Glenn
14-05-2007, 08:36 PM
First, before anything else I want to make a point. Our performance on the weekend was in a car that is very close to stock standard. The difference between it and the HMCA car is primarily the the HMCA car has a small but significant power advantage, has the best suspension you can buy and has had the highest standard of preparation. My point is this: If you want to be competitive in the Excel Series you don't need anything other than a standard car with a cage and decent suspension....don't feel like you need to blueprint a motor or spend mega dollars....just build one and drive it like you stole it :)
OK, thanks for indulging me, onto the event....well the pre-event anyway.
When I heard a rumour that Ed was going to Drive an Excel I was excited. I certainly wasn't going to miss an opportunity to have a run against Ed and I was fully expecting to get hosed. You see, I'm a huge fan of Ed's. I remember many occasions in the nineties when I'd catch an overnight bus to an ARC in the next state just to go spectating and especially to see the Lancer in action. To be able to have a run against Ed in effectively the same machinery was a dream come true.
I wanted to be as prepared as possible and do some of the allowed "mods" (vernier pulley, a 3 angle valve job and a bit more compression from a head shave) in an attempt to get some more power, but I was beaten by time and budget. So it was a case of washing the car and buying four new tyres and it was ready for the event.
The other thing that needed preparation was my head with regards to driving on pace notes as I had only done one event on notes (Shakedown 2006) and I realised at the time that I really didn't get the hang of it. So Anna and I spent a day driving around practicing writing and listening to notes. Anna had done RoC before so she was a relative pro compared to me.
Before getting into the actual event report, a few thanks. Firstly to Ric and the team that put the event on. It has been repeated by everyone else, but I'd like to add my congratulations on the running of the event. It was by far the most professionally run event I've ever done. Rallying in NSW has taken a huge step forward. Secondly to Anna who did a fantastic job all day, It was great to share the experience with you. Finally to the crew Jess, Tim, Adam, Gary, Steve, Fi and Spac, thanks for everything.
Recce - The notes from Brad Goldsborough were absolutely spot on, we probably made less than 20 alterations and we were finished well before the end of the recce time limit. A quick wash, wheel alignment and bolt check and we were ready to start
SS1 and SS2 - We decided to really have a crack and then see where we were. We weren't going to die wondering. On the first two stages I drove as fast as I dared and by the end of the first stage we both knew the time would be pretty special. When we got to the start of the second stage and Ed and Iain mentioned that we had gone 13 seconds quicker we were blown away. Ed even said that he was pretty happy with how he drove the stage, maybe that was meant to make me feel even better, whatever the truth is, it sure did...if that was possilble.....in Anna's words it was "Game On!" SS2 was more of the same and things were going exactly to plan.
SS3 - the long stage at 24km. We took it a little easier and won that one by 12 seconds and after that we had a 37 second lead.
SS4 - 4 km into the 16 km stage on a left hander the car suddenly snapped 90 degrees to the road and I immeidately thought tha we had a flat...12km to go I decided to drive to the end. It was VERY interesting to drive with left handers becoming really treacherous. In the end we dropped 18 seconds to Ed and it turned out that a strut bolt had worked loose and the wheel was flapping around...oh it did go flat eventually and there was lots of smoke, but there was no real damage and we were still in the lead. The bolt coming loose was a bit strange as it was double checked. It probably was a case of the bolt being overtightened past its elastic limit.
Main service - turned up on three tyres and leave with 4...only after lots of stress which was not helped by the car not wanting to start at the end of it due to fuelling issues, but we get it started and we're off
SS5 and SS6 - Had a good steady run through these stages and took another 30 seconds of Ed and Iain. Ed had a few problems with the windscreen fogging, but seemed to be still enjoying it.
Third service and the bolt that caused the problems in SS4 was loose again! Go figure.
SS7 and SS8 - with a 50 second lead we just needed to drive smart to the end....still, I managed an innocuous half-spin on SS7 and hurt my wrist when getting my thumb stuck in the wheel over a bump (almost happened to Ed too BTW), so we dropped 12 seconds on SS7, then had a steady run over SS8 to drop only a further 2 seconds to win P2 by about 35 seconds over Ed and over 6 minutes to the next P2 competitors.
Thanks to Ed and Iain for taking the time to come and have a play. It certainly made it a great day...in fact the best ever!!!!
Now, Mick....about that contract :)
Cheers
Glenn
PS. See everyone at Bega
OK, thanks for indulging me, onto the event....well the pre-event anyway.
When I heard a rumour that Ed was going to Drive an Excel I was excited. I certainly wasn't going to miss an opportunity to have a run against Ed and I was fully expecting to get hosed. You see, I'm a huge fan of Ed's. I remember many occasions in the nineties when I'd catch an overnight bus to an ARC in the next state just to go spectating and especially to see the Lancer in action. To be able to have a run against Ed in effectively the same machinery was a dream come true.
I wanted to be as prepared as possible and do some of the allowed "mods" (vernier pulley, a 3 angle valve job and a bit more compression from a head shave) in an attempt to get some more power, but I was beaten by time and budget. So it was a case of washing the car and buying four new tyres and it was ready for the event.
The other thing that needed preparation was my head with regards to driving on pace notes as I had only done one event on notes (Shakedown 2006) and I realised at the time that I really didn't get the hang of it. So Anna and I spent a day driving around practicing writing and listening to notes. Anna had done RoC before so she was a relative pro compared to me.
Before getting into the actual event report, a few thanks. Firstly to Ric and the team that put the event on. It has been repeated by everyone else, but I'd like to add my congratulations on the running of the event. It was by far the most professionally run event I've ever done. Rallying in NSW has taken a huge step forward. Secondly to Anna who did a fantastic job all day, It was great to share the experience with you. Finally to the crew Jess, Tim, Adam, Gary, Steve, Fi and Spac, thanks for everything.
Recce - The notes from Brad Goldsborough were absolutely spot on, we probably made less than 20 alterations and we were finished well before the end of the recce time limit. A quick wash, wheel alignment and bolt check and we were ready to start
SS1 and SS2 - We decided to really have a crack and then see where we were. We weren't going to die wondering. On the first two stages I drove as fast as I dared and by the end of the first stage we both knew the time would be pretty special. When we got to the start of the second stage and Ed and Iain mentioned that we had gone 13 seconds quicker we were blown away. Ed even said that he was pretty happy with how he drove the stage, maybe that was meant to make me feel even better, whatever the truth is, it sure did...if that was possilble.....in Anna's words it was "Game On!" SS2 was more of the same and things were going exactly to plan.
SS3 - the long stage at 24km. We took it a little easier and won that one by 12 seconds and after that we had a 37 second lead.
SS4 - 4 km into the 16 km stage on a left hander the car suddenly snapped 90 degrees to the road and I immeidately thought tha we had a flat...12km to go I decided to drive to the end. It was VERY interesting to drive with left handers becoming really treacherous. In the end we dropped 18 seconds to Ed and it turned out that a strut bolt had worked loose and the wheel was flapping around...oh it did go flat eventually and there was lots of smoke, but there was no real damage and we were still in the lead. The bolt coming loose was a bit strange as it was double checked. It probably was a case of the bolt being overtightened past its elastic limit.
Main service - turned up on three tyres and leave with 4...only after lots of stress which was not helped by the car not wanting to start at the end of it due to fuelling issues, but we get it started and we're off
SS5 and SS6 - Had a good steady run through these stages and took another 30 seconds of Ed and Iain. Ed had a few problems with the windscreen fogging, but seemed to be still enjoying it.
Third service and the bolt that caused the problems in SS4 was loose again! Go figure.
SS7 and SS8 - with a 50 second lead we just needed to drive smart to the end....still, I managed an innocuous half-spin on SS7 and hurt my wrist when getting my thumb stuck in the wheel over a bump (almost happened to Ed too BTW), so we dropped 12 seconds on SS7, then had a steady run over SS8 to drop only a further 2 seconds to win P2 by about 35 seconds over Ed and over 6 minutes to the next P2 competitors.
Thanks to Ed and Iain for taking the time to come and have a play. It certainly made it a great day...in fact the best ever!!!!
Now, Mick....about that contract :)
Cheers
Glenn
PS. See everyone at Bega