Finish
42nd overall 1st in Class N3, 2nd FWD, 7th ACT, 5th ACT Silver Cup, 3rd ACT
P3 equiv
This event was great fun. The best part of the day was that we felt fast
for what the car could do. Added to that the roads were a pleasure to drive.
We had heard so much about Bega being a fast and open road event. The road
book confirmed this - the shortest I have ever seen for the distance to be
covered - we knew that this event was not the type that suited our style.
Having said that, we surprised ourselves with the competitiveness and pace
that we had through the day. We definitely felt better than our 42nd !! place.
Can't wait to come back again next year.
The highlights were Stages SnakeTrack SS10, Buckajo SS4 and our speedway debut
SS6.
SS 1 - Greendale - "described as Fast Shire Roads" - Well we were
just starting to get into it, Greg trying to keep it flat without lifting
off on the crests and feeling the grip through the nice sweeping open corners
and then suddenly there it was, just after a RGL over crest into a sprawling
lush green dairy field, the ground now known as "the dead Rex battlefield".
Hughes car 46 must have thought to Willet car 11 "if you can put yours
off like that I can do it better". Within 100m of each other both cars
had come off at the same spot, coming to rest after having done some pretty
serious aero testing for the Subaru marque. Greg and I thought, fawk, there
has got to be some bad injuries in amongst that, but Karl was quick to wave
us through the carnage with the OK sign. After seeing this we took a deep
breath, without saying anything to each other - our challenge was to keep
going hard and to keep it on.
SS 2 - Upper Cobargo - "described as Traditional Bega, Fast undulating
shire road" - These roads were living up to their reputation. Great open
exits, nice camber and clean apexes, just made for cutting. Not many calls
in the road book. Let the driver drive it as he sees it.
SS 3 - Coopers Gully - "described as down hill in the main - shire gravel
stage" - very similar to SS 2 - lost some time due to a minor slide but
comparing to times for cars around us we were not too shabby.
SS 4 - Buckajo - "described as Winding gravel shire road" - the
first three SS's up to this point were run at 1 min gaps so time was flying
by. We topped up fuel at service and noticed some pretty serious tyre wear
already. Buckajo was fantastic. The roads were stoneless and smooth with great
camber. We were growing in confidence and were now enjoying a great day out.
At this point it did not really matter what times we were getting because
we were just having great fun. All we cared about was making the most of the
conditions on a beautiful sunny day. What a shame about the other ex Corolla
Cup car, see below…..
SS 5 - Niagara - "described as Fast Shire Road" - very short - hi
ho off to the speedway we go.
SS 6 - Speedway - "described as three laps, spectator special" -
no need for a nav here - Greg decided no calls were good calls for this SS
- we timed ourselves at 1:28 but were given 1:30 - 2 secs better would have
been up there ! Better performance would have been had by taking the long
left wider on the outside.
SS 7 - Towridgee - "described as Fast Shire Stage" - we suffered
badly here as our stage placing of 71st showed. The last part was bitumen
and steep up hill. We made the big mistake of over fuelling at the regroup
before speedway and paid the price. Other competitors in the know had their
service crew meet them at the end of SS7 allowing them to run lightweight…dohhh
!
SS 8 - Broadwater - "described as fast gravel stage, numerous culverts"
- this stage was forest based rather than open road and what a hoot it was.
Greg and I both felt ecstatic after this one. Greg kept the car at high revs
throughout and it pulled beautifully through the various sequences of on camber
R's and L's. Our time was not fantastic but we were getting the most out of
the car. You cannot do much more than this.
SS 9 - Nullica/Myriall River - "described as fast uphill for 1st 7km
then tight track to control" - this was a stage where we felt as though
the car handling was compromised by the tyres "going off". We were
getting heaps of drift, more than usual from the impeccable handling of the
Corolla.
SS 10 - Snake Track - "described as Drivers delight 21 km of twisty narrow
shire road" - Greg and I officiated the start control here for 2002 and
had the opportunity to drive through after the sweep. With this bit of local
knowledge, if there was one stage we were looking forward to it was this one
! The 11 bridges were not as bad as we thought they might be and the surrounding
wet patches did not reduce grip too much. We had a great run through dodging
the dodgy spectators and keeping on the rev limit most of the way. Big high
fives at the end.
Overall - top fun - results showed great performances by Russel Winks, Fro
and Marc and Matt T. If not for Matt's mechanical problem on SS10 he would
have beat us on all stages hands down. John Paul
