ernysp76
17-01-2007, 12:54 AM
Recently I had the pleasure of taking the Excel in a HRA navigational event called the 4 pointer. This was a tricky event in that many of the Vias were placed in such a way that you only found them if you approached the control from exactly the right direction. With a stand-in navigator Graham Wallis pointing the way with a very keen eye on the compass the night was spent in the Bruthen and Nowa Nowa area made famous by the Alpine Rally in 2005. The navigation was made difficult with dust and cars coming from all directions as they desperatly searched for the correct route. The event was divided into four sections representing the four points of the compass. After Section 1 we were equal 1st with eventual winners Alan Upton and Mark Laidly in their super quick P510. However the thirst of the P510 was interesting as the Excel and Datsun refueled side by side in Bruthen the Excel took 8 litres of fuel to the Datsun's 25 litres. End of the second stage and we were now 2nd outright behind Laidly with the Excel being serverly restricted in speed by lack of visability and front ground clearance.
Into the third stage and Laidly manged to convince the officials to give them a 5 min dust break on the car in front, we came in 2 min behind them and found them with a flat 200 meters into the stage, so much for their dust break as they ended up eating ours! However a missed via (which JC was manning) meant a WD on the third stage and any hope of 2nd place in fact we had slipped to 4th. Another stop at Nowa Nowa for fuel and I forced 8 litres into the tank to Laidly's 27!
The forth stage and we found a passage control soon into the stage, Graham was on the ball and realised we were approaching from the slightly the wrong direction, these HRA people had set up approaches to the controls that looked legitimate no matter what direction you approached but the problem was missing the via. A quick pull of the handbrake and the Excel headed 300 meters back and found the correct track and Via. We headed off and made up for lost time, with wide open tracks made of firmly packed sand the Excel was now humming. Graham was convinced there was another Via however after taking many detours in search of it Graham suddenly realised we were running out of late time and urged me on with many tips on how to take corners quickly the little Excel got up to some interesting speeds as we managed to get into the final control with one and half minutes to spare. The end result was a third outright beating some well know names including former ARC champion team of 'Dinta' & Kate Officer. We placed 1st in our Grade as well as 1st in our class (though we were the only PRC Modern in the event). I made some new friends and had a really great time exploring new ways of driving a FWD.
Into the third stage and Laidly manged to convince the officials to give them a 5 min dust break on the car in front, we came in 2 min behind them and found them with a flat 200 meters into the stage, so much for their dust break as they ended up eating ours! However a missed via (which JC was manning) meant a WD on the third stage and any hope of 2nd place in fact we had slipped to 4th. Another stop at Nowa Nowa for fuel and I forced 8 litres into the tank to Laidly's 27!
The forth stage and we found a passage control soon into the stage, Graham was on the ball and realised we were approaching from the slightly the wrong direction, these HRA people had set up approaches to the controls that looked legitimate no matter what direction you approached but the problem was missing the via. A quick pull of the handbrake and the Excel headed 300 meters back and found the correct track and Via. We headed off and made up for lost time, with wide open tracks made of firmly packed sand the Excel was now humming. Graham was convinced there was another Via however after taking many detours in search of it Graham suddenly realised we were running out of late time and urged me on with many tips on how to take corners quickly the little Excel got up to some interesting speeds as we managed to get into the final control with one and half minutes to spare. The end result was a third outright beating some well know names including former ARC champion team of 'Dinta' & Kate Officer. We placed 1st in our Grade as well as 1st in our class (though we were the only PRC Modern in the event). I made some new friends and had a really great time exploring new ways of driving a FWD.