Tarmac Rallying Perpetual Thread

[Snowman]

PS - how do you put a longer than 10min vid on youtube??

[Marlin]

My YouTube automatically advbised me yesterday I can now load vids "greater than 15 minutes"..... used to be 10 mins max.

I have no idea why? Maybe because I'm a Youtube whore?

[Nee-san]

You surprised, there are whining wankers everywhere ?

Do gooders, Affirmative actionists and NIMBY's ruin this country.

[Darkside]

Well what a coupla weeks...

Had an awesome time... Go the EMO

Thanks to all on here who offered advice, support and lots of laughs during the event.

Also a huge thanks to tassie local Greg (Targa Tom) who did an awesome job servicing the car and providing great advice and laughs for the duration of the event.

Gotta say the event was way tougher than I expected. I expected a reasonable amount of mental and physical fatigue, but was struggling way more than I expected by the end of it. But in the end I think we just had a bit of luck on our side where some of the other guys didnt.

Agreed with others that I think Riana was the most taxing stage for us. Was still fresh for Cethana and did a reasonable job of that....especially once I learnt on Mt Roland the day before that the car (tyres and brakes) will not hold up if you go like a nutter for the full stage. Taking the intessity down just a touch seemed to make it perform more consistently for the full stage. But sticking Riana straight after that just about made my brain explode. I just couldnt keep my mind on the calls and keep the intensity up. I had put a little note in the notes about the change of pace and rythym at the end as I figured i would be brain burnt by then, so that kept me out of the paddocks It definately has a different feel and pace to the first stuff. .... and second guessing how fast you can hit the crests..... frightening!!!

Probably the biggest rush for me was MT Roland. First proper long and fast stage. Was super pumped by the end of that. Was thinking at the time if I invent a really cool drug I will call it Mt Roland....Just brings home what a mental concept the whole event is. Belting along a country road in top gear with your foot mashed against the firewall and trying to keep it there through sweeping bends and blind crests while the sensible self preservation part of your brain is screaming for you to back off....your speedo hits the 180 limit some time ago while the tacko keeps climbing toward redline....would seem like total madness to most....but somehow it felt just right You sure know you are alive......

And Snowy, WTF with that stage being easy to clean?????? Maybe in a GTR?? Thankfully I ignored you as always and pedalled like f**k, only to clean it by 1 second. But mate, thankyou for tryiong to help me be not so serious. You definately have mastered the laid back approach to motorsport. :)I have a bit to learn master!!!

Edited April 15, 2011 by Darkside

[Snowman]

LOL - my philosophy is pretty simple. If you ain't doing it for a living then you must be doing it for fun.

And if you ain't having fun then why are you doing it??

I learnt that lesson in the past. Doesn't mean I don't go flat out - just means I don't get hung up on if I'm first or last.

[sav man]

My YouTube automatically advbised me yesterday I can now load vids "greater than 15 minutes"..... used to be 10 mins max.

I have no idea why? Maybe because I'm a Youtube whore?

So did mine. Look for the "advanced loader" when you upload.

[PHaT MR30]

What intercom do you have Savman?

[sav man]

PMD enduro

http://www.pmdraceproducts.com/incarcommunications.html

Very happy with it, heaps better build quality than a terraphone

Edited April 15, 2011 by sav man

[PHaT MR30]

You should connect up the Intercom to your camera, love to hear damo calling, plus it does cut out alot of the gravel noise, but still gives a bit of engine note.

[DJRIFT]

but then he will have all my mistakes on record. no backing out then. haha

we were going to but once again time got the better of it. lead will be made for future events.

[PHaT MR30]

but then he will have all my mistakes on record. no backing out then. haha

we were going to but once again time got the better of it. lead will be made for future events.

I prefer to look at it as insurance for when the driver f*&k's up and blames the nav!

But its also good for post event analysis.

Does the PMD come with a loom? I just bought a Mono RCA to Mono 3.5mm cable was less than $5 from memory.

[sav man]

We don't need the shit we talk in the car to be made public.... although it might have made the party tape funny

I got the audio cable with the camera, but the PMD has a beefy 3 or 4 pin connector on the back, and we cbf finding the plug... even though jaycar probably sell it for like $1.

[Targa Tom]

........We had 30 mins of late time to fix the problem.

Great story Ben, we had a few events like that and they sure make your next one easier. Please be aware, you only had 15min of late time.

Speaking of which, I was astounded the number of people who enter the event without knowing the rules. Navs in particular - a/. Not knowing and b/. not having a copy of the regs in the car!!!

My advise to anyone - read the regs, read the regs, and when you are sure you know them - read the regs!

TT

[PHaT MR30]

Yep correct Greg, I always read the regs and highlight areas of importance (IE late time etc) and then also carry in car for reference!

Read them, interpret them... Even clarifying with God (aka Benson) is a good move.

[navdan]

I think the main problem with late time was that the penalty didn't reflect the crime. Take a couple of examples from our event...

Just after the pass on Weldborough we had an intercooler hose blow. We made it to the end of the stage, found another service crew who we could use some tools from and proceeded to fix the problem to get us through Pyengana and on to the St Helens service. As we took longer than the required time + late time we were handed a 20 min penalty, effectively ending our event. From memory we were 6 mins over late time and still 10 mins ahead of 999 into service.

The other example is that after Cethana, we stopped for fuel at one of the suppliers on the side of the road. Not wasting any time we kept moving after that as the liaison distance was 36kms in 36 mins. Most of you will know the roads that are between Cethana and Gunns and for mine, to expect crews to average somewhere close to 60kms/h on these roads taking into account other traffic as well, is poor form and just asking for "risky" overtaking. As it was we were 7 mins into our late time when we jumped ahead of the 20 or so cars that were parked well up the road from the start line (as we all do for a chat). Add to this the "time marshall" who refused to move from the yellow time control boards to take down car numbers and I'm surprised more teams weren't slapped with the 20 min.

I realise the late time rule was laid out well before the event, but this doesn't make it sensible. Whats wrong with a 5 (or 10) sec per min late penalty?

Keen to hear other people's thoughts and yes I know we have road closure windows to meet

Edited April 17, 2011 by rexdan

[DJRIFT]

the transport between cethana and guns plains was oviously an over sight as it didnt factor in the new distance/time of the new start line. the GPS oviously made the distance correction but it had been over looked in the road book. non of the other transports were that tight for time so that was the conclusion i came to.

and the time marshall was a knob. i went up and politely asked for a book in time and he said if i wanted one we had to overtake the 7 cars in front of us and drive into control. i then aproched the Head offical at the start time and was met with the same reply. i was going off my nana when i got back in the car but took note of the times ect incase of penalties.

[DJRIFT]

oh and the navigator probably should read the rules if they arent still build the car.

[sav man]

it doesn't help when the officals don't understand the last time issue. Gunns Plains were the only people that caused issues, there was a few of a bitching about it at the start of Riana.

[PJF]

As a side issue everyone, Car 820, white R34 GTT Skyline finished well and the car ran faultlessly. Second targa for the car, it's now FOR SALE in the appropriate section of the forum.

Cheers, Carey

[PHaT MR30]

Totally agree with what you are all saying, I didn't get the opportunity to get as far as Cethana (or Gunns Plains for that matter), but I understand there was some confusion at the control...

Was there a hold up on the stage or what? If there is a line of competitors surely that would have sent alarm bells to the official (who I would assume was doing the same job on friday, thursday and wednesday and surely could have seen the pattern?). As always the best thing to do here is record your own arrival time and now that we have the Rally Safe and it has current time of day maybe take a picture of that if you feel there is (or is going to be) an issue.

As for Time penalties, definately the crime doesn't fit the punishment. What was the late time last year? 30 mins to lunch and another 30 after then? to strip it to 15 total and then impose extremely harsh penalties effectively ruining your chance of placing well in the event is ludacris.

Had Dan and Handbags gone with a more ARC style penalty of 10 seconds per min late only would have dropped them from 2nd to =5th at the end of day 1. Still enough of a penalty!

Anyway Jawwing off on here isn't going to solve anything so I suggest we all put in a report regarding late time penalties and book in time at controls in the survey of the event when it comes out.