2009 Alpine Rally

[PeterO]

Originally Posted by grahamthompson

In order to add some flesh to a more comprehensive story I am drafting on the event, can Alpine watchers please throw light on what happened to the following competitors?

Brett Middleton penalised 89 min on SS23

He took 89.56 , which is 49.56 over the maximum. Since late time for the division was 40 minutes, he was 9:56 outside late time.

His penalty is thus a 40:00 maximum plus 9:56 Late = 49.56ML

He was still ot of late time at the next control, but not "late" so gets 0:00 plus 9:56 = 9:56L, then booked in early at a subsequent control, getting a 6:00E penalty, but throwing off the 9:56L penalty that would otherwise have applied at each control - in addition to any time taken on competitives. I think that was how it works.

Peter

[DaveTrees]

What an awesome weekend !

It was an absolute privilege to call the corners for Ken Harper .... I reckon there aren't too many rally drivers world-wide that are still competing at 84 years of age !! (I asked him on the the way to the start on Friday how many Alpines he had done .... he can't remember exactly, but said his first one was as the "on board mechanic" in an Austin A70 in 1950 )

We had a completely trouble free weekend - literally didn't lift the bonnet from Friday to Sunday (same with Kim's Twincam ... Ken has forgotten more about preparing rally cars than most people ever learn !) Only one bit of a heart-stopper (a tankslapper on a slippery downhill on Sunday on the Mollys Plain stage).

In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't end up driving. Apart from the fact that I suspect the Galant wouldn't have lasted the distance, there are at least 4 places where I know I would have crashed

[fro]

Originally Posted by DaveTrees

In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't end up driving. Apart from the fact that I suspect the Galant wouldn't have lasted the distance, there are at least 4 places where I know I would have crashed

Trust me Dave, it only takes 1 place.

[DaveTrees]

Originally Posted by fro

Trust me Dave, it only takes 1 place.

Commiserations Fro ..... it was a bummer to see you decorating the scenery so close to home, after doing so well The Alpine can be cruel.

The real highlight of the weekend for me was just chatting to Ken on the transports ..... some of his stories are just amazing (eg. driving one of the 5 Ford Australia entered XM Falcons on the 1962 East African Safari, servicing for the Falcons on the 68 LSM, tales from the early Redex Trials, etc). Makes the current Alpines, tough as they are, seem like a walk in the park !

[MarkH]

Originally Posted by tortfeaser

And the sooner all events go A to A (or A to B, my preference for the former) consistently across the country, the better. And not just for the competitors, it seemed to me that the controls pretty much did what they wanted with no consistency across the event at all. And that's my major beef with what otherwise was a tops event.

I can't see an issue in differing timing systems being used. Down here we use both types all the time. Just need to learn to adapt as a crew and not expect everything to be the same everywhere.

Interested in your comment about the controllies doing their own thing, can you elaborate?

[Spac]

Straight A-B is the winner, IMHO.
Straight A-A is a close second place.
Hybrid systems doesn't appear to acheive anything other than confuse the bejesus out of everyone.

[AdrianS]

We had a great time. Started car 113, first outing for the FIAT (and driver) in 15 years, finishing was our goal, and we achieved it!

Blew the right front shock on ss2 or 3, with no replacement, so we were taking it easy on the rough stuff, but otherwise a trouble-free run.
We did have some fun on left-handers (bounce bounce bounce!), and oil all over one disk doesn't help braking, but it was a hoot none the less.

The long, rough stages on Sunday reminded me of 80's alpines - I just wish we could have pushed harder.

Thanks to John for the ride, everyone who helped prepare the car, and to JD for his excellent servicing.

Congrats to organisers and officials; a wonderful event.

roll on the BP !

ps I had to jog 700m to the start control on the bitumen to book in on time, and have the blisters to prove it.

pps How was the crosswind on the way home on Monday!

[grahamthompson]

Thanks to all contributors for the reasons for the leading competitors penalties; only Jack Monkhouse remains secret.

Thanks for the congratulations Spac re FTD on SS6. I remember it well. In my dreams I was so cross about the previous stage that I drove straight across country at 140 kph direct to control. In reality I am confident the scorers will rectify the time in due course, as they will Brett Middleton's 5:17 on SS26, less than half the next best time!

[Swill]

Jack had a fuel pump switch fall apart from memory

[Swill]

Event report

Our Alpine preparation pretty much started after the Southern Mountains rally last October. In the last year we just keep at all the little jobs and stock piling tyres knocking what to expect from the event after Alpine 2007. In an event that size you can’t leave and thing to the last minute or expect any bodgy fixes to last the distance. A couple things slow the car prep down like getting married and shooting off for 3 month honeymoon getting back mid September. When I got back we rebuilt the diff and threw another steering column in it and it was good to go. 2 weeks out I went for a drive to Spac’s and back (180km) through the country in the middle of the day (it was a bloody hot day) gave it a rev and nothing happened that shouldn’t. So after that I gave it a wash and it was ready for the event

After getting scrutineered on Wednesday night before the rally, we loaded up and drove to lakes on Thursday morning. Matty T had organised an apartment block for the whole Orange Roughy crew in the main street. So we unpacked and had a couple of cold beers enjoying ramping up the hype and telling lies about how fast we are.

Come race day (Friday) it was good to catch up with a few old mates that you only ever seem to see at the classic rally’s. We were looking forward to the prologue and had a pre event plan of trying to keep in the top 30 as we reckoned any lower than that and the road would chop up to much to make the most of the car and awesome driving skills. I was a bit rusty and ended up at position 34 on the road which ok, but from the out set we knew that the pace at the front had increased from the previous Alpine. The fast boys weren’t stuffing around. After a bit of spectating we went back to the digs and had a BBQ with the other teams around us.

After a pretty poor nights sleep we lined up with all the crews on the main drag and found some shade near The Fazz & Matty J and waited till our time was due. I enjoyed the Morning stages before the first Orbost service, even getting around a couple of the spectator points with a hint of style…. Apart from one that I totally stuffed up doing an exact couple of last Alpine and backing it in to far. Went off to the next couple of stages from Orbost looking forward to the 27km stage before the Bellbird service. The Alpine before this was the stand out stage for us as it really suits big engine cars with there being about 15kms of up hill sweepers, just the thing for the big V8 to stretch its legs a bit. In preparation for this stage we fitted a set of near new Michelins that we had been saving for such a stage. At about the 20km mark we’re both thinking that we’ll set a pretty reasonable time on this stage. About 1 corner later I got on the gas a fraction early and I spun it around into a bank on the left. Found reverse, turned it back around and started back off. Turns out that it’s making a real bad noise from the front, so we find a clearing and stop, I jump out of the car and pull the guard of the tyre and check that the radiator and oil cooler are still in one piece. We get going again and get to the end losing 2 to 3 minutes. Even worse we pulled out in front of Jack and Dale (we looked but they must have been just out view) and they caught our dust for the last 7 kms. Sorry again boys. Got out of the stage and got on the radio to the crew and told them I stuffed up. When we got to service found out that we were pretty lucky that the damage was better than it looked. Did a wheel alignment and out to the next stages. I don’t remember much of the next couple of stages, but I did start to hit the wall in the last 3 stages before the meal break. In hindsight I wasn’t eating enough through the day and was running a bit low on energy. We had planed out a hydration strategy before the event, but I didn’t realise how much that you should be eating as well to keep on top of the heat

Meal break was good as always with a shower and Porter house steak at Mums place. Fitted up the semi slicks and bled the brakes. Now the tar stage has been bugging Tort and I for the last 2 years as last time Fro beat us and hasn’t let us forget… ever. So I was keen to open the old girl up and see what it could do. Ended up with a time of 20.47 which was 50 seconds quicker than the last year. I thought beauty, should have Fro piped here. Next thing I know and Matty Searle comes over at the service and tells us that Fro just did a 19.55. It blew us away. That time would have been around equal first in 07, this is a 65kw 180B on rally tyres. Good work mate. I’m looking forward to the next 2 years… again….
Night stages were neither here nor there. We had an ok run with the dust. It wasn’t good but it wasn’t as bad as some in front of us got. Got back home about 1.30am had a beer over a debrief and off to bed.

Sunday. Always a good day. We warmed on the first couple of stage that were pretty slippery, but on a show for the service crew at the speccy point and beat them to service. Fitted up and new set of Pirellis and headed out to face the long stage. Before the long stage there’s a bit of a 12km warm up that went well and I was keen as to get in the long stage only to find that there was a 20 minute hold up at the start. As at the start one of the SA Datsuns had an accelerator issue that only game them 30% throttle. We knew we’d catch them but was hopping that it would be right near the end of the stage as he was 3 cars in front of us. We started off and were having a good run. Nailed the speccy point which was nice as I was a bit out of control through there, missed all the rocks, found redline in top and then caught the Dato about 30kms in. We weren’t stuff for long as we caught them in a creek and there was a breeze blowing down the valley so they caught sight of us and let us through. With 7 or so kms to go the heat started to get to me. I grabbed the camel back straw, sucked down about half of it and got on with the job. I was glad to get the end. It’s the hottest I’ve ever been in a car. It was an east 50 degrees in Commodore I reckon. Torts map bag melted to the floor…

3 stages to go and I was keen for a finish. Tort reckoned I had to pull 35 second in 36kms to get in front of Matt Lee to get into 20th place. Off we go and the roads aren’t much chop and I try to go as fast as I can. Get to the final stage, see Fro into the tree’s (we were both gutted) and punch on. 2 corners later and I under steer off the road and have to find reverse for the second time in the rally. After that I sink the slipper and keep it on the road for a finish. That’s 2 in a row and I’m stoked. Find out later that we did pull 20th off Matt, but it was because he got hammered in the dust rather than my pace.

After reflection a few things become apparent about the Alpine. First if you have any bad luck or problems its next to impossible to pull yourself back from that downward slope. Not impossible as Jeff David proved but bloody hard. And to do well you need 3 things. A good car, a good budget and be a good steerer. I reckon the pace is 10% quicker than last Alpine, looking back at the repeated stages our 09 times would have been top 10 in 07. The classic rally scene is going from strength to strength. With 2 years to the next one we’re already plan our attack for 2011

[DaveTrees]

Originally Posted by Spac

Straight A-B is the winner, IMHO.
Straight A-A is a close second place.
Hybrid systems doesn't appear to achieve anything other than confuse the bejesus out of everyone.

It was straight A-B timing .... the same as every year since 2001 (and the way ARC timing was done in the 80s, with "maximum times").

The only difference this year was how Late Running Time was handled, basically to keep people in the event for longer without being deemed as "missing controls" for being OLT ... and the fact that they allowed 3 minutes in control rather than 2.

Some controls were happy for you to bring the car in early & nominate your due time if there was no-one in front of you, some played it "by the book" and made you wait until your due time. Personally, I didn't find strike any dramas all weekend (half the the time I didn't even get out of the car).

[AdrianS]

Originally Posted by DaveTrees

...The only difference this year was how Late Running Time was handled, basically to keep people in the event for longer without being deemed as "missing controls" for being OLT ... and the fact that they allowed 3 minutes in control rather than 2.
...

Having run OLT in the prolog on my previous alpine (198?), I think the Late Running Time rules are fine - better to drop some time and get back in the event by booking in early after service than to drop a major control.

Starting 113/114 meant that Rick in the 999 car was only 4 minutes behind us at the start - I was reminded of the TopGear volkswagen lurking behind the guys on their African adventure.

[Spac]

Originally Posted by Swill

I reckon the pace is 10% quicker than last Alpine, looking back at the repeated stages our 09 times would have been top 10 in 07.

Sobering.

Also sobering is the fact in 07 the 'no wheel spin' thing was much less strictly policed.

I also reckon that the roads were grippier in 07 - a bit more moisture in them.

[Spac]

Originally Posted by DaveTrees

It was straight A-B timing ....
....
The only difference this year was how Late Running Time was handled...

Well there you go. Still confused the hell out of everyone I spoke to.

This makes me think that I didn't do too bad a job on the last speccie point after all:

YouTube- Sunday's final stage at Yokohama Alpine Rally 2009

YouTube- Sunday's final stage at Yokohama Alpine Rally 2009

Would be happy to see any video evidence to prove/disprove my theory...

[DaveTrees]

Originally Posted by legend

surprised to see a car with cigarette advertising on it. is there an exemption for classics?

No exemption needed .... it's only classed as "advertising" under the Act if there is a commercial arrangement involved.