| Heat 1
In 2006 the lightening fast driving of Alex Stone and Dianna
Madlener in their WRX, led them to a convincing win on the Forest Rally in the state
championship section.
The pair had driven so quickly that if they had of been
registered for the ARC, they would have finished fifth outright. A tremendous result
against the might of factory backed teams and much newer machinery.
Would fate allow a repeat performance? Only time would tell.
With Rally Australia now gone from WA shores, the Quit Forest
Rally is the most prestigious gravel rally in the state. With the event also being part of
the Australian Rally Championship, yet more weight is given to the attraction of the
rally.
For some of the national media, it seemed like there was only
to competitors in the event and coverage reflected as such.
Whilst the new Ford Super 2000 Fiestas may have looked and
sounded the part, the WA competitors made up the bulk of the field and performed arguably
more spectacular driving.
31 state teams made the trip down to Busselton & Nannup
for the two-day battle royale that counted toward state championship points.
Bringing rallying to the masses, the first two stages on
Friday night were set on the Busselton foreshore in an all-tarmac Super Special Stage.
Some shakedown runs earlier in the day, had possibly
increased confidence a little too high for some competitors. Stone/Madlener set the
fastest time around SS1 with Rob Herridge/Elio Della Maddalena (WRX) 2nd and
Doug Tostevin/Alan Cook third in their Legacy RS.
After a short break, SS2 was run in the reverse direction
around the same tarmac circuit. This time Stone/Madlener ripped around the tarmac and
opened a few second buffer on the field. The results for lesser places on SS2 were tight.
No less than five other teams finished the stage on the same second behind the leading
pair.
Teams traveled to Nannup some 50km South of Busselton on
Saturday morning, to tackle heat one’s seven forest stages. Before one team could
even make the transport, they were having problems. Tom and sister Nerralee Wilde had
battery problems with their Mazda 323 GTX. The car refused to start after the overnight
halt and repairing the problem caused a hefty time penalty.
Stone/Madlener continued to stamp their dominance on the
event, setting another fastest stage time in SS3. It was a theme set to continue until
SS6.
Leigh Hynes/Stuart Percival in their left hand drive WRX were
pushing hard and set the second fastest time through the stage ahead of Chris
Anderson/Joel Lithgo in their Spec C WRX.
In SS4 a younger pair of competitors made their presence
felt. Behind the stage winners, James Anderson/Ben Searcy took their Spec C WRX to second
place. Another hard charging pair of Toby Heyring/Peter Turner got their Spec C through
the stage in third place, just 6 seconds behind Anderson/Searcy. Looking through the
times, it was clear to see battles from 2006 were well and truly on again.
SS5 was cancelled due to one of the ARC cars crashing and
blocking the stage. Teams were sent into a hasty regroup and then out to tackle SS6.
SS6 was relatively short and saw a changing of the results of
the heat. A broken gear lever assembly lost Stone/Madlener about 1.5 minutes through the
stage. It was a lot of time, despite their lead. A dejected Stone did not look hopeful at
the mid point service. Herridge/Della Maddalena took their first stage win with the
Anderson/Lithgo and Anderson/Searcy in second and third respectively.
It was SS7 that saw some teams’ campaigns fall apart.
Whilst Stone/Madlener were back to full tilt, the Andersons and Herridge were too close
behind to make up enough time. John "Chucky" Macara/Trent McCullough developed
an electrical fault in their WRX, which retired them from the day. Hynes/Percival retired
with a failed gearbox and the rapid Ford Escort of Blair Pugh/Anthony Chudleigh ended the
day stuck in the bush after an excursion of the road.
With the "usual suspects" filling the top three
places of SS8, it was onto the last two stages of the day to entertain the spectators.
The short Nannup oval stage set the backdrop for SS9 &
10. Drama seemed to the name of the game. First to come to grief among the WA teams was
Tolley Challis and Greg Flood. The pair made a slight mistake on the first corner of the
stage and overshot. The nose of their Lancer Evo 7 went down the bank and the car was
stuck. The pair had already lost a lot of time in SS8 with problems. Geoff
Leatt-Hayter/John White were also having problems. Earlier in the day their Ford Escort
had lost part of it’s exhaust. After that repair came a split rear brake line, giving
the car minimal front brakes for the last two stages. Graeme Furness and Peter Lyndsay
also had an unlucky moment around the Nannup Oval. The teams’ WRX rolled on the very
last stage and ended the weekend prematurely. Rounding out the day’s retirements
where the team of Nigel Anderson and Richard Harris. In SS8 the pair’s Nissan Sunny
GTI started to lose power. A glance in the mirror revealed a trail of smoke from the
exhaust. Under the bonnet a conrod out of the engine block spelt retirement for the
weekend.
After the last two short stages the teams headed in for a
major service.
At the end of a long day of competition with pleasant
weather, the top ten was in.
Despite the roll, Furness/Lyndsay finished tenth. The pair
would not however, be able to start heat 2. Tostevin/Cook brought their Legacy RS home to
a tidy ninth. Shane and brother Trent Eather were on their first pace noted event
together. The duo had some early problems, however managed a credible eighth place for
heat 1. Justin Kinnear/Adam Pearson also had some troubles. Bent rear suspension from an
earlier altercation with a drain made the going tough. The pair finished the heat in
seventh place in their Lancer Evo 7. Mike Anderson, co driven by Emma Plane had a trouble
free day, bringing their Spec C home in sixth place. Stone/Madlener held onto a top 5
finish in fifth place behind Heyring/Turner in fourth. Herridge/Della Maddalena made third
and Anderson/Lithgo were second. Finishing the day 13 seconds ahead of his brother, James
Anderson and Ben Searcy took out the top honors for heat 1.
In the two wheel drive battle, Pugh/Chudleigh had been
leading early. With their exit in SS7, the heat 1 win went to Kevin Sleep and Alex
Kirkhouse (Honda Civic). Second two wheel drive went to Mark Cameron/Ian DeBoer (Suzuki
Swift GTi). It had not all been plain sailing for the crew at the start of the weekend
though. During shakedown early on Friday, the GTI had suffered some damage after trying to
bulldoze a hay bail on the super special stage.
Heat 2.
After the last service for Saturday signaling the end of heat
1, competitors headed back to Busselton for the start of Heat 2.
Two more passes around the Tarmac Super Special Stage
Saturday evening would end the day and give teams the chance to have a good feed and a
warm bed for the night.
With some experience of the tarmac from the previous night,
the lines were cleaner and the times quicker. Stone/Madlener won SS11 with equal second
awarded to Eather/Eather and Herridge/Della Maddalena. The final pass on the tarmac for
the weekend yielded similar results. This time Eather/Eather shared the second fastest
time with Heyring/Turner. Stone/Madlener again set the pace, taking an early heat 2 lead.
For a change, the forecast for Sunday was correct. Rain.
Heavy rains overnight and continuing rain during the day
meant mud and more mud for Sunday in and around Nannup. The clay based roads, now swept of
gravel from the previous day’s competition were to be a big challenge to competitors
and some officials!
Adding to the conditions, the start to SS13 had to be hastily
changed due to access problems caused by the weather. Revised transport details were
issued to competitors, however some had trouble finding their way into the stage. Husband
and wife team, Doug and Gillian Smith got lost on the transport and decided to withdraw
from heat 2.
Braving the conditions Anderson/Searcy set the quickest time
through the stage, followed by Herridge/Della Maddalena and Anderson/Lithgo.
Results for the next few stages had similar names in
different orders. It was a case of luck in some instances. The rains were falling heavily
on and off. If a car was at the end of the stage when the rain fell, it would do little to
affect a time. If the rain fell when a car was on the start line or mid stage, the results
were very different.
As the day progressed, the conditions if anything, were
getting worse. The mud was becoming deeper, corners more slippery and traction a valuable
commodity.
If the four wheel drives were struggling, spare a thought for
the two wheel drive cars.
Keeping any of the cars in a straight line was no mean feat
for the drivers.
The tales of team’s dramas started to filter through.
The end of SS16 was a far as Macara/McCullough got. Their WRX had run out of brakes and
ended in retirement. Ray Robertsen/Richard Reeves retired in SS17 with a tree wedged in
the bonnet of their Suzuki Swift and Heyring/Turner rolled their Spec C in SS18 on a
treacherous corner. SS19 saw the retirement of another front running pair in the form of
Stone/Madlener. After gear shifter problems the day before, the gearbox expired altogether
on Sunday with terminal results. Others that did manage to continue to the finish were
also suffering. Kinnear/Pearson damaged an oil cooler and were lucky to make service and
continue the rally. Graeme and Greg Miles were had lost third gear (and a lot of time)in
their WRX and Sleep/Kirkhouse got themselves bogged for a while.
The excitement for the weekend had not ended on Saturday for
Leatt-Hayter/White either. The Escort’s extractors and exhaust broke, resulting in a
noisy day in the car. All the service crew could do was cut the mangled exhaust off to
allow the car to finish the event. Son and Father David and Stan Pisulak (Mazda Astina)
had a moment on a stage too. The car sideswiped a stump, damaging the left door and sill
panel. From that point on, father Stan had to stay put in the navigator’s seat until
virtually the end of the rally. Joanne McIlroy and Chris Parish also had some last minute
excitement. They gently rolled their WRX when they ran up a bank in the slippery
conditions.
All the remaining competitors were happy to see the finish
ramp of this year’s Forest Rally.
Having a slightly better day on Sunday, Wilde/Wilde made
tenth place although not without penalties. Pugh/Chudleigh managed to recover their Escort
after Heat 1 and drove superbly to ninth in Heat 2. Tostevin/Cook made eighth place and
Anderson/Plane were seventh. Sixth went to Eather/Eather although they too had their share
of problems. A hasty brake pad change, followed by bent front suspension arms and
collapsed strut on the last stage meant the team couldn’t have gone any further.
A better day in Heat 2 rewarded Challis/Flood with fifth
place, Anderson/Searcy made fourth and Hines/Percival drove well to third with a
replacement gearbox installed. Anderson/Lithgo finished in a well-deserved second place
for the heat behind Herridge/Della Maddalena.
No doubtly the years of experience assisted Herridge to the
heat win in the conditions, it had been a long time between drinks for the former ARC and
WARC champion.
In the two wheel drive standings, Pugh/Chudleigh won the
heat. Sleep/Kirkhouse’s off stage excursion in SS20 had passed second place onto
Cameron/DeBoer.
Thanks to the organisers and especially all of the volunteer
officials who braved the conditions to run the event. Without the dedication of a lot of
people, rallies simply would not run in WA.
Karl Drummond. |
