Kel

Did someone say Gravel?! There is an R30 and a 1978 Datsun Skyline running around with us in the Tas Rally Series. (Aaron & I in action in the mighty Mitsubish at the last round)

I can't hand on heart say what happened because I wasn't there and I am also not one to support hearsay and innuendo. All I can say is that I heard directly and independently from each of the service crews who saw this happen, and that three tyres were taken out and three were put onto the car. There was definitely no rotation of tyres (I asked this question of the people telling me what happened a number of times to be sure). One guy thought it looked a bit suss from the outset when he saw three tyres come out, and tried to video what was going on from from his phone. From what I understand the file didn't come out clearly/completely enough to be acted on. I know all of the people who witnessed this happening quite well and have no reason to doubt what they say they saw. One of the crews supports a car running in a different category so they had no real motive for telling me what they saw, other than they thought it was wrong that someone should be doing this (and doing it so blatantly).

That's the last time I share my secrets with you Woo I'm running a bit late with my post Targa post... hope I don't cop a penalty for it Congrats to everyone here for the (mostly) brilliant results as usual and sorry to see you go out Timmy- you know you wouldn't be having all this bad luck if you left the dark side and came back to the Skyline And +1 on the comments around the 20 minutes copped by Dan&Adam, YT and Tony Warren and others - it is an event as much about endurance as speed, and there does need to be some penalties involved for exceeding late time, but 20 minutes is harsh. I'll say it again Benny, it was great to see you in the 999 but especially great NOT to see you at the end of any stages. One of the things I'll be giving some feedback on is the scruitineering of cars (well checking of tyres) during the day. Three service crews(including ours) saw an EM competitor pull up for service after Hellyer and take THREE TYRES during their stop. The incident was reported, but apparently nothing could be done as there was no photographic evidence and the car turned up to service that evening with correctly marked tyres back on the car. I'm sure the bad weather & incidents that afternoon meant the stage officials were focused on other things, but it's still disapointing that a car which would have been running with unmarked tyres was not picked up, and went on to finish well inside the top ten. Anyway... Special hat tip to the super talented Mrs Melinda Bergmann (aka Miss Arrowsmith 2011)- great attitude, good fun and bloody awesome driving skills. And Ben & Dammo- love your work, especially over Arrowsmith. We were happy just to finish (Gold Trophy for me this year baby!) with the top ten EM placing a bonus given how competitive the field was. Fingers crossed this turns into some actual coverage for the category. And a second in Modern teams for Team GTR (Ayres & Bolton, us, Mel & Erik and the Donut King R35) was pretty spesh.

Reckon I'd like to see your incar of lost comms Benny JASE!!!!!! I didn't realise you were lurking on here! I actually said to someone that I was going for your voice with that effort

Some incar from Pelverata where we lost our comms AND had to deal with a dog running on stage (see if you can spot when). Apologies in advance for the crappy audio but the reason should be obvious! And if you're not seeing it from that in car, you should be able to see how hard Matilda was still driving the stage from the commentary at the end

You know you have teh coolest wife ever right Paul? Hope the run to Targa Tas is not too painful

Now don't you be hatin the zoom zooms Damo Good to catch up with everyone over the weekend... looks like all competing ended up with finisher's medals not to mention some great results (what are you feeding Newton for breakfast Dan??? E85???!!!). Another bloody bridesmaid finish for me with the 4th, not that I'm actually complaining... Just good to finish after the high country effort! Speaking of endings I do have to say it was pretty special to see Ayresie & the 400R on the EM podium after the way his Targa ended last year. I'm biased of course with it being the other car in my Targa team but I know how hard the guys worked to get the new car ready & it was magic to see it pay off for them. only 8 weeks to go until Targa Tas...

all the cool people are in Mazdas this TWP I fly in tomorrow. See everyone soon-ish!

Time to update the thread title to 2011 with TWP just around the corner! The injuries from my last (mis)adventure in an MX5 seem to have healed ok, so I'll be jumping back into another one with Matilda Mravicic. We're heading down for reccy next weekend (Jan 7-9) - will anyone else be about?

I've got in car of an awesome crash

argh! my eyes! .... but challenge accepted Benny

Well we were having a great old time until we hit a bank head on a few corners from the end of Big River stage! Geoff checked out the in-car today. It looks like we were turning in for a R5 (1-10 notes) doing around 100kays. Under steered off the road, hit the grass at about 80 and the bank head on at 70. I think the creases in the front guard tell a bit of the story of the impact, plus the fact we were both winded for a good few minutes after. We also had a big bounce and heavy landing at the back of the car (hard enough to break the suspension on my side- watch those diet jokes fellas) which accounts for our lower back injuries – including the broken tailbone for me - yep, you can let the bum cracked jokes begin One thing’s for sure- I will not be letting anyone I care about jump into a car without a HANS device. The three hours on a spinal board, and ten hours in a spinal brace waiting for the all clear were scary enough, and that's with me wearing my HANS. The suspected internal injuries were not much chop either. We did learn that adrenalin is a very powerful thing. I was lying down way up a hill and behind a tree, feeling a bit sore and sorry for myself, waiting for the stage to end when Brendo & Rhi rolled on the same corner. They said they ran out of brakes, tried to avoid hitting our car, hit a bank and flipped. We were up pretty quick (though waddling, not running) to get the extinguishers when we saw their car smoking and them not immediately jumping out. Aside from my (mis)adventures, I thought it was a great event. Really well run, particularly when you consider it was its first running, and those roads were sensational. Not to mention being nice and affordable, and easy for us mainlanders to get too. I’ll be back next year! And big congrats to all the SAU-ers who got there, and those who scored some great results.

I'll be there in car 988- heading up Tuesday to get some reccy in. Staying on Mt Buller where I'm sure there will be a few SAUers enjoying lemonades each night! Hard to say on the spectator spots since it's a new event but looking at the course maps I'm sure you'll be able to find some good places without ponying up for the package?

Ahhhh Team West- my new favourite racing friends. Time for name & shame in the pits. These blokes tried to get us to move because they had *lots* of race cars coming and needed more space. Turns out their third *race car* was actually one of the drivers' utes. And they wanted more open space so their bonnets could sunbake. JUST NOT RACING on a weekend at EC where the field is over capacity, and every square of space should be used to house racing cars ya dickheads! Made it kinda fun to loudly call their cars *those radical thingies* at every opportunity. And can't believe we forgot to tell them they'd left lots of gear out when it started to piss down...

btw this is what happens when you let Bobby Pearsons Superdooper Evo 10s loose on a state round- got gap to 3?

Is first on the list go to church to ask for divine intervention, or do a rain dance Neily?! Shame D had a problem with the boost in quali- would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he'd been a bit further up in the mix. Thanks for your managing stuff as always Neily!

Well done for organising guys! Nice to see some good Skyline press for a change

I'll think of you while you're swanning around on that big boat Ben Thanks for the video posts. We're not likely to get reccy in until the week before but it's good to get a feel for some of the stages (and dangers!)

I'm back in for THC Looks like showroom with MX5 Racing guys. Bring on the hairdresser/stopping for a latte mid stage/ Mazda on its roof goes "wooz wooz" jokes

Mr Handley thinks some fancy smancy work trip takes priority over racing

No chance Ben- it's way too much fun Speaking of fun- I won't be having any unless I can sort out a new seat. Yep Handley & Handley looks to be no go for THC. Anyone know of anyone looking for a nav?

Just had a read through the High Country regs Looks like the end of the road for some of the Specials Farewell also to that *interesting* derived time rule (thank fark!)

lol no worries at all- I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of good people give me advice over the years, so I'm happy to keep passing it on.

My two cents (and essay)… You really only learn to nav and listen to the notes when you actually get on the job (I know, very helpful Kel!). That said there's heaps you can do beforehand to get you well prepared for how it will be. As many have said, watching as much in-car as you can is a big help, though try to pick cars which are similar to yours in speed. Having been in pretty quick cars and not so quick cars this can make a big difference to what you will end up including in the call (as an example, there’s not much point calling distances under 100m in an R35!). If you can organise it, it’s also great to make your first event one where you just repeat the same road over and over (like Mt Buller) - perfect for refining what you do and don't include as well as perfecting the timings for the calls. The biggest challenge is working out the timing which suits you- as Tim has said every driver is different. Some like to know what's going on three corners ahead, while others have enough memory (just) for the next corner The only way you'll learn this is trial and (unfortunately) error! - and you need to be giving your nav lots of feedback. You'll find yourself asking for the next call or telling them to slow down alot in the beginning! Doing some decent reccy will help, though it also helps to remember that how you may read the notes at road rules speed versus race speed will be very different! I think sighting it though, seeing how it all works and doing a few runs is perfect for building up the confidence needed for your first real run. The other bonus is that with many events your first run is a prologue, so less pressure, usually a shorter, easier run, often with a sighting drive-through beforehand, so you can get your eye in proper. I think doing your first rally with someone close to you, who you trust, can make a difference- you'll both be much more forgiving and hopefully much more relaxed. I am a big fan of buying notes- partly because all the events I do are interstate and I am usually with drivers who don't have a lot of time for reccy not to mention writing our own notes. A lot of people think 1-6 is better for people starting out and I tend to agree- it's much better to be concentrating on driving to the call instead of having to try and work out the difference between a 6/7/8 corner. Best 1-6 I think are Vandenbergs notes. That said I've also run with a driver new to rally who wanted to use 1-10 long term so that’s what we started with, without any dramas. Rallynotes is my preferred 1-10 and have never had a problem with them. For intercom, I've used terraphone, peltor (via an adaptor plug in my Stilo helmet) and a Stilo. Have to say I am a Stilo convert- the noise cancelling is amazing. Sorry if some of this is pretty obvious- just know I knew almost nothing when I started out (and probably still don't know too much ) Good luck & hope to see you and your wife at a rally soon! Also happy to have a chat to her before a rally about what to bring, what to do etc etc etc if that would help.

Handley & Handley are in. Looking like it will be a brilliant event already.