1st-3rd August 2014

 

 

The Map beside shows some of the Border ranges stages. It demonstrates just how close they are to the town centres, and the fact that they are shire roads used by people for every day public travel and in some cases to get to their houses...

 

Border Ranges is getting a name as an exceptional event with wonderful smooth and high speed roads which are a brilliant challenge. The people of Kyogle, Woodenbong and Urbenville were exceptionally welcoming, and supportive of the event.

 

 Friday night was a fun little stage around the Kyogle showground which really was great for Kyogle locals including young kids to watch. We managed to push well up into the top 10 on this stage which was tight and afforded more grip as time wore on. We were seeded in 36, so got a nicely ploughed field byt he time we arrived. Being seeded down was an advantage because road sweeping is a factor on this event.

 

After a chilli start to Friday night, it got warmer towards the dawn - so the tent was not as freezing as it could have been :) We still envied a few crews who had caravans though, and those staying in 'first class' over at the pub.

 

Saturday brought the first taste of the very quick roads, and Justin had time on the straights to wish he had another 100hp available. However, the little Mirage turned in some great times, and Mark Northage proved his navigating abilities under pressure. Mark did an exceptional job given his very short time as a navigator, and by the end of the event, the crew were operating like a well oiled machine.

 

The fast roads mean a lot less braking, and more holding it flat in 3rd and 4th gear. We were certainly getting up around160klm/h to 170klm/hr in some areas, but to put this in context, some of the powerful 4wd cars that can accelerate much faster, were exceeding 220klm/h on some straights. You know you're alive, and it gets the heart rate up. The real challenge is that accurate pace noting becomes so critical once your speeds are so high and when you have limited horse power, it is critical to carry very high corner speed. Entering a corner too fast can mean the end of the event... No more elaboration necessary. Trusting your own pace notes when you are a relative noting beginner with only two passes on the road is a balancing act.

 

The last stage on Saturday night was repeated. It was tarmac with a gravel final klm. It was less than 4klm long, but afforded Woodenbong locals a good chance to see the action. The car was faultless until 1klm from the end of the first run through the stage when the gear selector cable broke. "Fortunately we were in 2nd gear. 1st or 3rd may have stopped us from continuing, but I could get off the line in second gear (even though it was up a slight hill), and drive the whole stage near the rev limiter. I actually brought it back below 6000 up a long hill because I didn't believe it was worth punishing the car for the little time we would have saved."

 

The test over, they got the car on the trailer (with assistnace from Mark Williams) and got it back to Kyogle service. All efforts to get new cables that night failed.

 

The next day the team were able to borrow a Kyogle couple's Mirage and use their gear selector cables to run on Sunday - one reporters rendering of the story is here.

 

Sunday was unfortunately shortened by about half the planned competitive distance when a bridge required repair. In addition, one of the competiting teams had a serious enough overshoot to need to be checked out in hospital. I'm  Glad to report they are OK.

 

The roads were superbe, and even though Sunday was shorter it was still a great ride. Audacious Rallysport were able to maintain the class win, and estimate that they only lost  a single place due to the gear cable issues - which cost 25 to 30 seconds over both stages.

 

We were very pleased to win the P2 (1600cc class), and to come 17th Outright. This was also 6th in 2wd Queensland Rally Championship.

 

Special Thanks to 

Chris Bellinger for assisting us with the swapping of the gearbox cables to and from cars. Chris, I hope the misses forgave you mate. I owe you pub dinner!

 

Chris's son - you found the paper clip

 

Jody Thompson - you held my car together with a paper clip - living legend...

 

U-Haul for the use of their excellent car transporter

 

Vista 4WD hire for the use of their trusty Toyota Land Cruiser.