Some blokes I know are growing mo’s for charity. Some good and some not so good! (the mo’s that is).
They did alright and raised a little of dosh for a worthy cause;
(Edited 04/02/2009 because the previous reference is now obsolete.)
Now that I’ve started again I’ll try and keep the news a little more regular and up to date.
Ciao for now,
Tired
Well sadly, the Begonia Rally will not go ahead this year and that’s a crying shame as G and I would have loved to compete on those fantastic roads. We have some great memories from the Wombat Forest (both together and in other combinations) and were keen to get the big Commy in there for a fang! But alas, not to be.
So what next? Frankly I don’t know as there is not much on the horizon this year. We’ll have to see what the calendar brings in the new year and satisfy ourselves with spectating for the remainder of the year. And to be honest, that’s not very satisfying!
I could probably prostitute myself to another driver and while there are a few I’d sit with, (and maybe I will) it’s G I want to be beside the most!
So now I’ve put the pressure on! (and that’ll get him moving…… 
).
Oh yeah and it’s Mrs G’s birthday today. Happy birthday A
Ciao ’til next time.
Tired
That’s right, you read correctly, Commander Brass Nuts of Tugga Tassie fame was on board for the directional duties this time and what an appropriate night for him to be along. Below zero temperatures what! Yes sah!
The car had been fettled and repaired since the DNF at Bonnie Doon and TYF was raring to go. What lay ahead of them was 150km of competitive sections, with loads of dust, no wind and those narrow and winding roads with the treacherous stumps of the “Heathcote” forests.
Servicing was central and so Tired and Nath elected to sit it out at the service park and socialise between visits from out intrepid team. “A” drum of fire was conjured up but it was not “the” drum of fire and indeed Grasshopper was only briefly present on the end of the phone. The fire was pleasant enough though and kept us reasonably warm.
Soon enough the boys were back and carried plenty of evidence of the still night with a ton of dust in the car already. A check over was all that was required along with a refuel and then some chat as we waited for the 40 min service time to expire.
The Commander had no complaints about the ride and was obviously feeling relaxed and TYF was pretty laid back about it all as usual!
So off they went and we went to socialise again. Reports of DNF’s filtered in and when young Gillie and Leeham didn’t return at the expected time and road position we sympathised with Jerzy before he got the news and headed off to retrieve a busted car. Crew is all OK but the Sprinter will need some tender loving care.
Then it was the long wait for our boys (last car on the road by now). And arrive they eventually did. Car was good and straight onto the trailer. A brief post mortem with the Commander and he was off back to Melbourne. We had a qick look at the results and saw the chaps were definetly not last but couldn’t make much sense of it all beyond that. So off to Nagambie for a well earned rest before the trek home later on Sunday.
By Sunday night the provisional results were out and initially it looked like the lads had finished 19th. But by Tuesday and obviously some careful checking of results, they ended up finishing 23rd. Still not a bad result from 44 starters. The Commander is very happy as they had no navigational errors, only one minor off road excursion and I believe a couple of minor spins.
TYF is pretty chuffed as well. Only 3 more finishes until he gains that “E” grade.
A notable result to fellow club member Craig Jones and Sandra Cuttle, 7th outright.
Next event, hmmmm, not sure. Depends on whether the Begonia runs or not.
Ciao for now.
Tired
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Just like in the movies! We went to Bonnie Doon (well Peppin Point actually but near enough!) for a weekend away. Oh, and there was a rally on as well and the TYF was competing.
So Andrew O came along for guidance around the course, it was a daylight event, all special stages and route charted (no maps, yippee) and Grasshopper even came along for logistical and service support. All set, what could go wrong?
Well, nothing, for nearly 3 stages. And if you ask the driver, there was nothing wrong at all!
But the service crew knew better, once they’d looked under the car! That’s an interesting sight! Where the bloody hell is the rest of that Koni shock absorber. Faark!, broken mount and half the shock missing! Oh well, you’re out boys.
It was a nice day out and the rest of the weekend was pleasant, shame about the rally.
Our accommodation was great, awesome views across what should have been water, but Lake Eildon hasn’t had much water in it for quite a while. However, the view was still pretty cool, and with the early morning fog covering the valley it was quite spectacular.
To sum up it wasn’t the most successful event, but, the car was easy to fix, no was hurt and we had a nice weekend away.
Ciao
Tired
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Ah, memories of the Zed (all bow in reverence to the mighty beast).
Now there’s a goal, the Zed will most likely be there that night, beat the Zed, beat the Zed.
Not much of a challenge from what I’ve seen lately.
Come back are good, don’t worry I’ll stroke your ego, if it deserves it, and if not look out!
This is the Wombat after all and it’s about time we got a new story to tell around the campfire.
Well that was a load of disjointed waffle wasn’t it. G will understand it all and that’s all I care about!
Ciao
Tired.
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Well another year and another come back.
The main reason that I actually don’t feel cynical about this attempt is that I’ve actually put together a budget and time line with a target event! Now all I need to complete is the appropriate begging to be allowed to the usual sources and I’m on my way.
So what needs doing on the car to have it ready? Well…….
Finish painting/trimming/assembling, rear wheel bearing seals replaced, fluid changes, repair exhausts, bigger radiator, lights (I sold mine ’cause I wasn’t gunna race again didn’t I), buy new tripmeter, brake master cylinder and hundreds of other things that will most likely be done in the hours leading up to the first event. Ah, the first event.
22nd September for the Begonia Rally held in THE finest forest in all of Victoria, The Wombat State Forest. Oh hear ye Angels sing………
Yes we still smile at the feats performed in The Zed all those years ago on a drizzly night during the Moonlight Meander when we wiped many a stage and blitzed more than a couple of big names. Those sweet moments of zen driving that left many a silent moment in the car as we stuck it into places where the car had no right to be only to come out the other side with 2 grinning idiots staring wide-eyed out the windscreen. Magic stuff.
So how do I rate our chances?
Basically I don’t. It’s been a lot of years between events and a while even since I’ve driven the car at all! Plus we’re just out to have a laugh, I’m older (hopefully wiser) and I’m not competing in any competition. Plus I think the Stealthadore is a wee bit below the standard of your current Rally car.
Of course the driver is still a legend but naturally you knew that eh gentle reader?
I guess that biggest issue is deciding whether to wear the driving suit or not? Might leave that up to the GM to decide 
GH
Ah! It’s hard to beat the Australian bush and I reckon we saw some of the best of it during the weekend. The weather was just right, the company was delightful, BBQ was sizzling, the structure was erected and the roads were begging to be assaulted by The VRC crews
So it was when we found ourselves (were we lost??) at the intersection of Kenny’s Rd and Ironbark Rd in the Kenny’s State Forest. This is certainly one of the furthermost events I’ve travelled to and it’s at times like this when I’m out in the middle of such a remote forest miles from any major town that my thoughts turn to the early pioneers who forged their way through this country in the beginning of white settlement. I sit there in the silent darkness with my LED headlamp looking at a map of the area and imagine how isolated they must of felt without the benefits of motorised transport, electricity, GPS or mobile phones and it is then easy to see why these pioneers had the sense of humour to name landmarks with such hysterical names as Spanker Knob or Mount Little Dick! It gave Alyssa and I many moments of mirth with the combination of Spanker Rd, Monkey Creek, and Caster Oil Track providing plenty of material for our twisted minds.
But of course we were here to do an important job and that was to support The Great Man in his role as Stage Commander. It was a tough assignment but following the late night drive on Friday night after work we arrive at the lovely township of Bairnsdale where we spent the night at The Travellers Rest Motel. Breakfast in the morning and then after a drive up and down the main street to gather supplies we were ready to head to the forest.
Picking up the rest of the officials in Bruthen we made our way out to our stage which consisted of a section of road used twice (once each way) to form stages 4 and 7. Driving through the stage to the start point I have to say that I turned a very deep shade of envy green. The stage seemed to be bathed in a heavenly light and the sounds of an angelic choir filled my ears! What a piece of road! Smooth, fast, grippy, plenty of room to drive flamboyantly with a breeze moving the dust. Oh you lucky bastards I thought of the crews as I chugged along in formation with the other tortured souls that would be officiating on our stage.
Not even the new vehicle I was driving was cheering me up particularly, gone was the Silver Slug to be replaced by one of Ford’s new pride and joy – The Ford Ranger. Yep there I was driving along one of the finest rally roads I’ve been on in a while and what am I in? A 4 cylinder, 3 lt, turbo diesel automatic……………… Crap.
Setting up what was to be the start of stage 4 began and after 20 minutes we thought perhaps a dozen people was a bit of overkill to man a start control. So Peter “The Guru”, Val and Bob took off to look after the wooden bridges that would cause dramas later in the evening but not before The Guru had saved us from placing boards in all the wrong places. I still maintain that I’m a driver and it’s not my place to know these things!
However the start came and all the cars began to filter in for book in. Alyssa and I manned the start with myself taking the time books and nominating start times, Alyssa entering the information onto the time books and record sheet then back to me for the countdown/send off. Ok now I’m going to have a whinge about the attitude of 95% of the competing crews. Yes it’s been spoken of countless times and yes I know things are tense in the car and people are nervous, yes I know some people take it oh so seriously and yes I know some crews have spent large sums of money but would it kill them to offer up a genuine and personal thank you??
Now to continue with my rant, officials spend their own money, time and possibly risk the wrath of bored/ignored partners as they sit out in the forest for hours on end, sometimes without fires in freezing/wet conditions and only the food they hopefully were thoughtful enough to bring with them. Add to that the punishment their cars can take as they drive into some of the stages and the fact that it can at times be a stressful job (stressful for some more than others eh GM ; ) and the last thing you need is some clown in a rally car at best ignoring you or worst being verbally abused for giving the wrong time or some other earth shattering error!
NOTE TO ALL RALLY CREWS!!
Just because we’re out there in the forest doesn’t always mean we love it and that we’re having a ball! No we are NOT in awe of your car and no we’re NOT impressed that you just set the 17th fastest time. Just because the poor bugger handing you your card isn’t also standing there in a ridiculous looking driving suit (trust me, driving suits aren’t that flattering on middle aged men) doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be able to flog your time in your own car on the same stage! But regardless, respect us and be genuinely polite to us as we’re out there giving up our time, money and marriage credits just so you can be out in your ridiculous driving suit enjoying the finest sport in the world in the best country in the world.
Having said all that, a big thank you to the crews that thanked us for being out there. You know who you are……………….
Naturally the CCRMIT crews were wonderful although Al’s story regarding a tissue with a mystery substance in it was unsettling to say the least and Bernie’s pink driving suit was just plain scary.
Well stage 4 ran smoothly and we prepared to swap over to a finish control for stage 7. After the finishbeams pushed GM’s patience completely over the edge, they politely began working and we settled down to await the return of the cars. So we had our second serving of Rally Burgers and Rick broke out the chocolates as we all enjoyed the glowing warmth of the fire bin.
The cars began arriving with Dowel/Lee easily being the fastest crew as they arrived with their front brake discs glowing bright red. Some crews including Terry and Andrew claimed stage 7 as the best stage of the event and no one on either one of our stages failed to finish.
It was a successful day/night and even the wooden bridge losing some planks mid stage did nothing to take the shine on what was another brilliant CCRMIT run stage. All that was left was to pick up all the signs etc and begin the 4 hour long drive home to bed. Fun, fun, fun………………….
More later. Ciao.
Tired
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I’m in charge on a stage this weekend and Juha is jealous. I’ll be tootling around in one of his favorite forests around Powelltown in Victoria.
Should be a nice day with a 47 car field and the 1st round of the Victorian Rally Championship (VRC).
This is a bit of a nothing post to test the blog editor I just installed in my browser.
Ciao
Tired.
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