SKDAC - Events

"Who would have thought it would be so hard to finish a Canberra rally"

Driver--DAMIEN SOWARD
Navigator--KRISTIE OFFNER
DATSUN 1200 COUPE (Kermit)

We had a fantastic time and thanks to all the happy smiling officials out there. I wish I had a dollar for every controllie that tells me that they used to have a 1200 and it was the most fun they ever had rallying. And fun it was.
Recce was uneventful for us (we did ours on Friday – thanks Paul, Russel and team) except for the news of Tamsey giving the WRCoroner the new crinkle finish. The thing we noticed most during recce was how many places and things there are to hit, slip into or generally get wrong. But the west side looked like a lot of fun (our first time over there).
We got to stage 1 and found out that about 5 cars had not made it to the end of stage 2, so we took it easy and enjoyed the view.

Damien and Kristie get the wheels in the air during Rally Of Canberra.

Things were cruising along (watching more cars on the side of the road) until we got to the Gorge. We had put on lights at service and car was getting hotter (in hindsight from lack of air flow). 3 – 2 -1 and 400m up the road the car died. Kristy bolted with the triangles (lucky she was a school cross country champ). The car started, she bolted back. The car died, she bolted back with the triangle. The car started, she bolted back. The car died…….. This kept going on until three cars had passed and the sweep turned up. Finally it started and we were off without intercoms plugged in. Kristy bellowed the calls in between catching her breathe. It was kind of funny looking back. Turned out to be vaporising fuel.

It gets worse.

Day 2 – Stage 3 – we are getting along fine crashing though the rough when bang and something goes wrong with the steering. We think it’s a flat so pull over. No flat, nothing hanging off, nothing seems to be loose. But we drive out at snails pace in case something falls off. We pull over and wait for Tamesy to pass so we don’t cause him dust. Turns out that we smashed the rim on the inside (tyre still up thanks to tubes) and it is rubbing on the strut tube. Thanks to David Ferris and Mal Smith (sweep car) for all the help.

But wait there’s more…

Day 2 – The Gorge (it’s cursed for us). Book into control and Kristy calls me up. I notice a nasty rattle in the front right strut. As we are in control a couple of “unofficals” give the car a shake and a push and diagnose a loose top strut bolt (thanks guys).
3 – 2 -1 , we go 20m out of control and pull over. Borrow some plyers (as our shifter was too small – will learn form this one). Got it tightened enough and then took it easy until we knew it was going to hold. Surprisingly it did. After that we tightened it properly (thanks Andy C) at next control.
All in all, had a great time. We are still slow, but managed to improve our times on every pass (except where we had major probs). Our times are now snapping at the heels of Byron, which is a significant improvement for us. Of course, he is getting faster and we will never actually catch him

Thanks again to all the controllies and road closure folk who stood out in the forest for two days. Thanks also to the crowd at the speccy point and commentators who gave us a big build up and support (with some gentle persuasion from my wife).

Mosty thanks to my service crew, who is my family, who continually support us at every event. It makes it all the more worthwhile and fun.
And of course my “ever calm” navigator Kristy, who only gasped once when we almost hit a concrete tank at the speccy point going into the tunnel.
Just a quick cheers to the guys at the back of the field. Everyone is there for a good time, and no one takes themselves too seriously and are always very quick to lend a hand. That is what makes rallying so much fun.

Cheers
Damien Soward
ps. forgot to mention the rock that smashed a hole through the floor the size of my fist. Fair to say we took the water splash super slow on the next stage.

SKDAC-EVENTS

Archer Race Course Motorkhana, day event