I did a fun event last weekend - it was a navigation rally, in redcar again
with
co-driver Peter Brice. This time I let him drive and I navigated. These
navigation
rallies are a bit anal (as in anal retentive) - tricky navigation clues and
observation
questions to answer. One of the clues was
"Proceed by the shortest mapped route to the nearest mapped road
junction
to the intersection of a line between Mt Burgess and the Doreen Primary
School
and the line between the Sugarloaf lookout and the St Andrews Post Office"
The questions were sometimes cryptic like
"sneaky pig"
We were looking for radar traps in sneaky places and didn't see anything.
The actual
answer was "cunningham", the name on a letter box. Most of the questions
were more
obvious.
Now the good thing about this event was the wonderful roads that were on the
route.
Lots of tight and twisty stuff. I was regretting letting Peter drive...
(Actually he deserved
it because we wouldn't have made the start of the big rally in Tasmania if
he hadn't
helped out so much in the prep).
They didn't tell us the scoring method beforehand but it turned out to be a
combination
of pointscore (for questions answered - a good measure of the correct route
and a sick
brain), time to complete the three stages, and fuel economy. We were equal
4th in
pointscore (60/70 questions), 2nd fastest in time, 2nd best economy
(27.5MPG!!!!)
for an overall win!
We were quite surprised because we didn't take it very seriously. We even
stopped
for lunch (20 minutes) in the middle of one stage!!! Admittedly we didn't
know that
time was important. I told the crowd that we won because for the first time,
our team
had a decent navigator! Peter did punt the car pretty well also but I didn't
admit that
publicly!!!
The following day we had a motorkhana (think very tight autocross that can
include
reverse gear on some tests and rarely gets out of 1st gear. To do well, you
have to
use handbrake turns and front end throws (rockfords) or drive very very
sideways!
We asked ourselves whether we wanted to win or to have fun. No choice - fun.
We left the "R" rated tyres on the front and put skinny old junk radials on
the back.
This can be a successful setup but much more often results in lots of spins
and
spectacular sideways driving.
I fulfilled the spins on test # 1 (of 8) but really got my act together on
the next 7 tests
and won my class on the day. A bit of a surprise because Peter, Russell Cox
and
Mike Trathen and I (Russ and Mike were in a similar car with the same sort
of tyre mix)
were having an unofficial "most spectacular driving" competition and really
didn't
give a rats ar*e about the times.
I wish I took the video camera that day.
This coming Sunday I'm off to Phillip Island for sprints and the following
week is
a state championship race meeting at Winton. I have to get busy prepping the
racecar - haven't looked at it since breaking the kingpin in last October's
6 hour
relay race. I do have all the bits ready I just have to do it...
Its funny that we have our motor racing calendar Mar - Nov (our fall,
winter, spring)
which I guess is about the same as your spring, summer, fall...
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Woerpel <dwoerpel@wi.net>
To: Gary Speckman <speckman@coredcs.com>
Cc: Wm. Severin Thompson <wsthompson@thicko.com>; Team Thicko Mail List
<team-thicko@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, March 09, 1998 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: Test
>Dagnabbit Guys! Will you convince these guys in Burlington to get cable
>out our way soz I kin see sum of that qualtee TeeVee???? That sure
>beats go left 'til 5 laps from the end and then bump 'em otta the way!
>On a more cultured plain, seems like the team to conquer this ensuing
>season is McLaren. Enjoyable to once again view that orange.
>Having fun in the rain down here, but I bet Gary has the blower
>attachment on the Sprite!
>dave
>
>Gary Speckman wrote:
>
>> SWAMPBUGGY RACIN! and ya didnt call me????
>> Sheet, Bill.
>>
>> At 05:38 PM 3/8/98 -0600, Wm. Severin Thompson wrote:
>> >Dave,
>> >
>> >My racing withdrawal gets so bad during the winters around here, I
>> was even
>> >watching swampbuggy racing the other night. Man, I'm sick.
>> >
>> >WST
>> >
>> >Dave Woerpel wrote:
>> >
>> >> Of course it's on! I thought the same. I sure hope all the others
>>
>> >> aren't watching that "Roundy-roundy" "race" on T.V.!! Ah, pardon
>> me, I
>> >> have to get the fire extinuisher now for the anticipated flames.
>> Smoke
>> >> 'em out I always say! :)
>> >> Dave
>> >>
>> >> Wm. Severin Thompson wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Test 1, 2 ... Hey, is this thing on?
>> >> >
>> >> > Flounder
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>
>
>
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