|
|
Faber I.T. Rally Team |
|
|
|
Eden Valley RallyJuly 1st 2006Round 1 of the South Australian Rally ChampionshipAfter a thorough preperation to the RX Turbo over the preceding weekends we arrived at Eden Valley with little to do to the car before the start. This gave us time to have a bit of a wonder around to checkout the new car of Roman Watkins and the STi of Steve Glenney, both cars looking fantastic.An hour before start time the rain started to fall and it was to be a sign of things to come for the day. Arriving on the start line the cabin fan had decided to pack it in and with the cool and damp conditions we faced a windscreen full of fog. We splashed around a heap of RainX and wound down the back windows a bit. Finally we were away on what seemed like forever between State Rounds. Down to the start of SS1 (Jutland). The stage has a heap of crests and gullys in it and we knew that having a good push on this stage would reqard us with a good time so long as some care was taken in the now water filled hollows. We had got most of the fog from the windscreen on the start line and we were away. Pushing hard early on we had a fairly unexpected spin. It was a real concern as the car had just snapped around about 50 meters after a crest on a fairly straight bit of road when it had come on boost. We hadn't hit anything and had the front wheels up on a clearing at the road side. We quicly got the car back around to Ashleys amusement and pushed on again, a little bit more controlled than before. The stage was a real joy to drive with some uphill corners that we really started to get stuck into. We got to the end of the stage with the 28th best stage time. Not bad with the spin and a quality field in attendance.We passed the Black Commodore of Ashley Durbridge on the transport section to SS2. They had their extinguisher going under the bonnet, not a great start to the rally for those guys. We also passed the Lancer of Lewis Parin who were changing a flat tyre, later turns out the spare was no better.Stage 2 (Rushlea Road) was what we thought the hardest stage for us of the rally. Lots of tight tracks and heaps of sharp rocks all over the place. We had every anticipation to take some care but again we had a spin on this stage about 300m past the spectator point. We got stuck between the banks on either side of the road and took us a ten point turn to get going again. Must have sounded funny to the spectators who were just over the other side of the hill. We realised at this point that our setup must have been a long way from correct for these slippery conditions.We headed up to the northern most stage of the rally which was the famous Mt Karinya. I think we spent more time in Recce checking out the views from this magic stage. It has a huge river water pipeline next to most of it and some great views out to Sedan. We didn't go flatout on this stage, there were just too many huge dropoffs to risk getting the car through without the setup correct. We still enjoyed it though, the stone fences and cattle grids were great fun.We headed into Cambrai where Robert Burrows and Joe Bongiorno were waiting to give the Subaru a bit of T.L.C. We booked into Service early by mistake and copped a 9:05min penalty. Bugger, but it sure taught us an easy lesson. We lowered the tyre pressures all round, put the light pod on and refueled in teh 30 minutes we had for service.Stage 4 (Kanappa) was our best stage for the day. With the car handling much better after the tweaks at Service and the fan now running we had clear vision and as the sun started to fall below the horizon. We had a brilliant run on the open flowing roads but had a bit of a moment at the Spectator Point. We overshot the right hander and had to all but stop to get the car around. We then nailed it up the 20 meters to the hairpin left taking a nice wide line out onto the bank on the exit sending a shower of mud and dirt everywhere. Some big dips at the end of the stage were a highlight getting a fair amount of air.Marne and Pine (SS5) was the longest stage of the day. We had a great run through there with the highlights being the two rather narrow cattle grids and the last 8kms of the stage had stone walls close in on either side. It was a real buzz giving the RX Turbo heaps through these narrow lanes thinking we were in Scotland or similar. This then took us to the Eden Valley service park where had nothing to do for the fifty minute service but to get some dinner into us and give the Subaru a rest.We had great fun on Keynes Gap (SS6) but again showing the crowd how much we like those banks on exit. We had a great run through going much quicker than SS1 which used the last 2/3rds of the stage. Getting into the time control at the finish we saw Jack Monkhouse pulled over to the side of the road with a blown motor. Turns out the conrod had made a nice dent in the exhaust!!!Our favourite stage was next which was the rerun of Kanappa. We were putting in some pretty good pace but had to stop as second car on the scene of Steve Zimmerman and David Cundys rolled Mazda RX2. What a pitty that was to see, the Mazda being one of the best looking cars in the event. Good luck with the rebuild Steve and we hope to see/hear it running again shortly. We had a pretty good run through the remainder of the stage doing a bit if showboating after the stop. At one jump I had Ashley pressing his hands up on the roof as we took a heavy landing in a gully the other side of a nice crest.We stopped into the last service for the day which was in Cambrai. Again the Subaru had been running without fault so we gave it a bit of a clean, splashed some fuel in and were off. We had a rerun through Marne and Pine (SS8) where we managed to better our time by only 8 seconds from the previous time through and headed North up to the rerun of Mt Karinya. We had a fair wait before the start of that stage and were glad the fan was working in the car again as we had the heater running to cool the loveley Adelaide Hills air. It was good to watch the front cars start and the Dazda "0"car take off. The Dazda was a Datsun 1600 running a rotary motor which ended up expiring about halfway through the stage.The final stage of the day was our first tarmac stage ever. It was the 5km run up Sedan Hill. Not having the power of most of the cars in the field we knew that corner speed was the most important part of our run up the climb. We took a nice and smooth approach. Quite amazing how much grip the gravel tyres had on the bumpy hairpin corners.The Eden Valley Rally sure was worth the wait. The roads were fantastic and appart from the very average weather we had an absolute ball.We improved our performance over Clare 05 but most importantly have gone away from the event with several key things to improve on before the next state round. It was good being able to finally attack the stages not having to worry about nursing the car. The effort we had all put into the vehicle is starting to pay off which sure was helping the confidence of both myself and Ashley.Thanks again to our service crew of Rob Burrows and Joe Bongiorno, they did an awesome job in the conditions and we look forward to having a drink with them after the next event. To our supporters Habys Bulk Transport and Faber I.T. Solutions we owe our thanks. Without your help we know we wouldn't be able to fulfill our dreams as we are now.To Aaron and Carl your easy going approach to motorsport is a real inspiration. It sure gave us the drive to get out there in an old underpowered car and push ourselves for the best we can do, not just the best we "think"we should be able to do.Till next time take care.
Video
Footage Here Low Resolution
Video of Recce up SS10 ( Sedan Hill ) - Here
Results
|
1-100_1657.jpg
2-100_1658.jpg
3-100_1659.jpg
4-100_1660.jpg
5-100_1661.jpg
6-100_1662.jpg
7-100_1664.jpg
8-100_1665.jpg
9-100_1666.jpg
10-100_1667.jpg
11-100_1669.jpg
12-100_1672.jpg
13-100_1673.jpg
14-100_1676.jpg
15-100_1695.jpg
16-100_1696.jpg
17-100_1698.jpg
100_1657.JPG
100_1658.JPG
100_1659.JPG
100_1660.JPG
100_1661.JPG
100_1662.JPG
100_1664.JPG
100_1665.JPG
100_1666.JPG
100_1667.JPG
100_1669.JPG
100_1672.JPG
100_1673.JPG
100_1676.JPG
100_1695.JPG
100_1696.JPG
100_1698.JPG
18.JPG
19.JPG
20.JPG
21.JPG
22.JPG
32.JPG
33.JPG
35.JPG
37.JPG
39.JPG
©2008 Faber I.T. Solutions. All rights reserved. Faber I.T. Solutions