2008 Dutton Rally (WA Round)

[Rally Angel]

Ethan and I competed in the WA Round of the Dutton Rally on the weekend. Our list of "thank you's" goes to:-

Philip Hooper: For allowing South West Customs & Classics the use of his vehicles throughout the event.

Davyd & Angela Hooper: For the fantastic team competition and enjoying the experience with.

Event Officials: For their fantastic efforts in the wind, rain and sun. They were most helpful and made the event even more enjoyable with their friendly banter.

A full event report will follow once I can wake my brain up and get to it!

[Pickstock Rally Team]

Like Lisi said, a big thanks to Phillip, Davyd and Angela for the weekend, it had been a long time since I have driven a rally car and especially at speed. It was certainly an enjoyable weekend for us once we got over the fact that on the first test on Friday morning we had a brake hose fail, so with some quick repairs we were able to get back out there. The poor little integra was pushed to its absolute limits by me and could go no faster, especially around Barbagello where we are on the rev limiter at 9000rpm in 5th down the straight for a good 5 to 10 seconds. In the end, I managed a 2nd in class behind a Lotus Exige (how can a fwd non turbo be in a class with turbo lotus's and silvias is beyond me), 7th outright rookie, and I think 28th outright.

[Rally Angel]

We competed in the 2008 WA round of the Dutton Rally over the weekend (25th–27th July). It was something a bit different and we had some fun in the process. The atmosphere of the weekend was good amongst competitors and we had rain some sun and then more rain. The officials were fantastic and really helpful directing those of us who had never competed in the Dutton before. They were all a really friendly bunch which made the weekend even more enjoyable for everyone.

Ethan and Davyd competed in the rally spec Honda Integra while Angela and I commenced the event in their road going Evo 9. Unfortunately, the Evo 9 did not finish Friday’s action but we finished the weekend off in their brand new TRD Hilux (which they have had for only 2 weeks!).

On the Friday, all crews competed at the Collie Motorplex. We did a few different motorkhana style events, a 1/8 mile drag and some laps of the actual circuit. Unfortunately, after Davyd’s first run, the brake pedal went straight to the floor. So, Ethan and Davyd disappeared to find out what the problem was. Unfortunately, a hole had rubbed through one of the brake lines. So, off they trotted into Collie to find something to fix the problem. Ethan eventually found a brake line from an ’80 series Landcruiser which did the trick. It got them back out there and both finished the day successfully. Angela and I completed the morning sessions ok but our problems started when we both went to do the circuit sprint. Unfortunately, we had done the clutch in the Evo and it was not going to be such an easy fix like the Integra. We decided we would not do the last couple of runs to finish the day as we still needed to get the car home back to North Dandalup.

Saturday saw our group head to the AHG Driver Training Centre. Here, we did a couple of laps of the circuit and also a motorkhana course. We got 3 goes at each of these. As we did not have a spare clutch lying around for the Evo, our next option was to take their brand new TRD Hilux (they have only owned it a couple of weeks!). Angela and I had an absolute ball. Unfortunately, the tyres were looking a bit worse for wear and so were the brake pads. The Hilux definitely caught everyone’s attention, especially when we smoked the back tyres up around the motorkhana course. In the afternoon, we headed off to the Kwinana Motorplex where we did more autokhana style events and a ¼ mile drag.

Sunday saw us all head to Barbagello Raceway in Wanneroo. We utlised the circuit to do a couple of circuit sprints each as well as another motorkhana and a hillclimb. These were made even more testing when it bucketed down with rain. The final event for the weekend was another motorkhana at Glouster Park in the city of Perth. This was good as it attracted spectators who were not involved in the event. Unfortunately, Ethan and I did not get our second run through as the event ran out of time! We were disappointed with this outcome but the organisers had to do what they had to do.

I would also just like to thank Ethan for all his preparation and hard work on the cars and making the fixes late at night when required. You are the best!

[Rally Angel]

Hopefully links work to the pictures! Photos of me and Angela in the Evo and then the Hilux and also pics of Ethan and Davyd in the Integra.

http://www.motorsportfotos.com/galle...r91/?g2_page=1

http://www.motorsportfotos.com/galle...r91/?g2_page=2

http://www.motorsportfotos.com/galle...stralia/Car88/

http://www.motorsportfotos.com/galle...r88/?g2_page=2