So much for thundery showers.
This year's Darling 200 had been switched to Mundaring from it's traditional home in
Jarrahdale. By all accounts, the roads were going to be slippery and a little rain from
the forecasted thundery showers may have well helped with grip and dampening down the
dust.
Not to be. Although a few clouds had appeared during the day, the sun bore down on
competitors and officials for the entire event. Luckily temperatures were a bit lower, and
a slight breeze was helping with the dust. The heat inside cars was to be an issue for
some crews.
Being the last round for the year and a Clubman event, competition will still expected to
be fierce and we were not disappointed. Entries numbered 36 (29 Clubman and 7 ineligible).
Some fell by the wayside before the event had even started. Lee Mcilroy withdrew from the
ineligible side of things, whist a terminal rattling in Geoff Leatt-Hayter's Escort
engine, put paid to a start for him and co-driver Samantha Skipworth.
 The top 10
entries had been balloted and Lea Welch/Dave Leighton had pulled the first car on the
road. Lee's huge turn of speed this year, showing he could deservedly battle within the
top 10 of the Clubman cup. Chris Gerdei/Matthew Richards were out for a win on the Darling and
being the series leaders also helped their situation, they had drawn car 5. Murray/Jemma
Cornish, not to be discounted had drawn car two and were worthy opponents for a win in
their Datsun 1600.
Before the drivers' briefing, a special photo session was held for all competitors in the
Darling 200. The photo(s) are to be a commemorative reminder of the unfortunate loss of
Paul Bazzica, in a rally just 3 weeks earlier. It was good to see Harleigh, Grant and Nick
all up and about in such a short space of time and out spectating the Darling 200, in a
sport they love so much.
The Darling 200 this year was comprised of six stages, totalling 93 competitive
kilometres. The first three stages were run a second time after a 40 minute service and 30
minute regroup.
Stages 1 & 4 (Racetune) were slippery. There was a mix of twisty and open
sections with both loose gravel and sandy patches. Some of the corners were fine powdery
dust to really give tyres a hard work out battling for traction. Racetune also contained
the spectator point at the first noted corner, 500 metres from the stage start.
Stages 2 & 5 (Feaver Oilfield Services) were long and fast. Many sections were flat
out with a few blind crests to keep everyone interested. Speeds were expected to be high
with many competitors stretching the legs of their cars in top gear in places.
Stages 3 & 6 (Flynns) were technical. Many corners and tricky sections to test
driver's judgement and nerve! Some sections had huge drops on the outside, and the corners
were sharp! A slight lapse in judgement could easily of caused an overshoot in several
places, to the discovery of several teams during the day.
 The action raged all day with
Chris Gerdei/Matthew Richards winning four stages, SS1, SS2, SS4 and SS5. Kingsley
& Ros Foster won SS3 and Lea Welch set a blistering time in SS6 to take the stage win.
Taken from provisional results
SS1- (1st) Gerdei 0:09:52, (2nd) Welch 0:10:04
SS2- (1st) Gerdei 0:08:01, (2nd) Iriks 0:08:07
SS3- (1st) Foster 0:16:14, (2nd) Kinnear 0:16:20
SS4- (1st) Gerdei 0:09:43, (2nd) EQUAL Welch & Sleep 0:09:55
SS5- (1st) Gerdei 0:08:08, (2nd) Welch 0:08:10
SS6- (1st) Welch 0:15:54, (2nd) Cornish 0:16:11
 All of
the top 10 Clubman competitors had their hands in the ring. Kevin Sleep/Alex Kirkhouse
turned it up in their Civic, as did Justin Kinnear/Adam Pearson in their swift. It was
plain to see that Murray/Jemma Cornish and Kinglsey/Ros Foster in their
Datsun 1600 and Toyota Celica respectively were on the pace too. Further back in the
field, Ralph Foster was making a welcome return to rallying in his Escort in an effort to
complete a rally after his run of bad luck of late. Ray Robertsen also brought his new
Suzuki Swift out for his first outing in it, with new co-driver Richard Reeves beside him.
 Things were a different story at the ineligible end of the field. Alex
Stone/Dianna Madlener in their WRX were setting blitzing stage times at first. Stephen
Oxley/Sally Flintoff (WRX) were on the pace to start with, before Sally suffered
illness and they had to withdraw after SS2. Blair Pugh/Glenn Martinovich were not having a
good day in their Escort either. Blair over shot a corner and dropped several minutes getting back
on the road. David & Jennifer Kendall had to retire at the end of SS1 with a blown
clutch in their Lancer. Gavin Morgan/Chris Parish in their Lancer seemed to have a trouble
free day, whilst Karl Drummond/Trevor Brewer struggled in the early stages in their new
Mazda Familia. 2 km from the end of SS2,  Drummond/Brewer hit a large rock in the racing line
and punctured a tyre dropping 2 minutes in the stage. On the last stage Alex Stone had an
excursion into the bush damaging the WRX's suspension and destroying a tyre. Luckily the
crew managed to continue, dropping about a minute by rally's end.
Back at the Clubman end of things, all cars had successfully completed the first three
stages. Some competitors were not so fortunate to complete the next three though. Neal
Johnson/Joan Percival retired with a gearbox failure in SS4. Leo Iriks/David Jenkins
flying on earlier stages, retired in SS5 with a broken front strut. Anthony
Chudleigh/Nicole Paterson & Trevor Chudleigh/Craig McLennan also retired with
suspension failure in SS4. Chris Kirkhouse & Amanda Thorburn weren't having a good day
when they rolled their Suzuki Swift into retirement on SS6.  Shane
Orkney & Anthony Paynter had a monumental collision on SS6, collecting a tree head on,
writing off their Datsun 1600. Both walked away with minor bruises and a few bumps. The
car had landed, completely blocking the stage, requiring the brute force of several people
to get the car on a trailer.
Overall, Chris Gerdei/Matthew Richards won the rally. Lea Welch/David Leighton
came second and Kingsley and Ros Foster were in Third. Murray and Jemma Cornish (fourth)
and Julian Wright/Jeffrey Higgins (fifth) rounded out the top five.
In the ineligible standings, Stone/Madlener were first, Morgan/Parish were second,
Pugh/Martinovich were third and Drummond/Brewer were fourth.
Thanks to the Light car Club, Wendy Walker and her dedicated team, the sponsors, officials
and competitors for the Darling 200 this year. It is now time to safely hang up helmets
and suits until the rally season starts with the Forest Rally next year.
Karl Drummond
Thrust Rallying |
| Rally: Light Car Club Darling 200
Date: Saturday 15/10/03
Status: Round 5 Clubman Cup Rally Championship
Distance: 104km competitive.
Location of HQ and Rally Start: Chidlow Hall, Old Northam Rd, Chidlow
Start: First car away 11:30 am
For this year, the Darling 200 rally,
traditionally run in Jarrahdale has swapped it's home to Mundaring. Set in the picturesque
forests in the Eastern Hills of Perth, the Darling 200 is round 5 of the WA Clubman
Championship.
With the cancellation of Round 4 of the
championship, the Clubman Cup will be decided on this, the last round and the final rally
for 2003. With several championship contenders within a few points of each other, the
Darling 200 is expected to be a hotly contested event. Stages in the area have been
designed with a mix of open roads and tight twisty forestry tracks to really test the
skills of competing crews.
The famous loose ball bearing gravel in the area
will ensure plenty of sideways action for teams and spectators alike. There will be 2
spectator points, both being at the junction of Gorrie Rd and Trew Rd.
Spectator information will be available at the start location, Chidlow Hall, Old Northam
Rd, Chidlow.
A central service park will be set up on Old
Northam Rd, Chidlow. This will allow general spectating of the competing cars and crews
when they come back between stages for service.
The Clubman cup is open to 2 wheel drive
vehicles only, although 4 wheel drive turbo charged cars are invited to run in the Darling
200 as ineligible vehicles at the rear of the field.
Officials are still needed for the event, so if you can help out, please contact the Light
Car Club.
For further info, supp regs and or entry forms,
please see the RallyWA Website: www.rallywa.com
Note: Entries close on Friday, the 7th of November. |
