Repco Rally Aus Chatter

[kelzdayt]

Just a few notes from a volunteer in Marc/Matt's team - Team Echo.

Our team (from Coffs/Kempsey) was disappointed with the level of information we received leading up to the event. We would have liked to have more training on the use of the technology in the event (we were time & start control in Team Echo) but the training was basic rally procedure 101 and not detailed enough.

The learning curve for shakedown was reasonably steep, but the WRC guys held our hand until we figured clocks etc out (John - "the clock guy" became my best friend!). We were glad we had the benefit of shakedown to put it all together rather than a stage Friday morning with no idea!

We tried to stick to normal procedure as much as possible. The Deputy C of C (who was acting as 000) commented we were the first (and only to that point) to start him correctly. We had a schedule, we wanted to stick to it, even with the XPT coming through right through our control with Mikko's car on the start line. I was babbling to the co-driver about the train being behind him, but he didn't care!

It was me that the Sweep Car 1 screamed at. And I mean screamed. He nearly ran me over in his efforts to follow the last car. I calmly asked him to wait 30 secs whilst I checked the procedure and he swore and yelled and went red in the face. When we finally let him go he yelled some more, then took off in his 4WD and showered us with more stones than we'd seen all day!

The next time he came through Matt said "I'll look after this...." and ensured I wasn't there to inflame him, but I gather the results were similar. It's a pity that the most abuse I copped all weekend was from another volunteer!

We were pretty busy with Shakedown, two controls Fri, two on Sat and one of Sunday. To ensure some of the guys got to look at some cars, we multi-tasked and swapped roles, which was good for the photographers.

In the end, most of us were happy with how it went, and would do it again. Next time, I'd like some time to see more of the event, rather than being set up 3 full hours before first car, but I can see why the organisers wanted it that way.

A big thank you to Matt Dyne who was a great Deputy Stage Commander. He basically left us to our own devises unless we needed him and was calm throughout the event, even when things looked hairy at times.

Only two years to wait til next time!

And FYI, I did file an incident report about Sweep dude. Will be interested to see if anything comes of it.

[SHEPPO R.]

Originally Posted by VTRacing

I spectated on the Saturday - and it was my first time seeing WRCars live.

The thing that impressed me most was how precise the top guys were. Hirvonen, Loeb, Sordo, Latvala and Ogier were all a cut above the rest - but particularly Hirvonen & Loeb.

They were not necessarily the most aggressive when I saw them, but the precision of getting the car exactly as sideways as it needed to be, clipping the apex exactly where it should be and getting the car out of the corner as straight and as fast as possible was extraordinary.

The other thing that was apparent is that the "second-tier" of WRC drivers - guys like Solberg, Wilson, Rautenbach et al - are actually very good drivers. If you put them in a national championship then they would be right up there. However their precision is not in the same league, they might be a metre wide at the apex, or a little bit too sideways here and there and that is where they are losing time to the top guys.

And I agree, World Rally Cars are absolutely astonishing machines and the FIA needs to think very carefully about the next generation of WRCar to make sure it is as exciting and downright jaw-dropping as a formula from a spectator's point of view. Seb Loeb has already said that if the cars are S2000 or some variation of that then he will not be interested to drive them.

I took a few photos at the event, you can find them here: Rally Australia 2009 - a set on Flickr

100 % agree Matt.

the precise car placment at speed.... soooo impressive.

2 months ago when Atko tested and set up our Evo x , i was abe to go for a 10 km ride, when the car was set up ..... Chris's ability to place the car so precise, at speed is what grabbed me the most. We used the Kennedys drive way Rd, which as you know is pretty bloody quick and flowing.... and in 10 km , he did not miss one apex, or exit, and set his equal quickest time for the day, with me beside him, and i dont navigate, so he did it from memory.

the WRC cars are absolute bullets.... and the Fords look so mean, the way they squat in the rear, and have soooo much suspension travel in the front... like a big preying mantas.

WRC rips.... 2011.... only 727 days to go.

EDIT.... ohh yeah... the other thing that grabbed me.... we drove 2 hours up there and 2 hours back the next day.... Chris and his dad flew their helicopter there in about 35-40 minutes each way.
sometimes you feel so small.

[daewoo]

Originally Posted by vtracing

or a little bit too sideways here and there

blasphemer!!!!

[Livewireshock]

Had lots of fun from the entire week I was there.

Arrived on the Sunday prior and met up with Colin Arkell and got our uniforms and then cruised over to the service park to get an A system radio. We were supposed to have a brief about what our Troubleshooting duties would involve but it never happened with everyone else getting busy with other things. We also went into Rallybase to get clarification on our callsign on the radio net and were subsequently dubbed "Trouble One". Lastly we were roped into helping the PWRC Test Day over the shakedown stage.

Monday saw us at the Shakedown service area ready for 13 PWRC cars to start testing. Peter Rasmussen from Queensland ran the day and was pretty easy going and good to work with. It was a casual day, spent the morning at the Quarry roadblock behind the service park. Chance to score some good pictures on the leap into the quarry. Lunch was equally casual with a bbq open to all and sundry there. The afternoon was spent on the start control. No official timekeeping, but still alot of fun. George from the PWRC was really pleased with the results of the day.

Tuesday was the start of a local recce of the stages so Colin could get an understanding of the place. A constant comparision to this stage or that stage in WA or Japan was constantly made. The afternoon was spent removing Road Closure signs that had been placed on various different roads about the place, mostly short dead end roads that a rally would never use but designed to scare locals to think we would be using their road unannounced. Rest of the day was spent covering up signs that had been graffitied with white race tape. Also included removing a few protest signs placed on other peoples property.

Wednesday and more stages driven and got to go to Kyogle after stopping off at the base of Mt Warning. It was good to be able to cruise around and tape up more signs as we came across the graffiti.

Thursday morning saw us having to direct the FIA Medical Delegate out to the Shakedown and then afterwards show him how to return to the service park. Spent a few moments teaching him how to read a roadbook. Went back and covered up more signs again, some for the third time and then made our way into the Super Special at Mur'bah.

Friday had us being thrown into the Kidney Health stage as a road closure, for the morning run. Had a few guys who had snuck in beforehand watching from our vantage point, including an Argentinan from Cordoba. It was a happy and friendly spot. In the afternoon, we directed traffic on the liaison out from Kidney Health due to the spectator parking area from Castrol Edge being on the same road. Ogier stopped to adjust his suspension and tyres on a concrete driveway opposite and it was dickhead central with people simply getting in the way of driver and co-driver. Also blocking the road for rally cars exiting the stage as cars leaving the spectator parking stopped or slowed down to rubberneck at Seb's car, unaware of the cars behind them.

Saturday had us out at Kyogle, joined by new forum member MR KIMMO, and being sent into the former Dayco South spectator point. We were tasked to clear a paddock of spectators after a complaint was made by the owner. Turned out the owner did not make a complaint and was most likely made by a neighbour who was bitter about the cancellation of the spectator point (another long story). Signage was put up on the highway still indicating that it was an active spectator point, which we removed. We then helped the local vet who is also Kyogles mayor get to a sick fowl on a side road off the Dayco stage. We then helped the Echo team at their finish control at Ctek West because of radio problems they had. Colin used his height to advantage and held up Simon from World Rally Radio's pole, with all the possible jokes being made about that.

Sunday came and we went to the end of Upper Clarence first before we were asked to move the traffic control point on Afterlee Road. We also organised for a traffic control girl on Trentys Lane after she was abused there. Then we were requested to help at the remote service area in Kyogle but before we got there we were redirected to the traffic control point at Ettrick. The traffic control guy there had been deliberately run over the day before by an angry resident and was getting the ****s. However after a short think about how things should be laid out, he worked damn hard. Two of his bosses turned up later and started to throw their weight around about how things should be done, they quickly changed their tune when they were made aware that we were only volunteers and the worst was nearly over with little traffic as the stage was about to run.

Sunday night was interesting with the Officials Party at the Mantra SALT Hotel. Ross Tapper and Gary Connelly were trying in vain to move people away from the bar and lobby area as the FIA Stewards were trying to meet in the room next door discussing the penalty for Citreon's error. Still enjoyed ourselves poolside.

All in all a great week despite the glaring holes. Every problem that arose was tackled and we were still able to make it all work. Thanks to Colin for a great week working with you and to Kimmo who was a great help when he joined us too.

Photos from the PWRC Test Day are already up. Will place the rest up soon.

[VTRacing]

Originally Posted by VTRacing

a little bit too sideways here and there

Originally Posted by daewoo

blasphemer!!!!

Well, to clarify: sideways coming into the corner is good, sideways through the corner is good.

But sideways coming out of the corner, no matter what sort of car you're in, is slow.

[mick bramble]

A good news report about the rally.
We stayed here and the people were fantastic.

Rally campers fill park | Business | Tweed Daily News



Regards Michael
Motorsport Memories Australia
torquenpower.com Australian Rally Archive on DVD

[mc68]

I had a ball, as far as Im adverse to camping...i still managed to put in about 6 hours sleep for the entire 4 days *yay* Sleeping on a matress about an inch thick...Up at 4/4.30 each morning in a caravan park near the super special...beer in hand by 7.30.

my god the roads were fast, as I dont know how they were allowed fast! Cars? what cars?
most fun ive had in a long time, rental car abuse, got a photo with seb and mikko at the afterparty...pretty much it all...Doesnt compare to the original rally Aust, but im typically biased

[Spac]

Originally Posted by VTRacing

Seb Loeb has already said that if the cars are S2000 or some variation of that then he will not be interested to drive them.

Just like Possum said he wasn't interested in driving a GpN car?

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Spac

Just like Possum said he wasn't interested in driving a GpN car?

Unlike Loeb, Poss made ANYTHING great to watch and was one hell of an amassador for the sport. Poss loved the sport genuinely, Loeb sees it as a paycheque. He'll only drive S2000 if the payday is big. Citroen wont care, they have a few replacements in the making - and all of them have more charm and charisma.

Poss' WRC car was also nowhere near the sheer speed difference of the curent WRC vs S2000. The generation of WRC Poss had was not faster than a Group A car and those same cars can get hosed by Group N and S2000 - the cars today are signifigantly faster in all respects.

However, a WRC car doesnt sound that good. Swart's VW Polo or the Punto gave aural orgasm. In fact I am sure Swart's VW gave many rally fans severe wood with it's noise.

[VTRacing]

Originally Posted by Spac

Just like Possum said he wasn't interested in driving a GpN car?

As Marcus said, the situation is a little different. It strikes me that Loeb is a little bit bored of WRC - and rumours that he is putting out feelers amongst the F1 fraternity seem to back that up.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Loeb retire from WRC at the end of 2010; I mean, what else does he have to prove?

As for the sound of the cars, I reckon that WRCars sound brilliant with the anti-lag crackling and so on. I actually don't think the S2000 cars sound that great (obviously, they're better sounding than the GpN stuff) but Atko's old Suzuki S1600 topped them all.

[Necx0]

Thanks Sheppo and Matty VT for those insights. What amazes me this year is Mikko and Seb have been 110% flat out in every rally for every corner and the amount of mistakes has been minimal. Two drivers at the top of their game.

I agree with Matt about the current crop of cars. I think they are simply awesome. Combination of induction noise, anti lag and the diff whine make them sound good, they look awesome and they seem to go ok too. BUT its obvious something has to change as they aren't sustainable.

Hopefully the new 1.6 turbo S2000 cars are almost as quick and just as good to watch. Maybe they'll sound like Atko's S1600 with anitlag?

[Dweller]

Last night on the news, Prime I think, there was a report that claimed an unofficial estimate of 30 million bucks being brought to the region, that couldn't be right could it?
Or did R.O. buy another couple of "holiday flats"

[VTRacing]

Well, unofficial spectator numbers are in the region of 70,000.

If you imagine each person spending $500 over the course of the week / weekend on accommodation / food / drinks / meat pies etc. then that adds up to 35 million.

While that's a very simplified view, it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

[MSP]

Also a lot of people invited friends to their property to watch, and they had to buy fuel food and drinks in the area. I spent well over $2500 during the rally, which includes all the fuel stops, lunches and stop overs in the local towns.

The money spent over the rally is also backed up by tourism that comes after the rally. I for one know I will be making the one hour drive over to Kyogle to take the family for a drive through the beautiful valleys.... as we never realised what's on our back door step.






and to work out some good photography angles for 2011.....

[Ric Cary]

Originally Posted by VTRacing

Well, unofficial spectator numbers are in the region of 70,000.

If you imagine each person spending $500 over the course of the week / weekend on accommodation / food / drinks / meat pies etc. then that adds up to 35 million.

While that's a very simplified view, it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Events NSW and many other Events use a multiplyer effect to calculate the economic benefit to a region also, eg if the petrol station takes 100k for the weekend he then on spends that 100k with the milk bloke and the baker and the pub etc etc etc it can be as low as 1.5 times but I have seen up to 5 times fudged up still it is a definite factor