Qld Challenge Rally

[hrd-hr30]

I'm entered in the QLD Challenge Rally tomorrow in the GTR. The field includes the 6th outright driver and 3rd outright co-driver from QLD Dutton both in WRX's, among alot of other fast cars including worked WRX/STi and a few very fast classics like Jon Siddins 240Z, an experienced Targa campaigner and Classic Targa winner. So it should be a decent gauge of how I'm going with the GTR. I will be on normal road tyres not semi slicks, but still hoping to take it up to the fastest cars - we'll see how realistic that is tomorrow I guess!

I've done the event before in my previous Datsun race car, and have an equal stage record on one of the closed road stages, before crashing on the next stage which slowed us down for the rest of the event with bent suspension and a damaged wheel bearing. I'd be surprised if the GTR is not faster even on the normal road tyres, so it should be pretty competitive.

Its a similar format to a Dutton Rally (ie a Touring Road Event) but it has some navigation sections also and is a 1 day event. Alot cheaper too! The overall winner is the best of both navigation and speed event scores combined, but there is also a trophy for outright winner of the speed events which is what I'm more interested in. Although my Navigator is very good, and we probably have a god chance of the outright win - we have won these type of events before.

There's 8 special tests over the course of the day including sprints at QR, a few closed road sections at Toowoomba, Gatton, and Wivenhoe, a dirt sprint on a nice smooth autocross track (its a rally after all! that's where my avatar is from too) and the inevitable one or two motorkhana tests...

Should have some pics and results next week. unless I don't do any good in which case I'll keep quiet and hope no-one remembers this thread!

here's a couple of vids from my old 1200 last time we did the event. Not the greatest camera angle, but the cage made it hard to mount my rather bulky camera any higher and still see out the front at all. It was either mount the camera the bar for this veiw or above it where you could only see the rear veiw mirror and the bonnet... Anyway, they'll give a little taste of the event. They are both 5.6M, so not dial-up friendly!

Prince Henry Drive stage http://bscc.asn.au/gallery/CBQC-2004/HRDphd.mov5.6Mb check out the veiw!

Wivenhoe stage http://bscc.asn.au/gallery/CBQC-2004/HRDwivenhoe.mov 5.6Mb

Edited August 31, 2006 by hrd-hr30

[FranZ]

Good luck!

[neil_se]

Awesome, i can't believe i hadn't heard this was on. I saw a few cars (porsche, 260z, escort, commodore) on my way through Withcott and Gatton Bypass yesterday morning and couldn't figure which event it was for. My parents just bought some land there on Prince Henry Drive too.

[hrd-hr30]

Awesome, i can't believe i hadn't heard this was on. I saw a few cars (porsche, 260z, escort, commodore) on my way through Withcott and Gatton Bypass yesterday morning and couldn't figure which event it was for. My parents just bought some land there on Prince Henry Drive too.

nice spot up there. makes a good stage too! I'm waiting for results to come out sometime this week, but I think we did okay, except for a bit of a moment on Prince Henry Drive that would have cost us a few seconds sliding around the outside of a corner in the dirt/grass... and I never go very well in motorkhanas - but there was only one very short khana so I shouldn't have lost too much there.

Shane Topping who finished 1st outright co-driver in Dutton, crashed his 2006 STi heavily into a concrete wall on the drag strip on the third test, a slalom on the Willowbank drag strip, and that stage had to be cancelled. Hopefully they were both OK, we didn't hear anything about them afterwards...

Anyway, we had an absolute blast driving on all these unique stages. this event is always the highlight of the year for me as far as motorsport events go.

[hrd-hr30]

no results yet - arrgghh, but here's a few pics from Prince Henry Drive and Wivenhoe closed road stages:

Edited August 31, 2006 by hrd-hr30

[hrd-hr30]

results came through this afternoon - we got 3rd outright in the speed classification, including 2 stage wins, which is very pleasing on the Federal 595SS road tyres. We were 2 seonds behind 2nd place, so that mistake on Prince Henry Drive stage was a costly one... Nevermind, we had an absolute ball!

If there's anyone out there who ever dreamt of doing a Targa event, make sure you enter this next year! Cost is next to nothing once you have a CAMS licence, and its so much fun I can't believe its legal!

[GTRgeoff]

Well done.

[FranZ]

Congrats!