Tarmac Rallying Perpetual Thread

[Snowman]

Hahaha! he told me on the boat Monday night that he caught you guys at the last part of the stage, didn't pass you but caught you? and that Adam asked him at the bar on Sunday where he had come from!

It was Paris he caught - not Newton.

[Darkside]

Hahaha! he told me on the boat Monday night that he caught you guys at the last part of the stage, didn't pass you but caught you? and that Adam asked him at the bar on Sunday where he had come from!

Nope that was us. Turned out they didnt catch us during the stage, but once I had shut off after the finish and was cooling down I had a mirror full of Evo IX not long after, so I guess he cant have been far behind... Thought I woudl say gday and make sure I hadnt...woudl feel like a muppet if I had........just checked results....he picked up 25 seconds on us, so not far behind at all....farkin smoked us... Pretty soft effort from us on that stage. He only got 2 secs on us in the reverse direction on eildon.... an epic effort from him and Natasha in a showroom car. I hadnt thought I held him up, but given the final bit of that stage was pretty intense, I wasnt sure how close he had got as its hard to get your eyes off the road and on to your mirrors. I had had a glace at about 2/3rds and didnt see anything.

Edited November 12, 2010 by Darkside

[Marlin]

I resemble that comment....I'm off to put on my AFI album and cut myself.

You know we are all wannabe GTR drivers.....

You can stay Blaise

Leave the others over there to stroke eachother....... and their egos

[marinetowing]

It was Paris he caught - not Newton.

Sorry Dan my bad! I will slink away to the ego stroking forum now!

Although must say had a great weekend and a real pleasure meeting quite a few members from here. We improved tenfold for our second only rally and look forward to catching up with you all again for wrest point.

[sav man]

You can stay Blaise

Leave the others over there to stroke eachother....... and their egos

This is a Skyline forum, we should be comparting who's done the most damage to a farmers property and kept going

Edited November 12, 2010 by sav man

[Darkside]

Didnt quite make it to the guys paddock....What about gymastic skills???? Half pike 360??...... fast forward to 2min mark.....This was my first 5 minutes of tarmac rally....hence my fairly tentative start to THC

In car here if you are intyerested....

On a brighter note, given we managed to stay on the road in the most recent one, on the insistance of the missus we are looking to bite the bullet on TWP so see all those heading to Tassie for that one down there.

Edited November 12, 2010 by Darkside

[Snowman]

See your problem was you just weren't trying hard enough

[BLUEGTR]

My car is up for sale if anyone is interested.

http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/tabid/...34/Default.aspx

[fatz]

my 32 is back in the car hole on jack stands

keep the videos cuming i need motivation

[Targa Tom]

Thats twice he's punted the thing off on the last stage?

Why would you be risking life and limb on the last stage when you have a Showroom 4WD lead of about four days!?!?!?!?!

I know Tony is competetive and actually likes to see how he can place on an Outright standing, but nobody cares, no one looks at that stuff.

... sets his own personal Targets and is not concerned about what others think.... (Thats what he told me - but not sure if I bought it)

The E7 will be quicker than an E9 because of freedoms. So I am tipping E7 Early modern well inside Top 10 O'all.

TT

[Marlin]

I have an E7 if you want one TT

[haw001]

I think you'll find the caliber of car in early modern will be very high at TT2011. Big year for it, last I heard there are over 300 entries accepted.

It's getting harder and harder not to be a checkbook racer in early modern. Oh for the early days! Gone are the days where my money was better spent on track days and practicing, than on engine improvements and better top speed.

I'd be surprised if an E7 can make a top 10 outright finish, even with an excellent driver. Maybe with a few select parts under the hood, but even so...

[Marlin]

I really beg to differ.

Yes, it's getting more expensive all the time.

Yes, the "quality" of car is getting higher all the time.

No, having a great car doesn't make you a fast driver/navigator.

That is the beauty of rallying, talent and the effort put in (recce, car prep etc), far outweighs cash spent.

Witness the Newtom/Lemish Evo 4 smash all comers, including 996 TT Porsches etc at THC.

Witness Rick Shaw in a Series 6 RX7 at Targa.

Having recently driven a couple of Evos and seen just how easy and fast they are, keeping in mind they also look after tyres quite well, I'd throw a few dollars to say a few drivers/navs even within this forum could wrestle one into a top 10 Outright.

Heck, if a couple of drongoes like Tim and I can hustle a 32 GTS-t into a 17th Outright after an off, and 2.5 days of siezed shock absorber action, well...... it's a no brainer I reckon

[Darkside]

^^^^^ I agree Ben. I reckon a car with good pace does make your life easier and will allow you to make up easy time, but from my very limited experience, it is sooooo much more about the crew in it and how it is setup. I reckon my car might have a bit of pace over the Newton/Lemish car (although my setup is pooh compared to his according to Snowy who has driven both cars) , but those guys just drive the wheels off theirs, totally commit to the course, and stay on the road and finish. Just makes their effort all the more impressive in my mind in that it definately wasnt some advantage they had from superior firepower. My car is far from a big budget racer (under 45k as it is) but has the possibility to be remotely competitive in EM. All power to the guys that can afford the absolute rocket ship cars like a bombed 33-34 GTR or a 996TT, its going to make results come a little easier, but that said, they dont steer themselves, you are still going to have to be able to pedal to get to the pointy end.

Probably the only thing I woudl improve on my car is suspension. Have a much better appreciation for how important it is after THC. Although that will wait for now as I reckon the main improvment for me is the nut behind the wheel. Definately time to be made up using the notes smarter and commiting when it is safe to do so. Have heaps to learn.

TT will be interesting. Having never done one, my gut feel is it will be far more of an endurance race than the two day "sprint" format of the THC and Wrest point events with consistency and tyre conservation being as important as outright pace. Have to wait and see I guess.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Darkside

[essay]

Totally agree with Blaise re the nut behind the wheel being the limiting factor for a great result. Scotty and I were newbies at this caper and may i suggest to anyone who thinks that tarmac rallies are just a drive in the country wound up a little, forget it. Our car was faultless throughout and I think the preparation of the car was A1, however, we finished 43rd in class which more relates to lack of talent / balls, age and mindset ( want to drive home with a whole car not an accordion) Respect to all those that finished and especially those up the pointy end.

[sav man]

Good recce and notes go a long way. It's a lot easier to drive fast when you know where your going.

TT is much more of en endurence event, have to balence tyres, speed, and look after the car. Read the weather, and be fit enough to drive for 6 days.

[poolheaters]

I agree with everything above, a good recce and car prep will give a better result than a Million dollar car driven at 80%. There is so much time to be gained on the fast section with accurate notes and a commited driver!

Having said that, the time you lose on day 1 of Targa is no different to the time you lose on day 5, and this is where the balance of speed vs reliability comes in I guess?

Our 32 GTR at THC was certainly no "Big Budget" build, and Melinda did quite well for the cars first event and her first time in a skyline (and her first event in 2yrs). Our current tune is only 260rwkw, but she can drive it alot faster yet before she needs more power.

On another note, how did everyones tyre wear go? We ran Dunlop DZ03 mediums, and they were totally shot after Big River reverse (Eildon?) on Sunday, with Mel losing heaps of time thinking a tyre was delaminating. Maybe Medium/hards for TT11?

Cheers

paul

[haw001]

I don't disagree with anyone, but having done 5 of these things, the event has certainly changed in the last few years. Yes it's all down to driving and handling when it comes to the tighter stuff, but there are a lot more high speed straight bits than there used to be, and if you can hit 260 quickly and hold it, compared to 200-210 under standard power, which takes a lot longer to get there, then you are going to knock off 10-20 even 30 seconds on some of the stages. This sort of time is the difference between 5th and 15th.

However... as my history has well told, you need to finish to win. We were 2:09 seconds ahead of second place in 2007, which didn't mean jack s#it when we rolled it down the hill at Burnie at the end of day 4!

[haw001]

As to tyres, I always run H1 for TT. No tyre I have found will make the event in M1-3. We ran the H1 Toyo's at TT2010 and still managed to use them for THC. They were shot by the end, and TT was very wet so the wear was not as bad as it would have been had it been dry. Wouldn't have used them, but THC was only supposed to be practice before an engine overhaul and E85 for TT 2011.

My problem is that I keep switching tyres year on year. I now have a collection of 3 brand new race tyres for spares and none of them are the same make!

[haw001]

Not to beat the point to death (I've posted more than I do in an entire year!), looking at the results from TT2010, 1st in early modern was good enough for 17th outright. To get to top 10, would have required 11:20 less time. No easy feat even with good recky and good handling and big balls. Any way you look at it, power to weight is required if you want to break the top 10.