for coming out. One tip for all competitors....thank the Volunteers...It doesn't take much and if they weren't there our sport wouldn't run.

P.S...Daniel...live it up. Your about to have a kid. See you in 3 years.