Thomson Valley Rally (TVR)

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Two weeks until the TVR, entry list so far reads,

Ross Allan / Scott Allan Nissan Bluebird
Gerard Blum / Scott Mitchell Hyundai Excel
Brian Canny / Paul Crosbie Peugeot 504
Ian Crook / TBA Rover 3500 SE
Thomas Davidson / James Davidson Chrysler Lancer LA
Mathew Fenner / Stuart Blegg Rover Range Rover
Doug Fernie / Geoff Floyd Datsun P510 Bluebird
Shannon Fitcher / Alex Fitcher Datsun 1600
Michael Foreshew / Rick Walton Ford Cortina Mk 2
Geoff Hale / Alan Baker Volkswagen Golf GLS
Todd Knight / Darren Davison Peugeot 306 S16
Matt Lee / Andrew Gell Holden Commodore VH
Ken MacDonald / Robert Ellis Ford Lotus Cortina
Kevin Millard / Chantal Elford Datsun 1600
David Officer / Kate Officer Mitsubishi Colt Galant
Peter Parry / Robert Richards Hyundai Excel
Tim Reynolds / Simon Reynolds Datsun 180B
Neil Schey / Scott Middleton Ford Escort Mk 2 RS2000
Brian Semmens / Jason Hague Nissan 200SX RV S12
Alan Upton / Mark Laidlay Datsun Bluebird P510
Michael Ward / Di Bailey Toyota Corolla
Derrick White / Dave Smith Peugeot 504
Russell Woollard / James Thompson Datsun Bluebird
Greg Wyatt / Dale Allan Alfa GTV 6


Couple of quick guys in there, including Brian Semmens. Current VRC 2 wheel drive champion!
His 200sx is super fast and he is probably one of the best steerers in the game. It will be a good litmus test to see just how much he beats me by. I have only competed against him twice b4. Once in the 2004 Northeastern Rally. He was entered in the VRC component and i was entered in the VCRS component. We both did the same course, I don't remember where he came but i DNF'd ( into a tree on Old Coach Road). It was super wet and slippery. I do remember that there was a cash award for the fastest VRC 2WD in a particular stage. Brian won it, but if i was entered in the VRC i would have, as i beat him by 8 seconds ( in the 2 Litre Alfetta sedan)
Found a pic by Doutchy from that event. That yump was on the exit to a sweeping left hander. If you were too sideways when you launched, well just ask Justin Dowell in his Evo. I seem to remember him landing in the trees and tore the boot off his car. We managed to square it up b4 we took off. Live to fly another day.

The other event was the 2005 David Nutter Ford VRC in Traralgon. I remember passing Brians 200sx on the side of the road with a gearbox issue i think.

This event will be great fun. Bring it on!

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Furthers are out this morning. 35 entries. We are car 24. It would be nice to get up the start order a bit, but still graded C until next year. It doesn't really matter unless it is dusty, It's like the old days, top 5 finish from the back of the field.

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Car passed scrutiny tonight , 

ready for action.

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Paul, no new rubber, just getting the best used tyres fitted on my new rims. Pick them up tomorrow.  
i also used to ride huskys, had a fleet of them.  '75 400 , ' 76 400 , ' 78 390 , ' 83 430 and a   ' 86 400 boy they were all quick machines,  i would love to be still competing on a bike, but i'm afraid the body wont handle it any longer.  anyway rally is just as good.    

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Rally run and won, not by me by the way, far from it. actually last of the finishers. Great night. Some really fast roads and a few curly ones.
We were car 24. ( Brian Canny was car 23 Phil) First stage was about 14 kms. fast rocky road with oodles of grip. We picked up an 8 second time penalty. would have been nice to clean it, but happy with 8 seconds. BTW we caught car 23 just as we hit the finish timing marker. We organised to pass then in control then took off in stage 2. Again same rocky road until 6.8 KMs in where we hit some exposed clay. Full noise in a rh sweeper quickly became full noise sideways then full noise backwards, then off the road stopped. Front wheels still actually on the road, but back wheels down the 30 degree bank no hope of driving out. Bugger! Did not even see it coming. We had to wait until the last car went through, then the sweep car towed us out.
Finished that stage behind the sweep at road speed, then started stage 3 at rally speed, Cut stages 4 & 5 and went straight to service to get back some late time.(we only had 30 minutes in the 1st half) We actually pulled into service right after car 23. Then we went out and finished the last 5 stages. Some of our times were quite good, but you lose a heap of points for missing major controls. Still good fun though.
Pity about the off road excursion. No damage to the car though, that is a good thing.
No pics yet, but Doutchy was lurking in the bushes and got us twice. when they tun up, I'll post them.
Unofficial results;

O/R Crew Car POINTS
1 Brian Semmens/Jason Hague Nissan 200SX RV S12 0:15
2 Ross Allan/Scott Allan Nissan Bluebird 1:30
3 Shannon Fitcher/Alex Fitcher Datsun 1600 3:19
4 Rowan Woollard/Brendan Brown Datsun 1600 4:55
5 Matt Lee/Andrew Gell Holden Commodore VH 5:14
6 Neil Schey/Scott Middleton Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 5:19
7 David Officer/Kate Officer Mitsubishi Colt Galant 5:53
8 Steve Ashton/Chris Snell Mitsubishi Galant 7:08
9 Derrick White/Dave Smith Peugeot 504 7:23
10 Alan Upton/Mark Laidlay Datsun Bluebird P510 9:20
11 Tim Reynolds/Simon Reynolds Datsun 180B 9:29
12 Kim Harper/Steuart Snooks Ford Escort Mk 1 Twin Cam 10:50
13 Todd Knight/Darren Davison Peugeot 306 S16 12:01
14 David Brown/David Burn Datsun 1600 special 12:11
15 Michael Ward/Di Bailey Toyota Corolla 15:43
16 Gerry Bashford/James Bashford Ford Escort Mk 1 16:12
17 Brian Canny/Paul Crosbie Peugeot 504 Ti 16:42
18 Michael Foreshew/Rick Walton Ford Cortina Mk 2 17:33
19 Gerard Blum/Scott Mitchell Hyundai Excel X3 17:44
20 Thomas Davidson/James Davidson Chrysler Lancer LA 22:37
21 Robert Cranston/Russell Opie Toyota Celica RA28 25:14
22 Peter Parry/Robert Richards Hyundai Excel 25:15
2 Major Controls Missed
23 Alex Kovacevic/Kate Cotter Fiat 131 68:03
24 Doug Fernie/Geoff Floyd Datsun P510 Bluebird 92:26
4 Major Controls Missed
25 Greg Wyatt/Dale Allan Alfa Romeo GTV 6 50:31
Did not finish the event
John Rawson/Ashley McBain Datsun 1600 Gearbox (J)
Dean Hasnat/Matthew Petersen Holden Commodore VC Lack
of power (D)
Kevin Millard/Chantal Elford Datsun 1600 Brakes (3)
Ewen McKenzie/Louisa Ashton Volvo 244 DL Blown motor (2)
Geoff Hale/Alan Baker Volkswagen Golf GLS Low oil pressure (1)
Ken MacDonald/Bob Ellis Ford Lotus Cortina No reason given (1)
Russell Woollard/James Thompson Nissan Bluebird No reason given (10)
Greg Gibson/Jenny Cole BMW 2002 Rear suspension (10)

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This image came tonight from John Doutch.
This is Stage 8, you can see how much grip there was on this bit of road. Almost like tarmac. Hit it flat, car neutral, inside front about to lift off. Not a hint of understeer. I just love the way this thing handles. (except when it spins mid corner and dumps you in the bushes!)



It has the new wheels on the front, we changed the rears at service as the tyres we started on were doing strange things.

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Provisional results are available here, http://hra.org.au/files/TVR%202010%20Prov%20Results.pdf

Seems i was 16 seconds out in my calculations about stage 1. we actually cleaned it by 8 seconds. So, equal 1st outright when we spun off the road.